A Sacred Journey

practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad

How to Create a Morning Ritual (+ a glimpse into my own)

How to Create a Morning Ritual » asacredjourney.net

In my book, Pilgrim Principles: Journeying with Intention in Everyday Life, I devote an entire day’s reading to developing a morning ritual and refer back to it often in the days that follow. It falls within the fifth pilgrim principle, “A pilgrim establishes daily rhythms to ground himself,” and it is by far the daily rhythm that has been most life-giving to my relationship with God and myself over the past many years.

I won’t deny it—I am tempted by my warm bed on a dark winter’s morning and become disoriented during busy seasons just as much as the next person, and often my morning ritual suffers because of that. Some days during a chaotic week, I wake up early and get straight to work, telling myself that I’ll get to my morning ritual stuff later—this time I really will. But you know what? Ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t. Instead I go to bed tired and frustrated, wondering why I never had a break in the day to pause and go deeper.

Here’s what this cycle is teaching me: When my morning ritual suffers, I suffer. When I don’t take the time, I won’t make the time. Could I be so bold as to say that that small amount of time set aside in the morning has the power to make or break my day? And, of course, the ways we spend our days are how we spend our lives.

I want to wake up each morning and not immediately feel the weight of the day on my shoulders. I want to enliven my senses with the smell, taste, and feel of hot coffee. I want to cozy up in a Sacred spot that’s all mine, at least for an hour or so, and light a candle as a representation of the presence of the Divine. As the sun slowly rises I want to read words that make my soul sing—poetry and prose by spiritual midwives that have assisted seekers like myself in birthing the holy for countless years. I want to take time to reflect, at least for a page—to locate myself before the tasks of the day carry me away. And I want to finish with a time of centering prayer and meditation—ten or twenty minutes in my day where I can simply be. Oh, it’s a challenge; it always is. But in the end, I feel so much better for it.

And so I set the alarm for 6am each day, waking much earlier than necessary so that I can have the extra hour in my day for what has become my morning ritual for the past year or so. I pour through books, I discover new insight, and I learn again what stillness is and why it’s so important (it’s a practice, after all—a lesson I relearn each day, again and again).

Sometimes I incorporate yoga (more on that tomorrow), and I keep telling myself I want to try out a little dance. Maybe someday I’ll switch out centering prayer for lectio divina or art for reading or writing, but right now this is what works for me.

Coming from a tradition that was big on “shoulds,” I’m trying to be aware of what I’m doing because I think I need to versus what I’m doing because it brings me life, and in this season, this ritual feels good. It’s just the right combination of self-care and stretching to my edges, and at the end of my time I don’t feel like I’ve checked items off of a list; instead, I feel fulfilled.

I want you to have the same experience, too, and a morning ritual might be just the thing to fill you up and take you deeper toward the Divine and your true self. Here are the steps I list in Pilgrim Principles for how to create a morning ritual of your own:

HOW TO CREATE A MORNING RITUAL

1. Find a time

Does it feel best to begin your morning ritual right after you wake up? Or perhaps once you’re ready for the day or while you’re eating breakfast would be more suitable. Choose whatever feels most spacious for you. As you consider a time, also think about the length of time you want to spend doing your morning ritual. This might determine what you do.

2. Find a place

Morning rituals are often personal, so the best location is  probably one that is private. A good place might be a chair by a window or maybe outside on a porch swing. Wherever it may be, make sure it is somewhere where you are able to connect with the Divine, making it a Sacred space.

3. Determine your practices

It could be as simple as pouring a cup of coffee and reading through a devotional book. Perhaps you spend your time in centering prayer or meditation, practicing yoga, journaling, creating, or reading poetry. Simply choose a practice that helps you connect to the Divine and enables you to feel like your true self, whether the practice is traditional or unique to you. Do one or many, or perhaps consider changing them monthly or seasonally. Trying out new spiritual practices is a great way to stretch your edges and grow your faith—something the pilgrim knows well.

The above tips and “Go Further…” question below are taken from Week 5: Day 5 of my book, Pilgrim Principles: Journeying with Intention in Everyday Life, available in print online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and also available for Kindle.

GO FURTHER…

What would your ideal morning ritual be? If you already have one, what does it look like, and how does it set the tone for your day?

Wander: The Desert

Today I’m starting a new series called Wander Wednesday, where I’ll share destinations from Seattle to Rome and highlight their pilgrim appeal, whether it’s the birthplace of pesto or home to an ancient cathedral housing the relic of a saint. As time passes and the collection of destinations grows, my hope is that the Wander Wednesday series will become the perfect resource for the wandering heart in search for adventure!

