Presence

I AM AFFLICTED with the cultural plague of busy-ness. Trying to find time each day to write, walk, meditate, or make art and work makes it painfully obvious how busy I am. While I would not call myself a workaholic, I do tend to keep moving and I keep busy.

Spirituality is the experience of the presence of God. Spiritual practices are those attitudes or activities that open a person to the experience of the presence of God. The ones that first come to mind are prayers, meditation, reading the Bilbe, and attending church. In recent years many Christians have been adding to the list so that we now think of a walk in the woods, sitting in a sunny window with a cup of tea, or even knitting as spiritual practices. Anything that allows us to be still or to focus or attention on the Holy One can be a spiritual practice. Anything we come back to day after day, anything to which we give our attention, can be a spiritual practice. Washing dishes, walking the dog, even taking out the trash.

-Jeanette Stokes

Disciplines 2010