Spiritual Practices for a Challenging Time

Browsing the internet recently for resources that address the health of our interior lives, I randomly came across this list of Spiritual Practices intended to cultivate our spiritual well-being.  I’ve modified and adapted some for our purposes, but they offer practical things we can do to create openings for God’s Spirit to enter and refresh our spirits.  You may be drawn to some more than others, and that’s OK.

1. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe some more. Take time in your day, at any moment, to take ten deep even breaths. Carve out 5-10 minutes to practice being aware and tuned in to your surroundings.  What do you notice?  What prayers are then called for?  What contemplation?
2. Ground yourself in the present moment. Focus your attention on something enduring or beautiful in your surroundings. Look up often; visualize God as present. Acknowledge the wonder and awe that is present in this moment.
3. Acknowledge your fears, anxieties, concerns. Offer them to God in prayer. Write them in your journal. Share them with others. Feel what you feel, honor it, and know that it is not the final word.
4. Remember you are not alone. Ever. You are surrounded by care and support. Reach out.  Let others—and God—hold you.
5. Create and sustain community. Show up for one another. Listen compassionately. Practice empathy. Even while avoiding close physical contact, message the people you care about. Stand with those most vulnerable. Check in on folks. Call family and friends.
6. Unplug, judiciously. While staying aware of developments, do not let the pandemic-chaos govern you, but forgive yourself when and if it does.  Then recall what is still good.
7. Practice kindness. There is a temptation in health scares to view others as potential threats. Remember we are in this together. While practicing health guidelines and appropriate caution, remember to engage one another. Smile when you can. Bring good deeds and good energy into our world.
8. Stay healthy through sleep, diet, exercise. See healing and wellness holistically—mind, body, and spirit. Feed your mind with good reading, your soul with prayer and contemplation, and your body with healthy food, exercise, and adequate sleep.
9. Create art. Discover, imagine, engage your hopes and fears, the beauty and the ugliness of our world. Write, paint, sing, sew, cook, or whatever your creative outlet is.
10. Practice gratitude. In the face of crises, make note of the things for which you are grateful:  your breath, the particular shade of the sky at dusk or dawn. Birds, trees, family, humor, the ability to laugh, a pet, other people in your life….  Remember the “birds of the air and the lilies of the field” (Matt.6:25-34).
11. Connect with your faith community. Find strength and solace and power in traditions, Scriptures, rituals, practices, holy times and seasons.
12. Pray as you are able, silently, through song, in readings, through Scripture, in your own thoughts. Remember the long view of history, the rhythms and cycles of nature, the invisible threads that connect us all.
13. Practice hope. Trust in the future and God’s strength to endure, to live fully into the goodness that awaits.

Adapted from Northeastern University, Center for Spirituality.
Phil Kanagy, Pastor
April 29, 2020