I came across this video this morning about the Overview Effect and was struck by how greatly our beliefs, values, and opinions are affected by our perspective. The way we see things matters. It affects who we are and who we become, the way we interact with others, the choices we make.
One of the valuable things about spiritual direction is the way the director can function as a mirror, reflecting back to the directee, offering a new perspective.
Sometimes we can get so focused on that one goal we have to achieve, that one problem we have to fix, that one person we have to deal with. We get sucked in. We get stuck. And sometimes, the way we get unstuck is as simple as turning the camera around for a moment and focusing on something else, recognizing the value and beauty of where we have been, reflecting on the whole, taking it all in.
Sometimes we just need a little shift in perspective.
One of my favorite contemplative prayer practices is lectio divina, or sacred reading. While it is an easy practice to do on our own, sometimes it’s nice to have a guided practice to follow so we can relax and just receive.
To that end, I have created a 16-minute video below that will guide you through a sacred reading of a passage that has been very meaningful to me: Jeremiah 17:5-8.
(Hint: Allow the video to load before playing to avoid interrupted play.)
Welcome to the year 2012. Today I decided to begin the new year by reviewing the old one, using the Daily Examination of Consciousness as a guide. Some of what came up was expected, and some surprised me, but overall it was a fruitful time. I used a journal my brother brought back for me from China when he came to visit me in June 2010. I had only written in the first couple of pages, recording spiritual exercises from September and October 2010 before I got engaged in November and my life was completely taken over by planning a wedding, getting married, moving several times, working overtime, and becoming overwhelmed by fatigue. 2011 was a crazy year. Now in 2012, I hope to fill the pages of this journal with my encounters with God through various spiritual exercises.
my elephant journal
As I closed the journal after my prayer this morning, I noticed there is an elephant on the front. Out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning of elephants and came across these adjectives in my web research: grace, prosperity, power, loyalty, wisdom, luck, solitude, intelligence, honor, stability, patience, temperance, chastity, reliability, dignity, royalty, pride, determination, responsibility, sensitivity and social connection. Specific to China, the elephant represents happiness, longevity, and good luck. Wow, that’s a lot to live up to. In any case, I like that the elephant is a symbol of so many positive traits and that 2012 is the year of writing in my elephant journal.
I also had my Bible out in case I needed some inspiration during my “yearly” examine, and I happened to flip through the Psalms and come to one I’ve never really noticed before: Psalm 131.
1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
Over the past two years, God has used a lot of imagery about babies to teach me about dependence on and trust in God to take care of the the things that burden me as well as to take care of me. Now, as I move into a new season, I believe God is using this psalm to show me I have grown enough to become the weaned child–older and more content with the waiting and patience that come with seeking God. Now that life isn’t so crazy and I have more free time to invest, my soul has become still and quiet, hoping in and waiting on the Lord as King David modeled.
I will take Psalm 131 into 2012 to remind me to wait on God with the patience of a toddler (however little that might be), confident that I have tried God and found God indeed dependable and trustworthy. Welcome, 2012!
In honor of the anniversary of Thomas Merton‘s death (December 10th, 1968), I have decided to re-read New Seeds of Contemplation. It’s been a while, and I forgot how much I enjoy his writing. Here’s a bit from the first paragraph of the book:
Contemplation is the highest expression of [one’s] intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness and for being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent and infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the reality of that Source. It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude that goes both beyond reason and beyond simple faith. For contemplation is a kind of spiritual vision to which both reason and faith aspire, by their very nature, because without it they must always remain incomplete.
I like that idea that contemplation is the completion of reason and faith. It helps me to understand why God has been leading me the past several years out of my left-brained intellectual self and toward a more right-brained, mystical experience of who God is and who I am in God and because of God’s presence in my life. My college years were very much defined by St. Anselm‘s concept of faith seeking understanding. I expected my graduate years to be much the same, yet I found myself drawn to fringe classes like Power Encounter and Theology and Popular Culture. I discovered PIHOP and began an unexpected journey into the tangible experience of God. Instead of lining my bookshelves with academic volumes and commentaries, I filled a whole bookshelf with new and used titles from the Prayer & Spirituality section at the bookstore where I worked. Now, I’m excited to revisit New Seeds of Contemplation in light of my spiritual journey and see what new truths God has in store.
