Enriching Morning Devotions

Whether I'm at home or here in France, I frequently like to enrich my morning devotion time with something beautiful. Sometimes I light candles; sometimes I meditate on a photograph I've taken of a sacred space such as this detail from the Cloisters at the St. Etienne Catheral in Cahors. Most of the time, though, I use music. It can be either sacred or secular...classical works are perfect. My only criteria is the music cannot be accompanied by singing unless it's not in English. I find I get distracted by the words of a song and don't focus on the words of Scripture. I know...I'm not very disciplined! This morning I set the mood for my devotional time with a CD by Paolo Lorenzani (1640-1713) an Italian-born composer who used rich choral arrangements with his orchestral scores to blend both the Italian and  French styles of music during the Baroque peiod. The CD playing for my inspiration was a series of motets with titles such as "Dialogue Between Jesus and the Soul," "Antiphon to theVirgin," and "Litany of Our Lady." I could close my eyes and imagine myself sitting on a hard wooden pew in a Gothic cathedral worshipping with the faithful. For me, music, beauty, and light are all rituals that the Holy Spirit uses to enrich my time with God.

Do you enrich your devotions with any rituals? I'd love to hear what they are.

Giving and Receiving

"Jesus....got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him." These verses from John 13 were the basis for last evening's Maundy Thursday service. After Elizabeth's homily on servanthood, humility and loving one another, we all had the opportunity to come forward to have our feet washed and to wash the feet of another. It was a powerful moment of both giving and receiving in love. Being a nurse, it wasn't hard for me to wash the feet of another; I've done that hundreds of times. For me, it was much harder to receive this loving gift from someone else. How many times do I put up barriers to receiving? How often have I refused to ask for help, for what I need, for a loving kindness? Have I ever rejected an act done out of love and caring? Yes, serving others can be inconvenient, unpleasant and hard. Receiving service and love from others can be infinitely more difficult.

Organ Music and Candlelight

I'm sitting here journaling by candlelight and the organ music of Conques, searching for God in the midst of the world's busy-ness. Since returning from France, busy has been non-stop: work issues, projects including moving my office, a long weekend in San Diego visiting family, buying a new car and bidding the old one 'adieu,' struggling with a sorethroat and cough, a dental problem, a doggie health issue, planning trips to the laundromat (I've GOT to buy a new washer soon!). You get the picture--all those things that hold you in an iron grip of worry and distraction. Where is God in all this? My Centering Prayer practice has stopped; I hardly find time to journal, say a quick bedtime prayer or even glance at the prayer list from church. I feel frazzled, a bit empty and annoyed at myself for letting exterior things interfere with my interior peace and groundedness. I've decided to let the wonderfully opaque graphic glass windows of the Abbey Church at Conques block out the world's distractions while I renew my inner spirit. For the next few days, I'll seek Spirit in ritual and intention. Will you join me?