Currently, I begin every morning, in the dark before dawn, with a cup of coffee and a seven-minute song called “On the Nature of Daylight.” It’s a song that, thanks to first hearing it in the movie "Arrival," helps me to stand in awe of time and thus keep my priorities (mostly) straight.
That song was part of the playlist in the very first breathwork session I ever did (at FRD in Nashville). That entire playlist takes me to a deep place of spiritual connection.
Suzanne, I could go on and on, but probably not without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it! One thing I can say is, I love the way it examines the complexity of communication. The necessary time and patience to fully understand a person's culture and history before you can begin to have confidence about what their words even mean. It reminds me of a time when I told my supervisor that a client told me they felt sad. My supervisor said, "What did they mean by sad?" I thought that was self-evident and not in need of exploration. The next session I asked what the client meant, and it turned out sadness to them was something entirely different than I could have imagined.
Also, without spoiling anything re: the movie, the reason the aliens came in twelve ships and the decision she makes at the end of the movie. 😊
I am most connected to my spiritual father and to the greater universe when I take time during the day to walk, alone, for miles at the ranch; and then spend time in the evening gazing at the miracle of the sky filled with stars, comets, and satellites.
All the yeses. Somewhere in the cadence of walking, I become aware of an ongoing conversation with God. It’s peaceful and also a safe place to work out frustrations. When I’m walking I open to his beauty and also find myself having a soul talk of sorts with God, where time goes by and I am unaware of how far I’ve actually walked. I always end my walk more peaceful and grateful than when I began. Thank you for sharing.
Often I don't know what I'm thinking until I write it down. Insight slips in the cracks. I remember small things that turn out to be important. I also need some time without words for quiet centering prayer.
I feel you here! Both are potent sources of wellness for me. And your comment about journaling lands. When I feel resistance to journaling (which comes up less these days), I remind myself that my job is just to START writing. And God will finish.
I don’t journal currently Ken but I like what you say ‘Insight slips in through the cracks’ and ‘I just start and God finishes’ (paraphrased) I like the way you are allowing insight to make its way to you.
Same for me, I write to understand what I’m thinking. I also tend to notice how thematic my thoughts and feelings are and then, because I have a record over time, I am able to see how good, patient, and faithful God has been.
Thank you for sharing this, Kensi. It's like journaling helps you to step outside of time and see God's work, which is often so invisible in the moment. Beautiful.
I wish I could be better at journaling. I've done it again and again but I always end up just picking on myself instead of reflecting on positive and negative things as an observer. Every time I journal I end up laying our complaints and worries more than recording joys and gratitude.
At least journaling gives you a chance to notice them. In the moment you notice them, you are now outside of them. You are something other than them. Not a bad spiritual practice: to experience yourself as something other than the chatter happening in your head.
True. I've heard it described as a way to disassociate or separate the muck of our life by writing it down in all it's ugliness then throwing it away or burning it. Although I would imagine the point of a journal is meant to be a record more so than a trash receptacle.
As I read that, what I thought of is when you turn on a faucet after a long time, and at first some sludgy, rusty water comes out, but then the clear water starts to run. I think that's how journaling has always worked for me!
Meditation resounds with me and while I am starting to feel more comfortable with journaling it has never been a go-to for me. That being said; withe the help of an app that reminds me to journal, a list of prompts, and other writing resources including poetry, I am finding that I am hungry to write on a regular basis.
Eunice, I love that you didn't give up on writing/journaling altogether but instead found a format and routine that lit a fire under it for you. That's an encouragement I'm going to pass on to others.
Thank you for kicking off the journaling/meditation thread, Todd! "Insight slips in the cracks." I love that. That's exactly why I write. Not because of what I planned to write about, but because of what shows up instead or in addition.
Journaling is so effective for "getting it all out" and provides relief for my busy mind. I appreciate Todd's words on the subject as well as the thoughts of others who commented. There is as much good to be had in Journaling as there are ways to do it!
I am with you...I like to edit myself, but when I start I assume that I never would. I find honesty tends to flow best from writing out my thoughts and feelings. Then later I look back and learn something of myself and God.
LISTENING TO A BUBBLING CREEK. At the end of my street is a city park through which meanders something akin to the River of Life. I could sit there for hours, mesmerized by the sound of the water, which is the sound of Gods voice. I love it so much that I sleep with the same sound on a Bluetooth speaker mask that I wear.
