Remember, Lord, Your Church. Deliver it from all evil and perfect it in Your love; and gather it together from the four winds — the Church that has been sanctified — into Your kingdom which You have prepared for it.
— from The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles (1st century); source
Welcome to Friday Favorites! I have to tell you that this week’s favorites really fed my soul. In the midst of everything going on in our world, our fellow writers and Christians have responded with rich offerings to help us pray, write, grow, and navigate the stormy waters. I’m grateful for their generous outpouring of words this week.
The list below begins with a prayer for cities affected by the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and ends with two fantastic podcast interviews. I hope you’ll dig in and enjoy.
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A Prayer for the Cities Under Water via Kaitlin Curtice (“Calm the storms
That rage outside And inside us, We pray.”)
Finding God in the Routine & the Slow via Traci Rhoades (learn to be intentional about your everyday routine)
What I Wish St. Augustine Had Said via Lisa’s blog (I re-posted my essay on St. Augustine in honor of his feast day on Aug. 28)
Rachel Carson on Writing and the Loneliness of Creative Work via Brain Pickings (a haunting yet also encouraging exploration of the link between loneliness and creativity)
Tips for more productive writing sessions at home via Pat Olsen (if you write at home, like me, this is a must-read!)
Flee, Be Silent, Pray with author/contemplative Ed Cyzewski (Ryan Cagle interviews our founder, Ed Cyzewski, on the Lessons from Dead Guys podcast)
Theo-poetics (in the wild) with guest Michael Wright (Lisa DeLay interviews Michael on the Spark My Muse podcast)
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Tweet of the week:
For safety,
perseverance
and rescue
for those
surrounded
by rising water,
I pray
to the Lord.#ExtremeWeather— Carol Penner (@carol_penner) August 27, 2017
Gertrude the Great (1256 – c. 1302) was a German Benedictine nun at the monastery of St. Mary at Helfta. She was a mystic who was known for her devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus. Among her written works is a collection of Spiritual Exercises.
A few weeks ago we saw a comparison of the soul to a housewife by the Flemish nun Beatrijs of Antwerp. Gertrude the Great brings us another striking image. Although Gertrude was especially devoted to the sacred heart of Jesus, the Lord instructed her not to forget the other parts of his body. In the Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude, there follows an unusual account of Jesus’ body as a spiritual monastery.
A nun in Gertrude’s monastery writes:
One day, while she was singing Vespers, the Lord said to Gertrude:
Behold My Heart,—let it be your temple; then go through the other parts of My Body, and arrange for the other parts of a monastery wherever it seems best to you; for I desire that My sacred Humanity should henceforth be your cloister. . . .
Then Gertrude, obeying the commands of God, chose the Feet of her Spouse for her lavatory; His Hands for her work-room; His Mouth for her reception-room, or chapter-room; His Eyes for her school, in which she could read; and His Ears for her confessional.
I confess that I would never have thought of a lavatory in relation to Christ’s body. Call me crazy, but it just wouldn’t occur to me.
However, I love this passage in the Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude because it is such a beautiful image of intimacy. We draw from it the lesson that wherever we go, we can always be spiritually enclosed — housed, sheltered, protected. I think it helps us inhabit the biblical idea that our life is in Christ. Think about it — if Christ is our cloister, our shelter, then we are always in him. We are always just where we should be. We are always home.
Can you imagine making Christ’s humanity your cloister or shelter today?
A prayer from Saint Augustine (354-430), whose feast day was yesterday (Aug. 28):
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
That I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
To defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
That I always may be holy.
Each Friday I share some of my favorite finds related to praying or writing. If I think it could help you pray or write better, or just “be” better, I’ll include it below.
Do you have someone else’s article or post to share? Join the Contemplative Writers Facebook group, comment on today’s post on my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter (@LisaKDeam) to nominate your favorite articles, blog posts, and books by Thursday at noon each week.
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What I Learned from the Solar Eclipse via Carl McColman (what can the eclipse tell us about contemplation?)
