Over the last weeks, we have been
examining “Spirituality for Busy People.” We began this exploration by examining prayer
and then we explored the scriptures as a source for spirituality. This Sunday, September 24th, we will look at
a third form of spirituality, which I call, “Embodied Spirituality.”
From my perspective, spirituality refers to intentionally deepening and strengthening our relationship with the Divine, and a spiritual practice refers to a
particular action. Rev. Jane Vennard
says, “Spirituality is about growing, weaving, deepening, strengthening, and
embracing fully our relationship with God.”[i] I really appreciate this understanding of spirituality, however, I would modify
it by adding the qualifier, “intentional.”
That is, spirituality is intentional
growing, weaving, deepening, strengthening, and embracing fully our relationship
with the Divine.
For me, an embodied spirituality refers to practices other than prayer and
Bible study which incorporate our physical bodies. For example, I would suggest that sitting in
a forest or meadow, using our five senses to intentionally experience the
Divine through Creation would be a form of embodied
spirituality. Similarly, fasting for
a day in order to “create space in your life to attend to God”[ii]
would be a form of embodied
spirituality.
In developing the theme of embodied
spirituality in my proclamation this week, my scriptural text will be from 1 Thessalonians
5: 12-22. This passage comes at the end of the Apostle
Paul’s letter. It begins with a series
of ethical admonitions, ranging from respecting their leaders to abstaining
from repaying “evil for evil.” Then, the
passage turns to three imperatives:
1. Rejoice
always
2. pray
without ceasing
3.
give thanks in all circumstances
In my
proclamation, I want to focus exclusively on the middle imperative, “pray
without ceasing.” What does it mean to pray without ceasing?” Is it possible to pray continually throughout
our lives, regardless of what other activities in which we are engaged? Certainly, praying without ceasing would
entail some forms of embodied spiritual practices.
Throughout
Christian history, there have been some monks and mystics who attempted to pray
without ceasing throughout their lives.
For instance, in The Way of a
Pilgrim,[iii]
a 19th century writing, the protagonist attempts to fulfill the Apostle Paul’s
exhortation to “pray without ceasing.”
The protagonist’s spiritual guide advises him to repeat the “Jesus
prayer”[iv]
6,000 times a day. After he has mastered
this challenge, the spiritual advisor increases the number of prayers to 12,000
times a day. Ultimately the spiritual
novice finds that the prayer is constantly on his lips and mind—both when awake
and when asleep. The prayer becomes as
spontaneous as breathing.
Unfortunately,
The Way of a Pilgrim appears foreign
and contrived to the sensibilities of the typical twenty-first century American
Christian. However, the approach of
another historic Christian mystic may offer a more relevant approach for the
contemporary context. “Brother Lawrence”
was a 17th century French Carmelite. As
a young man, poverty forced Brother Lawrence to become a soldier. Unfortunately, he was wounded and forced to
leave the military. A simple and
uneducated man, he eventually joined the Carmelite Order. For the rest of his life, Brother Lawrence
spent most of his time in a Paris monastery.
He was
assigned to the kitchen, where he cooked, washed dishes and scrubbed pots and
pans. Over time, Brother Lawrence
discovered a special spirituality in his mundane daily tasks. He began to see his kitchen tasks as an
opportunity to place himself in the Presence of the Divine through his
chores. “As the practice of placing
himself in God’s presence gradually became habitual, he found that the
distinction between time set aside for prayer and time designated for work became
blurred.”[v] People began to notice Brother Lawrence’s
profound holiness and so they sought him out for spiritual guidance and
insight. Finally, four “conversations”
with Brother Lawrence were published as The
Practice of the Presence of God.[vi]
In thee
“four conversations,” I believe that Brother Lawrence lays out some helpful
guidelines for embodied spirituality:[vii]
1.
Renounce the Love of Anything that is not God. For Brother Lawrence, we must empty ourselves
of all other desires except that of loving God.
2.
Practice God’s Presence Faithfully by Keeping the Soul’s Gaze Humbly and
Trustfully Fixed on God. As
Robin Maas explains, “Unable to pray effectively according to a set method or
pattern, Brother Lawrence found that he could pray most successfully (and consistently)
by placing himself, through an act of the imagination and by an impulse of
love, in the presence of God.”[viii] In other words, Brother Lawrence imagined
himself always in the Presence of God, even when he was hard at work, scrubbing
pots.
3.
We should Begin, Continue, and End Every Act We Perform by an ‘Inward
Lifting of the Heart to God.’ Brother
Lawrence adopted a practice of lifting up short prayers to God throughout his
day, which effectively reminded him that he was in God’s Presence and that he
was doing the work of God, even if he was peeling potatoes or washing dishes.
4. Perseverance. Brother Lawrence recognized that it is not
easy to think of God throughout the day, regardless of the task to which we are
engaged. Frequently, he found himself
distracted and forgetful in his efforts to be constantly attuned with the
Presence of God. But, he prescribes being
easy with oneself; lifting up a prayer of confession to God; and continuing to
work at becoming fully attuned to God.
As noted
above, I believe that Brother Lawrence provides a template for contemporary
21st century Christians to practice an embodied spirituality. For example, we might apply Brother Lawrence’s
insights to our daily commute:
a.
As we get in our car, we might begin with a
brief prayer, thanking God for our job we and the opportunity to work, while
also asking a safe commute.
b.
As we begin our drive, we could imagine that
Jesus is present, in the car with us, sitting in the passenger seat.
c.
When someone cuts us off in traffic, rather than
blowing out horn, we might wave them ahead, mindful that Jesus is our
passenger.
d.
Rather than seeing stoplights as nuisances, we
could see them as brief opportunities to for prayer. At the first light that stops us, we might lift
up a prayer for those who are sick; at the second light we could pray for our
country; at the third light we could pray for those who are hungry and
homeless; at the fourth light for those who are lonely or grieving, and so
forth.
If you
live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I
invite you to come and join us this Sunday, September 24th, as we reflect on embodied spirituality. In addition to developing Brother Lawrence’s
insights, I will also make some other suggestions of ways in which we can
practice an embodied spirituality. Christ United Methodist Church is located
at 4530 A Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Our two traditional Worship Services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday
morning.
Come and join us. Everyone is
welcome and accepted because God loves us all.
[i]
Jane E. Vennard, Praying with Body and
Soul, A Way to Intimacy with God (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1998), 3.
[ii]
Vennard, 22.
[iii]
Anonymous, The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way,
translated by R. M. French, with an Foreword by Huston Smith (New York: HarperCollins, 1991).
[iv]
There are various forms of the “Jesus prayer.”
The one I use goes like this: “Lord
Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
[v]
Robin Maas, “Practicum 8, “Practicing the Presence of God: Recollection in the Carmelite Tradition” in Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary
Church, edited by Robin Maas and Gabriel O’Donnell, O.P. (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1990), 261.
[vi]
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The
Practice of the Presence of God translated by John J. Delaney with a
Foreword by Henri Nouwen (New York:
Image Book/Doubleday, 1977).
[vii]
The following summary of Brother Lawrence’s “four conversations” is drawn from
Robin Maas, 260-262.
[viii]
Mass, 261.
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