Grow. Pray. Study. Daily Guide from the United Methodist Church
of the Resurrection – Sunday, 29 December 2013 – “Prayer Tip”
Merry Christmas from Prayer Ministry!
"Wait," you say, "Christmas is over, we’ve done
our post- Christmas bargain shopping and we’re finalizing our plans for New
Year’s Eve."
Well, for the Church, Christmas is not just one day, but a
season. We Christians always get a second weekend of Christmas. In fact, our
Christmas season or the twelve days of Christmas concludes on January 6th, what
we in the Church call Epiphany.
In her blog, Seasons of the Soul, Christine Valters Painter
suggests spiritual practices for the 12 Days of Christmas. Click here to see
the practices.
I invite you to give a couple of them a try, and as you do so
reflect on how God is being born in you. We would love to hear about your
experiences with your prayer practice. You can join the conversation by leaving
a comment on our prayer blog. http://prayer.blogs.cor.org/(Nancy Pauls, Pastor
of Prayer)
Sunday, 29 December 2013 – “Holy Birthing: Practices for the 12
Days of Christmas-Tend to the ripeness of this present moment
How is God being born in you? Some steps for making Christmas a
season of retreat.” by Christine Valters Paintner
What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the Son of God
fourteen hundred years ago and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my
time and in my culture? We are all meant to be Mothers of God.(Meister Eckhart
(15th century German mystic))
Advent immerses us in themes of darkness, waiting, attending,
anticipation, and holy birthing. When we arrive at Christmas, do we celebrate
the ways we are giving birth to God in our lives? The Feast of Christmas honors
God becoming enfleshed in the midst of life's ordinary messiness. Birthing is a
creative process, something new emerges from months of incubation and
gestation.
The great poet Rainer Maria Rilke writes: "In my ripening
ripens what you are." He is speaking to God. I think of ripening as
another metaphor for birthing. We have within us visions and dreams for what
brings us deep joy and peace. We nurture these and cultivate their growth. We
wait for the moment of ripeness. Rilke uses the image of "ripening"
or "unfolding" again and again to describe God's need for human
beings—and especially their creativity—to allow God to come more fully into
being. Our consent to divine creativity, just as Mary said yes, allows this
ripening to burst forth freely into the world
In being fully myself and allowing my own process to unfold, I
am participating in the ripening of the divine in the world. This is a pretty
amazing statement, one that we would do well to take seriously.
We may think of Christmas as a single day and then be off to our
after-holiday sales. But what if we honored all 12 days of this season? What if
we allowed the space from Christmas to Epiphany to be a time of sacred pause, a
time to reflect on the year past, the present moment, and the possibilities
held in the year to come?
How might you allow these 12 days of Christmas to nurture your
own holy birthing? Consider making this season a time of retreat. Even just 15
minutes a day will create some spaciousness and pause for reflection.
SUGGESTED PRACTICES FOR THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Begin by reflecting on the past year and what has been
harvested.
December 25: Pray with St. Ignatius' Examen. In a reflective
space, ask these two questions: What has been life-giving this year? What has
been life-draining this year?
December 26: Seek forgiveness and ask yourself which friendships
need some reconciliation. Is there someone you have hurt through your words or
actions? Is there someone who has hurt you? Can you seek forgiveness or offer
it?
December 27: Clear away ten things you haven't used this past
year to make space for your own holy birthing.
December 28: Call upon the presence of your ancestors to help
support you and guide you as you reflect back on what was most meaningful. Is
there a particular relative from the great cloud of witnesses you might invite
to offer you wisdom?
December 29: Spend a day savoring the stillness of winter's
darkness and ponder the dreams appearing to you in these long nights. What do
they reveal to you about your own heart's ripening?
December 30: Go for a contemplative walk in your neighborhood.
Don't try to get anywhere, just allow yourself to be fully present to the world
around you. What might the trees and crows be whispering to you about the gifts
to pay attention to right now?
December 31: Consider creating a candlelight ritual as an
alternate New Year's Eve celebration. Sit gazing on the gift of flames dancing
around you. How do you experience this holy fire within you? What are the
passions that want more space in your life?
January 1: Spend New Year's Day doing all the things you want
the year ahead to be filled with—time for solitude, walking in the park,
holding hands with a loved one, listening to music, savor a beautiful meal (add
your own delights to this list).
Dream of the future and what seeds are to be planted
January 2: Choose one practice to focus on for the year ahead,
something that will help support you in creating space for your own continued
holy birthing. The practice might be to do less of something—like watching
TV—and to do more of something—like spending time in silence.
January 3: Consider choosing a spiritual teacher for the year.
We live in a world with an abundance of choices and possibilities. Sometimes
diving deep with one thing or idea is just what our heart needs to deepen.
Perhaps it is Hildegard of Bingen or Thomas Merton or the poet Rilke. Read
everything you can about them and let them be a companion through the year
ahead, a midwife to your own holy birth.
January 4: Find a journal, bless it as a container for all of
your sacred and holy dreams. Leave it out and every time you find yourself
dreaming about a possibility, spend just five minutes writing about it. Let
yourself follow the sacred threads leading you ahead.
January 5: Pray lectio divina with this passage from Jeremiah
6:16—"Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for
the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for
your souls." Listen for the ancient paths calling you forward.
January 6th—Feast of Epiphany
Let a word for the year ahead choose you. Write it down
somewhere visible. Visit this link (active December 21st) for some suggestions
about how to do this and share it with others.
-------
United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
(913)897-0120
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment