Spiritual practices are the routines and rituals that create space for God to show up in my daily life. They are bridges to the divine among the ordinary stuff of to-do lists, assignments and in-boxes. Three practices have become especially meaningful to me, two that have long been anchors in my life and another that I have rediscovered.
Reading & writing: I have always been an avid reader. I find God in words and in the stories of people and places I wouldn’t have access to otherwise. I have a pin on my backpack that says simply “Books Change Lives” because I know that without the writing and storytelling of innumerable books that I love, I wouldn’t be as aware that entire worlds exist beyond mine. In response, I find writing about my own experience – of God, love, joy and grief – helps me make meaning of life in all of its beauty and challenge.
I have an ongoing relationship with the practice of Morning Pages from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. Want to try it? It’s the practice of free-writing and filling three pages of a notebook each day. Julia invites you to do this in the morning, right after you wake up. I try but if it doesn’t happen, I have found that it is a useful practice even if you end up having “Afternoon, Evening or Night Pages.” One other tip: Don’t use anything bigger than an A5 notebook otherwise you will be writing from morning until evening (this is also not a “Morning Pages Purist,” for the record)! I really like Oliver Burkeman’s overview linked here.
Writing liturgy has also emerged as a place to explore my relationship with God. It is an honor to express myself this way and share it with a congregation as prayers and affirmations of our shared faith. I look forward to seeing where this particular spiritual practice leads me!
Walking: Such a simple act and yet, every time I am able to get out on a brisk walk, filling my lungs with air and pumping blood through my body, I feel a deeper connection to myself and to God. Sometimes it is the act of movement that reminds me I have a precious, God-given body to care for. Sometimes it is the way the light moves through the trees or the small neighborly creatures that greet me that fills me with God’s presence.
Music & Art: Lately, I have been exploring music again as a spiritual practice. I grew up playing the viola and have picked it back up, mostly relying on muscle memory to reconnect with its sonorous sound (I will spend a great deal of time telling anyone who asks why the viola is the best). I also am learning to play the guitar and took formal lessons last year and will resume once again this summer. I find that music allows me to be completely present. There is nothing else that I can think about while I am trying to hit a note or make the right shape for a chord. There is also something about practice as a discipline. It is not lost on me that “discipline” and “disciple” are similar words, rooted in the same Greek definition of “student.” We are always learning at God’s feet and approaching music with a spirit of discipline has been beautifully humbling.
I am also a proud member of the High Museum of Art and have been seeking out more opportunities to see art in person in all formats. Much like books, art in all of its forms is transporting, expanding and surely divine.
Susan Landrum 