8 Ways to Start a Project (Even If You Feel Clueless) via Emily P. Freeman (this hits home because I so often feel clueless)
Reform our Deformed Lives via Renovaré (a prayer by Walter Brueggemann)
I Am Because We Are via Elisabeth Barahona (honoring the I in we with contemplative practices)
Here’s What Happened Along the Way via Michelle Andrea Williams (a writer wrestles with God’s direction)
I Had to Say No to a Good Thing – This Writer’s Life via Andi Cumbo-Floyd (when “no” is your best option)
Recent studies have documented some of the consequences of our attachment to iPhones and other devices. The Atlantic has some scary articles about the dangers of iPhones for post-Millennials and the ability of smartphones to reduce your brain power even when they are turned off.
But wait, there’s more . . . especially for writers and artists. Part of the problem with the devices and screens on which we’ve come to rely is information overload . . . and this can damage creativity. An article in Open Culture proclaims:
[I]nformation overload keeps us mired in noise…. This saps us of not only willpower (of which we have a limited store) but creativity as well.
Drawing on recent studies and experiments, the article continues:
Our brains have limited resources. When constrained and overwhelmed with thoughts, they pursue well-trod paths of least resistance, trying to efficiently bring order to chaos.
When it comes to information and knowledge, sometimes less is more. What we need to do is unload:
When our minds are “unloaded” . . . such as can occur during a hike or a long, relaxing shower, we can shed fixed patterns of thinking, and explore creative insights that might otherwise get buried or discarded . . . Getting to that state in a climate of perpetual, unsleeping distraction, opinion, and alarm, requires another kind of discipline: the discipline to unplug, wander off, and clear your mind.
It seems that the internet and smartphone age will need to birth a new spiritual and creative discipline . . . that of (literally) unplugging.
Reflection: How do you practice the discipline of unplugging and wandering off?
Eternal Word, only begotten Son of God,
Teach me true generosity.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve.
To give without counting the cost,
To fight heedless of wounds,
To labor without seeking rest,
To sacrifice myself without thought of any reward
Save the knowledge that I have done your will.
Amen.
Hello friends – for today’s Friday Favorites, I wanted to feature a variety of contemplative responses to Charlottesville. So many writers and bloggers wrote thoughtful posts and prayers about this difficult time in our country and our lives.
Knowing that the community here at The Contemplative Writer (myself included!) stands for love and denounces fear, racism, oppression, and white supremacy, I thought that you would want to see these responses. Some are prayerful, others a call for action. Both are needed.
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A Prayer for Resilience in the Face of White Supremacy via Ruthie Johnson
How to Pray Against Racial Hostility via April Yamasaki
Why I Fail to Understand and Weeping Prayer – A #Compline for Weary, Broken Souls Longing for #Peace via Marvia Davidson
Charlottesville via Carl McColman
Our Work Just Got Harder and austinchanning.com/library/ (book suggestions) via Austin Channing
Calling All Gardeners: A Beginning via Mallory Redmond
Facing Our Legacy of Lynching via D. L. Mayfield
For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies via Courtney Ariel
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What contemplative, prayerful, or call-to-action responses have touched you this week?
God be in my head
And in my understanding.
God be in mine eyes
And in my looking.
God be in my mouth
And in my speaking.
God be in my heart
And in my thinking,
God be at mine end
And at my departing.
Each Friday I share some of my favorite finds related to praying or writing. If I think it could help you pray or write better, or just “be” better, I’ll include it below.
Do you have someone else’s article or post to share? Join the Contemplative Writers Facebook group or follow me on Twitter (@LisaKDeam) to nominate your favorite articles, blog posts, and books by Thursday at noon each week.
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Quieting the Mental Committee to Hear God by Jan Johnson (a Renovaré podcast on contemplative prayer)
Who Are You? by Rich Lewis (how does one become the authentic man or woman that they truly are?)
The Shout of Sacred Consent by Eric Leroy Wilson (learning to live from a place of sacred consent)
My Friend, Francis by Abigail Carroll (on finding spiritual friendship with a beloved saint)
Returning to Rest by Tina Osterhouse (going to the the other side of fear, into a place of rest and companionship with God)
Why I Write (because don’t we sometimes need to remember?) by Leslie Verner (concerning one of my favorite questions – why does a writer write?)
What a Social Media Break Taught Me about Soul-Care by Karen Gonzalez (on developing practices, social media and otherwise, to foster a healthy pace of life)
The Contemplative Writer 