I like your bubbling creek. It reminds me of my favorite place to be still and silent: along the sea shore. I don't get back east often, but when I do I love an early morning long walk along the sea shore.
And using nature as the catalyst whenever possible. Whether it's with eyes closed feeling the grass beneath my feet, the warm sun on my skin or a soft breeze against my face, or a slow methodical walk through the woods, nature helps me tune into my body and breath. And when I do so, I often find enough quiet to experience Gods presence.
YES! this is it for me too Mike. I wonder... what is it about getting out of our head and into our body that brings us closer? Is it possible that our soul only exists in our body (while it's alive) and not our head? Or is our head just too noisy?
Oh man, great questions! I certainly don't have the answer but I I will share something feels true for me. I think my head is just too noisy. I've spent my whole live hiding from my emotions and bodily sensations...and I hid in my head.
Great for intellectual growth but not so great for emotional and spiritual growth in my experience. To me, God gave us a body, mind and heart. And when I find my way to balancing all three, I drop into my spiritual center.
It makes sense to me that God would design us such taht we find ourselves closer to Him when we honor all of the gifts that he gave us (heart, body, mind) equally, rather than idolizing any one of them.
Well put. I would like to be more motivated or disciplined to go for that kind of balance. I've not experienced a trifecta of these things ever in my life. I live kind of like some wobbly toy leaning in on one or the other of these things at times.
As Joe alluded to, the mind is chatty, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease, which tugs most of us out of balance in that direction. You're not alone, my friend. The idea of rooting in our body is a great suggestion for restoring some of that balance!
In your description, I love how your body is your way of coming into contact with nature, and I notice how the noises and stimulation of nature actually help to produce inner silence, rather than inner noise. I'll walk differently after reading what you wrote.
I love candles. I used to have a whole collection of them that I would light and stare at long ago. The fire is memorizing and the scent of a quality candle is very intoxicating at times. I haven't done much with them in a lot of years though. Maybe I should try.
One of my favorite book quotes of all time from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson:
"The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light. It seems like a metaphor for something. So much does. Ralph Waldo Emerson is excellent on this point. It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within the great general light of existence. Or it seems like poetry within language. Perhaps wisdom within experience. Or marriage within friendship and love."
Meditation, prayer, music, time spent in nature, yoga, connecting with others, journaling, and on and on. Right now, coffee time with the cats, listening to the birds at sunrise.
Silence is one of my favorite things, especially the way my being silent opens me to hear the susurrus around me. The world is not silent but I am.. For a moment, I'm not commenting or anticipating a need to speak or respond or solve or address. I'm just listening, receiving, appreciating.
I just read that one factor driving house purchases right now is silence. Who knew even house buying has a spiritual element to it! Thanks for this, Mary.
Giving my day and my decisions over to God in full surrender each morning, knowing that this is the only way to live. I then wait for the inner guidance to lead me through my day.
I need to but choose not to do that. I think I'm a little afraid to try sometimes. It feels silly as I have extensive experience with such things to great positive effect, but for some reason I just let myself get distracted all the time.
MEDITATION/AWARENESS. It could be as simple as an awareness as I'm washing dishes or a meditation where I focus on feeling each part of my body - either way it brings me back to my body (and out of my head) and makes me feel more present, sometimes shockingly so, like I how long was I lost in my head?
I wish that worked for me. Maybe I didn't try hard enough or just cannot relax enough. I find my body to be very uncomfortable. I tend to avoid feeling any connections to it. I know that's not healthy but I feel "clogged up" more than I feel any kind of flow when thinking mindfully of every part of myself.
JC, it probably is a matter of practice and consistency. It's like that old saying, "It took me twenty years to become an overnight success." It makes it hard to persist long enough to start experiencing some of that inner quiet.
Joe, your comment is inspiring. Right now, my default is to be in my head and to dip into my body intentionally. What would it be like to be in your body and be able to dip into your mind when you need to? I'm intrigued.
BIRDWATCHING. Whether from my living room window, patio, or on a hike, it’s a practice I started 4 years ago that gets me out of my head and back into my body and into the world; expands my awareness of the everyday beauty of nature; and reminds me in the most lighthearted way to “Consider the birds of the air…”
It’s a subtle help to add to my journaling practice to incorporate this tool which includes “neuro theology,” inviting my brain and body to fully receive God’s gladness to be with me. This is cementing my attachment to God and helping me move past trauma and hurt to a place of centeredness and belonging. Using the small book Joyful Journey as a guide/prompt. I love how accessible this tool is and that it costs nothing…but time & paper.
