February 24, 2013

Train Stations and Remembering

Life is a quickly-moving thing, sometimes.  We jump onto a train, and suddenly we are twenty miles past where we began.  We watch as the fields and pastures, cities and train stations pass us by, and suddenly, we can't remember what our starting point looked like.  We can't remember if the sign in front of our original train station was green or blue; if the person who beckoned us onto the train was a man or a woman; if that person smiled at us, or did not.  In admiring the new world we are passing through, we forget the place where we started.

Sometimes we do not want to remember where we began our journey, when we stepped onto the train.  We don't want to remember, because it was raining outside and we stepped in a puddle; because we forgot to smile back at the man who smiled at us; because we were in a bad mood, and tossed our newspaper on the ground.  We don't want to remember, because we are ashamed of that place, embarrassed of ourselves, or unwilling to admit we were not at our best.  

Other times, we simply cannot remember that place.  It has been too many hours on the train, and the memory of stepping off the platform has left us.  The details are long gone, the faces of the people who stood waiting with us have vanished.  We have been on this train for too long, staring at the fields and pastures, cities and train stations as they pass us by.  We have been here for so long that we have forgotten where we began.

But it is important to remember.  It is not just important - it is necessary.  We cannot forget where we came from.  We cannot forget why we decided to take this train and not another.  We cannot forget how we felt while waiting for this train, and how we thought it would never come.  We cannot forget these things, because if it were not for them, we would have never stepped onto this train.

I have spent the past week praying and trying to remember where it was that I stepped onto my train.  I am trying to remember how I felt while waiting for that train, and why I decided to take it.  I had forgotten my call to ministry, my reason for stepping onto this quickly moving train that rarely stops to let off passengers.  I had forgotten that beginning place, and why I decided to go on this train, and not another.  I have worried that I took the wrong train, and that it is too late to go back and change my mind.  I have worried that if I cannot remember that train station where I stood waiting, I will not be able to continue on this train.  I will be forced off, made to start again from a new place.  

Train stations are places in which decisions are made.  In life, we arrive at many train stations and must make many decisions.  Which train will we take?  Which way will we go?  But no matter how we decide, we cannot forget those train stations, those places where we made those decisions.  We cannot forget where we were, and why we decided to step onto that train.  Because each of those train stations has been a way-station on our journey to where we are today.  

February 21, 2013

Knitting, Lectio Divina, and the Holy Spirit

The knitting and spirituality class that I taught at my church ended a few weeks ago, and I've been thinking a lot about the group since then.  Although by the end of the six weeks, there were only four or five women coming regularly, I really feel that those six weeks were well spent, and that *something* was accomplished. It is that *something* that I have been thinking about most.

In the third week, once the women felt comfortable knitting and talking at the same time (no small task), I decided to try something new.  Instead of just asking questions like "What is spirituality?" or "How are you spiritual?", I began using Lectio Divina during the second half of the class.  I love Lectio Divina - it is a wonderful and useful practice.  If you aren't familiar with it, you might want to check out the Wikipedia page, which is decently informative.  The version that I typically use is taken largely from Rethinking Youth Ministry.  Even though their version is meant for kids and youth, I find it works really well with adults.

Here is my version.  It is designed to be done in a group setting, but could easily be adapted as a personal practice.

1. Read the passage aloud.
--Meditate on the passage as a whole.
2. Read the passage aloud.
--Meditate on a word or phrase that stands out to you.
3. Read the passage aloud.
--Meditate on how the passage is relevant in your life.

Typically the meditations last for 2-3 minutes, or until people start moving and looking uncomfortable in the silence.  The first week I tried this with the knitting group, I decided to read Genesis 1.  (Fun thing I discovered -  the "Genesis 1" story that everyone talks about actually goes through Genesis 2:4.  Weird!)  It's a long passage - an entire chapter! - but a good one, and relevant to our knitting.  I was worried people would get bored with such a long passage, especially since I was reading through it three times, but something amazing happened - they listened.  They sat happily knitting (and crocheting) as I read the passage three times, pausing each time to meditate.  No one complained about the length.  No one sighed loudly when I read the passage yet again.

When we talked about the experience later, several of the women told me that they were able to sit through such a long reading because they were knitting.  Because their hands were busy and a piece of their minds were already distracted, they were able to listen to the entire passage without becoming bored.

I think that this is why I love knitting, and why silent sitting-type meditations just don't work for me.  When my body is still, my mind cannot help but race 100 miles an hour.  But when my body is moving, just a little bit, my mind is free and able to concentrate better.  I've knit in classes, movies, Bible study, and even worship.  I used to visit coffee shops with my drop spindle and spend time watching people while my hands were busy making yarn.  In each of these experiences, I've found that my mind is more connected with the world around me when my hands are busy knitting, or spinning.

I asked myself after that first week of trying lectio divina, "Where is the spirituality in this?" I can't quote a Bible passage, or explain this to you theologically, but I can say this: Those moments when the restlessness of the human body is quieted, and the mind is able to fully engage in the surrounding world?  Those are moments full of the Holy Spirit.

February 17, 2013

Inspiration Sunday

Some days when I am surfing the internet, or watching a movie, or reading a book, or just walking outside, I find myself staring at something.  It may be something new, but just as often it is something I have seen before.  Maybe it isn't something "visible" at all, but instead it is a haunting song on the radio, or an incredible interview on the "Special Features" of my favorite movie.  In those moments, I feel my skin tingling.  It is as if something has awoken in my mind, and suddenly my mind is going a hundred miles a minute.  I want to write my feelings, stitch my imaginings, sing a new song.  I want to create.

These days, many people use Pinterest as a place to post such inspirational things.  I thought I'd take a few of those things, as well as others, and put them here.

from http://ag-at-large.areavoices.com/files/2012/03/050802-SUNFLOWER-mjp.jpg

I love sunflowers.  When I see them alongside the road, I can't help but smile.  Their heads are always facing the sun, something that never ceases to amaze me.

Personal Photo

When I was in college, I studied abroad for a semester at Harlaxton Manor, a 19th century manor house in Grantham, England.  The building inside and out, the grounds, the landscape, never cease to inspire me.

Personal Photo

The Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland are a bleak, stormy place.  But amid the rocks and the grey skies is a determined beauty.

http://throughjamseyes.blogspot.com/2011/10/ulyana-sergeenko.html

Every now and then I find myself looking at this outfit.  Inspired by the early 20th century in fashion, it is both historic and modern.  It is elegant and beautiful.

File:Coventry Cathedral Baptistry window.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coventry_Cathedral_Baptistry_window.jpg

During World War II, Coventry Cathedral in England was bombed by passing German planes.  The day after the cathedral was bombed, the congregants gathered inside its ruins and decided that they would rebuild.  A few decades later they completed the promise, and built a beautiful worship space next to the ruins of their former cathedral.  The new cathedral is filled with stained glass windows that reflect onto the floors throughout the building.

Be inspired today by the beauty of God's world!