Wander Wednesday: The Desert » asacredjourney.net

destination: the desert
pilgrim appeal: silence, spaciousness, wilderness, mystery

The desert has been calling out to pilgrims and seekers for thousands of years, urging them to come, to wrestle, and to be transformed. From the Israelites 40 years of wandering to Jesus’ 40 days of fasting followed by temptation, the desert has long been known as an environment of personal growth and Sacred Encounter within many spiritual traditions.

In fact, the tradition of monasticism was birthed in the desert. Long ago, in response to the merging of the Christian faith with the Roman Empire, those who believed God was not found in a system of hierarchy and rules but instead found within fled to the desert to live in silence and solitude in pursuit of the Divine. These devotees became known as the desert mothers and fathers, and while they originally set out on their own, it wasn’t long until their way of living and experience of the Sacred drew followers into the desert to encounter its wonder for themselves. Once there, though these seekers were guided by the desert mothers and fathers, they discovered that the desert herself was the Divine teacher.

The desert is filled with wisdom and parallels to God, life, and our deepest selves. It is a place of unique and striking beauty, and yet it is also filled with great danger. You can be completely alone, yet at the same time feel utterly exposed. In this environment, you are no longer the center. You are simply a bystander in a land that has flourished in the same way for tens of thousands of years—a participant for only a brief moment in time.

The desert is a refining fire. The silence it provides brings relief to the urban dweller, and yet is quick to reveal your struggles, your loneliness, and your fear. The stillness of the desert invites you to be fully present, and as you slowly surrender, learning to simply watch and observe, you learn to also watch and observe your inner stirrings and the movement of the Divine.

Like the Sacred, the desert is always there waiting for you to seek it out, and its invitation is the same: come, sit, surrender, and simply be.

GO FURTHER…

Have you had an experience of Sacred Encounter in the desert? What relief does the desert bring you? What fears or insecurities does it bring to the surface?

 

Travel Tip: What to Pack for a Retreat

What to Pack for a Retreat » asacredjourney.net

As you know, right now I’m in Tucson, Arizona participating in the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction. While it’s certainly a training program, it’s got the retreat vibe written all over it, and I’ve been so ready for such a time as this.

It seems to me that however hard we try to live with intention in our daily lives, chaos is always finds a way to creep (or crash) in. It’s just a fact of life, and accepting it is a practice in itself. Sometimes practicing intention in our daily lives means stepping away from them for a few days in the form of retreat—a time away simply devoted to going deeper with God and our true selves.

For today’s travel tip, I’ve rounded up some suggestions on what to pack for a retreat to help foster an intentional time away:

1. items to create a sacred space

Bring a favorite scented candle or something else to make the space you’ll be occupying for the next few days your own and remind you of the Sacred. (While we’re on the subject, don’t tell them I have this candle.) You could also bring an icon or a print of an inspiring image. Find a special place for the items once you arrive and treat it like a make-shift altar—an expression of your desires for your time away and a space that you add things to as your journey continues (stones or feathers gathered on a walk, perhaps?).

2. inspiration

For some, this might mean music. Others might be inspired by images, as mentioned above. Me? I’m forever inspired by words. If you’ve got room, bring along some of your favorite books of poetry and prayers, ready for the moments when you need some extra guidance. If you don’t have room for extra books, consider taking some of your favorite passages and making your own personal liturgy.

3. something to write with

Pens are both necessary and easy to forget, which is why I’m including them here even though they’re more on the practical side. I always bring plenty with me and often bring different colors just in case I want to add a little depth to my exploration. If you want to get wild, bring a pack of colored pencils! (Perhaps I’m asking too much of you—I get carried away sometimes….)

4. a journal

Unless you’re doing a silent retreat sans words of all sorts, I consider a journal a must (if you are giving up words during your time, you might like to read about my own experience). Choose one especially for the occasion, serving as symbolism for the intention you’re putting into your time away. (Plus, you totally deserve it!)

5. things to create with

A retreat is the perfect time to tap into your creativity. Bringing creative tools with you on your retreat gives you the opportunity to journey beyond words. Perhaps the clicking of knitting needles comforts you with its Sacred rhythm or the blank canvas invites you to explore the depths or your soul and fill the page with what you discover. Choose something that you love, but consider trying something new, too. If you feel a bit timid on the creative front, cut out images from magazines that capture your attention (both in positive and negative ways) and make a collage. Here’s a tip: check your left brain at the door.

6. something comforting

This could be a blanket, your coziest pair of slippers, or your go-to mug and your favorite hot tea. If you’re going on retreat to draw closer to God and your true self, then why not start with the things that bring your true self delight? In the end, I’m learning that the ultimate fruit of time away on retreat is learning to simply be—with ourselves and with God—and learning to love ourselves as God created us is truly something to be celebrated.