Suzanne, Thanks for reminding me about Immanuel Journaling and the book, Joyful Journey. I pulled it off my bookshelf this morning, and this really resonated with me:
“in Ephesians 2:10, Paul uses the Greek word poiema Which literally means God‘s poetry. When poiema is translated as handiwork or workmanship, it misses the following important point. Poetry in scripture does not rhyme sounds; it follows the Hebrew pattern and rhymes thoughts. This means that as God‘s poetry, our thoughts can rhyme with our Heavenly Fathers.”
Spending time each day in silence and solitude is what helps me rhyme my thoughts with God’s thoughts!
Hi Rhonda: I couldn't have said it better myself! Glad it jogged your memory. I'm hoping to use this tool in an ongoing conversation with God, like you mentioned, and then to help others learn to do so in small group settings.
Two Spiritual Practices come to mind - 1) Running, which somehow feeds my soul. I think it’s just being in nature and noticing all the small wonders I otherwise miss - an egg fallen from a nest, the color of the sky that day, the smell of the air - is rain coming? It feeds my soul and I let my mind wander and listen. 2) I am sitting now with my coffee and my Bible. I have made it a practice to start my day with some time in God’s Word and truly to listen more than ask. I’m floundering on the listening part, I have to admit. This discipline starts my day off with a confident reminder that God’s help is always just a whisper away.
I will get up early just so I can sit in my chair in the quiet before anyone else is stirring. I think. I read. I try not to work. I look outside at my beautiful yard and the wind in the trees. I talk to God hoping that I will hear direction for my life. It is hard to listen. I keep trying.
When the weather is warm enough I sit in a reclining lawn chair and do the same. It has been harder in the winter not just because of the cold but also I think the chair had something to do with the peace I felt.
LISTENING WITH EARS, EYES, AND HEART, noticing birdsong and wind chimes and the breathing rise and fall of cars and trucks shushing by like surf outside my window, seeing not just the dancing of leaves in sunlight on the breeze but the rippling pattern of the movement of invisible energy through these things, feeling the relation of these to the in-and-out flow of my breath, filling and releasing – mainly in the morning with coffee, often with a Bible or other book, entertaining the conversation between what I'm reading and sensing of my body and the world around me – also hiking or driving or walking by the river or stopped at a light, this listening grounds and energizes me, opens a space to choose a next course of action from love and appreciation, rather than spritz about jerkily from stimulus to clamoring, reactive stimulus.
TIME OUTSIDE. Nature is where I experience rest and refreshment. Sometimes it’s a walk, other times quiet reflection from a beautiful vantage point, other times the weather itself (rain or sun), the breeze, the sounds, the wind, the stillness, the beach, the mountains…all of it. I find Him present outside. He consistently reveals Himself in nature and restores my soul.
COFFEE AND A SONG.
Currently, I begin every morning, in the dark before dawn, with a cup of coffee and a seven-minute song called “On the Nature of Daylight.” It’s a song that, thanks to first hearing it in the movie "Arrival," helps me to stand in awe of time and thus keep my priorities (mostly) straight.
That song was part of the playlist in the very first breathwork session I ever did (at FRD in Nashville). That entire playlist takes me to a deep place of spiritual connection.
Yes it was! And perfectly placed within the experience.
Just listened to the song for the first time, thanks to seeing your post. What did you appreciate about the movie Arrival?
Suzanne, I could go on and on, but probably not without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it! One thing I can say is, I love the way it examines the complexity of communication. The necessary time and patience to fully understand a person's culture and history before you can begin to have confidence about what their words even mean. It reminds me of a time when I told my supervisor that a client told me they felt sad. My supervisor said, "What did they mean by sad?" I thought that was self-evident and not in need of exploration. The next session I asked what the client meant, and it turned out sadness to them was something entirely different than I could have imagined.
Also, without spoiling anything re: the movie, the reason the aliens came in twelve ships and the decision she makes at the end of the movie. 😊
Kelly, thanks for this. You’ve given me more than enough reason to watch it. I look forward to it.
I am most connected to my spiritual father and to the greater universe when I take time during the day to walk, alone, for miles at the ranch; and then spend time in the evening gazing at the miracle of the sky filled with stars, comets, and satellites.
