Thursday, December 10, 2009

spiritual practice


I went out in the rain and snow yesterday to see my spiritual director. Because I badly needed a spiritual attitude adjustment.
I confessed/complained to her that I have neglected most of my spiritual practices of late.
Then we talked about the sermon for this Sunday and how I sometimes feel like letting loose like John the Baptist and calling people a bunch of snakes and other unhelpful things. And then we talked about the spiritual struggles of living in upper middle class, materialistic, consumer oriented, image conscious suburbia.
When we were done, she said to me (or at least this is what I heard): here is your spiritual practice: to write a sermon without calling people names. And here is your other spiritual practice: to continue to struggle with issues of consumption and possessions and image without selling out and without the unhelpful messages that guilt conveys.
And then she said: I hope you get to spend a few minutes of quietness with God.

And it was worth the messy drive, because now I remember that the spiritual practices are not only those special moments set aside, but the spiritual practices are also the ways that we live our faith in every moment of our lives.