GO FURTHER…

What would you add to this list?

bluebikeblogtour

I’m linking up today with other bloggers around the blogosphere about living more slowly and with intention in celebration of Tsh Oxenreider’s new book, Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World, out today. Read the rest of the posts in the linkup here.

Entering Hesychia: My Spiritual Direction Training Begins Now

Cf. Hosea 2:14 » asacredjourney.net

PS: Just learned what “Cf.” means—”Cf” is used when saying, “compare to,” so the above is a personalization of the original Hosea text. What a thing to learn on a Monday morning, eh?

I’m sitting in my room (with my very own bathroom!) at the Redemptorist Renewal Center at Picture Rocks in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains in the Sonoran Desert. I’ve just finished reading through the materials I was given when I arrived: brochures on the Center, the church, the labyrinth, and the medicine wheel—a new-to-me tool for Sacred Encounter rooted in Native American spiritual traditions. There are even petroglyphs here—symbols chiseled into rock by the Hohokam Indians sometime between 800-1300 AD (that’s right—there’s a brochure for that, too). Don’t worry—I’ll share pictures.

I drove the six hours from San Diego to the Redemptorist Renewal Center here in Tucson on Sunday to begin two weeks of spiritual direction training at the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction, hosted right here at the Center. On Sunday morning I was eating breakfast on the patio, staring out at the endless horizon of the Pacific Ocean, and I ended the day in the desert, the only blue visible the color of the sky.

Now that I know what the word hesychia means (pronounced like Hezekiah of biblical fame), this movement from water to desert doesn’t go unnoticed as I delve into the contemplative world of spiritual direction. Want to know where I learned its meaning? A brochure that they gave me. Here’s what it says:

“The word hesychia means stillness or quiet, in the sense of an inner
stillness and quiet, a tranquility that brings serenity
and peace to the individual.”
James G. Ward

It’s no coincidence that the desert is a place of spiritual significance (more on that Wednesday). It is a place that stills and quiets the spirit, and because of this, it is a place were we are often more receptive to the Divine. At the same time, like stillness and quiet, the desert offers no place to hide, and my physical journey to the desert on Sunday serves as a metaphor for what is likely to happen in the coming weeks as I journey toward hesychia.

I am captivated by the unique beauty of the desert, just like I am enchanted by the ideas of spiritual contemplation and mysticism. But I am also fearful—of the stillness, of the quiet, of exposure. And yet I utterly believe the words of God, echoing from long ago: “I will lead you to the wilderness and speak to your heart” (Cf. Hosea 2:14).

And so, just as I have already journeyed to the desert literally, I now willingly  journey into the silence, quiet, and exposure of the interior wilderness—despite my fears, discomfort, and apprehension (in fact, I take them with me; they’re welcome here)—seeking to know the Divine and my true self more.

GO FURTHER…

What are your thoughts on contemplation? Does it feel to you like a journey into the wilderness?

Travel Tip: Create Your Own Personal Liturgy

Travel Tip Tuesday: Create Your Own Personal Liturgy » asacredjourney.net

The journal I’m taking with me to Arizona next week. The bees might have been slightly influenced by Sue Monk Kidd…

I know we each have journey guides and spiritual midwives whose words we want to take with us when we travel, but why did they have to make their books so heavy? (Then again, don’t take anything out—those words are golden.)

If you’re wanting to take some inspiration with you on your journey but can’t manage the added weight (and really, who should take that much anyway?), why not consider turning your favorite poems, passages, blessings, and quotes into your own personal pilgrim liturgy?

Once you find the perfect journal for your journey, copy down the words that inspire you into the journal’s front pages and make them a part of your daily routine. Perhaps there’s a poem you’d like to read each morning of your pilgrimage, or a blessing that could ease you into rest each night. Maybe there’s a particular Scripture verse or phrase that expresses the theme of your search, and you want to see it each time you open your journal to write. That one goes on the front!

Put quotes that inspire all on one page for you to return to in challenging times, or simply when you have a long wait. And of course, leave some extra pages at the front to keep adding to your own personal liturgy as your journey continues. Inspiration and words of wisdom lie around every corner for those who seek the Sacred. You could also add images—sometimes they take us to our Sacred center far more easily than words.

If it’s a while until your next journey, consider creating a personal liturgy for the current season instead, placing it in the front of your current journal. God knows we could all use a little inspiration in the midst of winter (pray for us, Southern Hemispherians!).

Me? My next journey begins this Sunday. I’ll be spending two weeks in the Arizona desert, training to become a spiritual director. More on that next week, but until then, below are some bits of inspiration I’ll be adding to my own liturgy for the journey ahead (feel free to use them for yourself, too!).

WHAT I’M INCLUDING IN
MY OWN PERSONAL LITURGY

GO FURTHER…

What would you add to your journey journal as a part of your pilgrim liturgy?

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