All the yeses. Somewhere in the cadence of walking, I become aware of an ongoing conversation with God. It’s peaceful and also a safe place to work out frustrations. When I’m walking I open to his beauty and also find myself having a soul talk of sorts with God, where time goes by and I am unaware of how far I’ve actually walked. I always end my walk more peaceful and grateful than when I began. Thank you for sharing.
I love the silence, solitude and smallness of these experiences, Ken and Lindsey. They resonate with me deeply.
I feel you!
Gazing up, solitude - bliss!
JOURNALING AND MEDITATION
Often I don't know what I'm thinking until I write it down. Insight slips in the cracks. I remember small things that turn out to be important. I also need some time without words for quiet centering prayer.
I feel the same way! I open my journal and pick up my pen and sometimes it surprises me what comes out.
I feel you here! Both are potent sources of wellness for me. And your comment about journaling lands. When I feel resistance to journaling (which comes up less these days), I remind myself that my job is just to START writing. And God will finish.
My guess is the days you feel resistance are the days God has some of the most important things to say?
I don’t journal currently Ken but I like what you say ‘Insight slips in through the cracks’ and ‘I just start and God finishes’ (paraphrased) I like the way you are allowing insight to make its way to you.
I meant Todd ☺️
Same for me, I write to understand what I’m thinking. I also tend to notice how thematic my thoughts and feelings are and then, because I have a record over time, I am able to see how good, patient, and faithful God has been.
Thank you for sharing this, Kensi. It's like journaling helps you to step outside of time and see God's work, which is often so invisible in the moment. Beautiful.
I wish I could be better at journaling. I've done it again and again but I always end up just picking on myself instead of reflecting on positive and negative things as an observer. Every time I journal I end up laying our complaints and worries more than recording joys and gratitude.
At least journaling gives you a chance to notice them. In the moment you notice them, you are now outside of them. You are something other than them. Not a bad spiritual practice: to experience yourself as something other than the chatter happening in your head.
True. I've heard it described as a way to disassociate or separate the muck of our life by writing it down in all it's ugliness then throwing it away or burning it. Although I would imagine the point of a journal is meant to be a record more so than a trash receptacle.
As I read that, what I thought of is when you turn on a faucet after a long time, and at first some sludgy, rusty water comes out, but then the clear water starts to run. I think that's how journaling has always worked for me!
Meditation resounds with me and while I am starting to feel more comfortable with journaling it has never been a go-to for me. That being said; withe the help of an app that reminds me to journal, a list of prompts, and other writing resources including poetry, I am finding that I am hungry to write on a regular basis.
Eunice, I love that you didn't give up on writing/journaling altogether but instead found a format and routine that lit a fire under it for you. That's an encouragement I'm going to pass on to others.
Thank you for kicking off the journaling/meditation thread, Todd! "Insight slips in the cracks." I love that. That's exactly why I write. Not because of what I planned to write about, but because of what shows up instead or in addition.
Journaling is so effective for "getting it all out" and provides relief for my busy mind. I appreciate Todd's words on the subject as well as the thoughts of others who commented. There is as much good to be had in Journaling as there are ways to do it!
I am with you...I like to edit myself, but when I start I assume that I never would. I find honesty tends to flow best from writing out my thoughts and feelings. Then later I look back and learn something of myself and God.
LISTENING TO A BUBBLING CREEK. At the end of my street is a city park through which meanders something akin to the River of Life. I could sit there for hours, mesmerized by the sound of the water, which is the sound of Gods voice. I love it so much that I sleep with the same sound on a Bluetooth speaker mask that I wear.
So calming. It feels like it’s washing over my soul and refreshing me from the inside out. Love this.
I like water in nature. It is very enjoyable and calming.
I like your bubbling creek. It reminds me of my favorite place to be still and silent: along the sea shore. I don't get back east often, but when I do I love an early morning long walk along the sea shore.
YES. My wife's soul feels most at home in the world when she's near the shore. This summer will be our 25th consecutive year with a trip to the coast.
I am visiting my dad next week and can't wait to walk on the southern shore of Long Island!
Send a picture!
Oh…there will be pictures. Maybe even some images and lines…
"The sound of God's voice." Thank you for this, Deb. My wife says the exact same thing about wind through the treetops in summertime.
TUNING INTO THE BODY THAT HE GAVE ME.
And using nature as the catalyst whenever possible. Whether it's with eyes closed feeling the grass beneath my feet, the warm sun on my skin or a soft breeze against my face, or a slow methodical walk through the woods, nature helps me tune into my body and breath. And when I do so, I often find enough quiet to experience Gods presence.
