Background: There is such a long history of nature mysticism. One of the dynamics at play is the idea that we can discover the extent to which God lives and breathes in the creation.
The Exercise
Find a calm place with lots of nature present.
Begin a slow, meandering walk. Be present and aware of your surroundings. Keeping an air of calm, do your best to discover something new in this place.
Be on the look out for a particular object that speaks to you. Perhaps it is a cloud, or a rock, or the way the shadows of a leave lands on the grass. It needn’t be big or beeutiful in any classic kind of sense. You might know this thing right away when you see it. You might walk past, consider it for a while, and return.
When you have chosen the thing you will adore, open yourself to it.
Study it with love. As if you had to memorize it. Describe it’s appearance.
Apply your other senses to it; listen to it, smell it and touch it, if possible.
To the extent that God is in anything, God is in everything. Experience this object as unfolding of God.
When you are done with your time of adoration, let this object go. Consider whether you have a new understanding of the nature of God. Ask yourself whether you could put this understanding into words.
If you wish, keep this object in your mind as an icon of God’s presence in the world.
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So much of our suffering arises from the disconnect between how we recall the events of our lives and how they actually occurred. St. Ignatius of Loyola gave us a solution to this dilemma over 500 years ago. The spiritual exercise known as The Examen presents us with an opportunity to invite God into our recollections and seek out his presence in the details of our lives.Examining the Examen presents simple, step-by-step explanations of how to approach this transformative practice and encourages a playful, experimental approach to integrating this into our lives. Whether we review the last few hours or several decades of our lives, The Examen breeds a sense of peace, gratitude, and union with God. Let your journey begin. You can purchase the book here.
The goal of The Faith-ing Project is to enrich your spiritual life. Our hope is that this might be a gymnasium for the soul; a library for the spirit; and a toy store for the psyche.
If you’re interested in books more focused on spiritual practice without the exploration of deconstruction, take a look at the faith-ing project guides. Samples of some of the Faith-ing Project guides can be found here. If you would like to go straight to ordering the books at amazon, click here.
I am eagerly awaiting the premiere of the ‘Be Still’ app. In the meantime, I was quite impressed by their how-to page.
Work has been temporarily suspended on the upcoming Faith-ing Project Guide on spiritual practices specific to the nine Enneagram types. Samples of spiritual practices assigned to each of the nine types can be foundhere.
If you do not find what you are looking for here, click this link. Many of our resources, including audio files, strategies for bringing the practices home, contemplations built around the work of famous authors, and contemporary traditions can be found there.
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