YES! this is it for me too Mike. I wonder... what is it about getting out of our head and into our body that brings us closer? Is it possible that our soul only exists in our body (while it's alive) and not our head? Or is our head just too noisy?
Oh man, great questions! I certainly don't have the answer but I I will share something feels true for me. I think my head is just too noisy. I've spent my whole live hiding from my emotions and bodily sensations...and I hid in my head.
Great for intellectual growth but not so great for emotional and spiritual growth in my experience. To me, God gave us a body, mind and heart. And when I find my way to balancing all three, I drop into my spiritual center.
It makes sense to me that God would design us such taht we find ourselves closer to Him when we honor all of the gifts that he gave us (heart, body, mind) equally, rather than idolizing any one of them.
woooo! that's fire! Look out Dr. Kelly, Mr. Wagner might be ready to be an author.
Fire indeed! And this man is MORE than ready to be an author. Can't wait to read what he eventually releases!
Well put. I would like to be more motivated or disciplined to go for that kind of balance. I've not experienced a trifecta of these things ever in my life. I live kind of like some wobbly toy leaning in on one or the other of these things at times.
As Joe alluded to, the mind is chatty, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease, which tugs most of us out of balance in that direction. You're not alone, my friend. The idea of rooting in our body is a great suggestion for restoring some of that balance!
I'm so glad Mike responded before I did. 😂 As always his refusal to reject any part of us and to hold it all in balance is the wisdom we all need.
In your description, I love how your body is your way of coming into contact with nature, and I notice how the noises and stimulation of nature actually help to produce inner silence, rather than inner noise. I'll walk differently after reading what you wrote.
LIGHTING A CANDLE
In the early morning helps me remember God's Love is both within me and all around me.
I love candles. I used to have a whole collection of them that I would light and stare at long ago. The fire is memorizing and the scent of a quality candle is very intoxicating at times. I haven't done much with them in a lot of years though. Maybe I should try.
Listen to that intuition!
One of my favorite book quotes of all time from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson:
"The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light. It seems like a metaphor for something. So much does. Ralph Waldo Emerson is excellent on this point. It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within the great general light of existence. Or it seems like poetry within language. Perhaps wisdom within experience. Or marriage within friendship and love."
SO MANY THINGS.
Meditation, prayer, music, time spent in nature, yoga, connecting with others, journaling, and on and on. Right now, coffee time with the cats, listening to the birds at sunrise.
The title alone made me smile. 😊 I was hoping the encouragement to pick one would deter anyone from sharing more!
SILENCE. There’s so little quiet in our world right now. It feels like a balm.
Silence is one of my favorite things, especially the way my being silent opens me to hear the susurrus around me. The world is not silent but I am.. For a moment, I'm not commenting or anticipating a need to speak or respond or solve or address. I'm just listening, receiving, appreciating.
New word: susurrus. What a gift, thank you!
Yes, this! We can't hear our own thoughts when we're flooded with others' words.
I just read that one factor driving house purchases right now is silence. Who knew even house buying has a spiritual element to it! Thanks for this, Mary.
Giving my day and my decisions over to God in full surrender each morning, knowing that this is the only way to live. I then wait for the inner guidance to lead me through my day.
I need to but choose not to do that. I think I'm a little afraid to try sometimes. It feels silly as I have extensive experience with such things to great positive effect, but for some reason I just let myself get distracted all the time.
It's taken great courage, trust and LOTS of practice to find a daily rhythm with this. It's so worth it!
MEDITATION/AWARENESS. It could be as simple as an awareness as I'm washing dishes or a meditation where I focus on feeling each part of my body - either way it brings me back to my body (and out of my head) and makes me feel more present, sometimes shockingly so, like I how long was I lost in my head?
I wish that worked for me. Maybe I didn't try hard enough or just cannot relax enough. I find my body to be very uncomfortable. I tend to avoid feeling any connections to it. I know that's not healthy but I feel "clogged up" more than I feel any kind of flow when thinking mindfully of every part of myself.
JC, it probably is a matter of practice and consistency. It's like that old saying, "It took me twenty years to become an overnight success." It makes it hard to persist long enough to start experiencing some of that inner quiet.
Joe, your comment is inspiring. Right now, my default is to be in my head and to dip into my body intentionally. What would it be like to be in your body and be able to dip into your mind when you need to? I'm intrigued.
Try it when lifting weights then. Great embodying approach!
BIRDWATCHING. Whether from my living room window, patio, or on a hike, it’s a practice I started 4 years ago that gets me out of my head and back into my body and into the world; expands my awareness of the everyday beauty of nature; and reminds me in the most lighthearted way to “Consider the birds of the air…”
Beautiful Kensi. Do you have a favorite bird? Or a favorite memory of seeing a particular bird?
On my patio, I love when it’s hummingbird season. And I can bring to mind every time I’ve seen an indigo bunting over the past 3 summers!
Suzanne, you are a good question-asker. Thank you for your presence here!
You’re welcome! You’ve created a thread and a way to gather people in your tribe I simply don’t experience elsewhere. Grateful.
IMMANUEL JOURNALING
It’s a subtle help to add to my journaling practice to incorporate this tool which includes “neuro theology,” inviting my brain and body to fully receive God’s gladness to be with me. This is cementing my attachment to God and helping me move past trauma and hurt to a place of centeredness and belonging. Using the small book Joyful Journey as a guide/prompt. I love how accessible this tool is and that it costs nothing…but time & paper.
This is gold. Neuro-theology. "Inviting my brain and body to fully receive God's gladness to be with me." THANK YOU.
Suzanne, Thanks for reminding me about Immanuel Journaling and the book, Joyful Journey. I pulled it off my bookshelf this morning, and this really resonated with me:
“in Ephesians 2:10, Paul uses the Greek word poiema Which literally means God‘s poetry. When poiema is translated as handiwork or workmanship, it misses the following important point. Poetry in scripture does not rhyme sounds; it follows the Hebrew pattern and rhymes thoughts. This means that as God‘s poetry, our thoughts can rhyme with our Heavenly Fathers.”
Spending time each day in silence and solitude is what helps me rhyme my thoughts with God’s thoughts!
Hi Rhonda: I couldn't have said it better myself! Glad it jogged your memory. I'm hoping to use this tool in an ongoing conversation with God, like you mentioned, and then to help others learn to do so in small group settings.
Two Spiritual Practices come to mind - 1) Running, which somehow feeds my soul. I think it’s just being in nature and noticing all the small wonders I otherwise miss - an egg fallen from a nest, the color of the sky that day, the smell of the air - is rain coming? It feeds my soul and I let my mind wander and listen. 2) I am sitting now with my coffee and my Bible. I have made it a practice to start my day with some time in God’s Word and truly to listen more than ask. I’m floundering on the listening part, I have to admit. This discipline starts my day off with a confident reminder that God’s help is always just a whisper away.
This is beautiful, Ann, thank you!
I feel this, Ann. Noticing what nature has to offer me throughout my day is a practice. Feeds my soul too 🩵
SITTING IN MY CHAIR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING
I will get up early just so I can sit in my chair in the quiet before anyone else is stirring. I think. I read. I try not to work. I look outside at my beautiful yard and the wind in the trees. I talk to God hoping that I will hear direction for my life. It is hard to listen. I keep trying.
Love your practice Allison.
When the weather is warm enough I sit in a reclining lawn chair and do the same. It has been harder in the winter not just because of the cold but also I think the chair had something to do with the peace I felt.
"It is hard to listen, I keep trying" may be one of the most faithful phrases I've ever heard.
LISTENING WITH EARS, EYES, AND HEART, noticing birdsong and wind chimes and the breathing rise and fall of cars and trucks shushing by like surf outside my window, seeing not just the dancing of leaves in sunlight on the breeze but the rippling pattern of the movement of invisible energy through these things, feeling the relation of these to the in-and-out flow of my breath, filling and releasing – mainly in the morning with coffee, often with a Bible or other book, entertaining the conversation between what I'm reading and sensing of my body and the world around me – also hiking or driving or walking by the river or stopped at a light, this listening grounds and energizes me, opens a space to choose a next course of action from love and appreciation, rather than spritz about jerkily from stimulus to clamoring, reactive stimulus.
You have an amazing eye and ear for life. Thank you for sharing with us what you're noticing!
TIME OUTSIDE. Nature is where I experience rest and refreshment. Sometimes it’s a walk, other times quiet reflection from a beautiful vantage point, other times the weather itself (rain or sun), the breeze, the sounds, the wind, the stillness, the beach, the mountains…all of it. I find Him present outside. He consistently reveals Himself in nature and restores my soul.
Nature carries the day here, doesn't it? 😊