 This is a continuation of "My Spiritual Practices," a blog series highlighting a variety of people through interviews about their spiritual life and practices. I love learning from other people, and in particular, learning how they live out their faith in daily life. Each person being interviewed is sharing an intimate look at their lives. For that, I am grateful. My hope is that these interviews will offer us a snapshot of how different people experience God in their lives, and that they might inspire and guide us in our own unique spiritual journeys. Cat MooreCat Moore is a community development expert, writer, and rogue research designer based in Los Angeles. She fosters organic, free-range community in social wastelands as Mother Clucker at the Coop. As CEO of Connectors she comes alongside leaders to collaboratively handcraft relationship-centered frameworks, training experiences, atmospheres, and spaces. She also makes mashed potato sculptures and parents 6 year-old Noah, the coolest human to ever exist.  How do you connect with God? What spiritual practices and rhythms do you have? Through mindful interactions with a variety of people I come across throughout the day. Through conversational journaling. Through contemplation of nature. Through communion. What daily or weekly spiritual practices are most important to you? Phone prayer with friends. Examen before I fall asleep to get all the junk from the day off of me, cultivate gratitude, and transfer twinkling moments to long-term memory. Making space to create and give gifts to friends and neighbors. Describe the environment that helps you best connect with God. Semi-lit, semi-crowded cafes. Slow neighborhood walks during the 4pm-7pm golden hour listening to something mellow on repeat. Sitting on my kitchen counter with my cats and a view to the mountains through a tangle of telephone wires. What tools or resources help you connect with God? I like returning to texts that I’ve marked up so badly you can barely read them anymore. Henri Nouwen’s “Life of the Beloved” and Leslie Weatherhead’s “The Transforming Friendship” work really well for me. They’re familiar enough that I can sink into them in a meditative way and get reoriented and use them as a launchpad into whatever else God wants to do or say. I’m a writer and artist, so it also helps to have paper and pen handy to jot down anything that comes up in me. It’s a way of staying connected to my body too--you’re physically participating in the experience by scribbling physical ink onto physical paper. How have your spiritual practices changed over recent years? They’ve shifted from being more one-on-one with God to being more communal. So whereas it was easiest to sit at a Peet’s Coffee with a bunch of theology books and a journal, now it’s easiest to sit with a friend at Peet’s Coffee and share what God’s up to in our lives. On days when your schedule changes, are you able to adapt your spiritual practices to fit in with a different environment? Sure, but mainly because my spiritual practices were never super tied to a specific time and place. Plus, as the theory goes, God is accessible everywhere all the time, so popping into intentional connection isn’t that hard if you have a variety of ways you can connect. And when you’re a parent, you simply have to develop multiple ways to connect because your life is constantly changing. Things like practicing his presence (or practicing being present period) can be done literally anywhere at any time. Do you practice the Sabbath or spiritual retreat? If so, what does that look like for you? So lucky to have Sundays “to myself,” which may be divided between mundane admin and organizing tasks, writing and art projects, and DO NOTHING time. But Sunday is a day I try to severely limit my social contact--whether in person or remotely and digitally. It’s time to process all the goings and stimulations of the week, decompress, and reorient. What people or relationships contribute most to your spiritual growth? Do I get bonus points if I say friendship with Larissa Marks?!?! Even if I don’t, it’s true. I have a couple other women I’m deeply connected to in vibrant, reciprocal friendship. My relationship with my Mom and my now-deceased mentor, Dallas Willard are WAY up there. And topping the charts is my relationship with my son--a never-ending opportunity to awaken to beauty and wildness and to learn to love and be loved. What gets in the way of your spiritual growth? Fragmented processes of living--too many mental tabs open at once crash my hard drive and prevent me from relaxing and being present. So I’m learning how to do one thing at a time... Worry--about dumb stuff that has no basis in reality and that I can’t do anything about anyway. Trying to “get results” in my own way and time according to bizarre cultural standards. Fear of change--keeping my foot on the brake so I don’t feel out of control often keeps me from taking risks that God is inviting me to go for. Listening to dead narratives about myself. What do you do when you get spiritually stuck? Eat Candy. Oh, productive things? It depends. Sometimes I’ll approach it indirectly by building up my momentum in other areas like physical health. It seems to have an empowering effect that carries over into my spiritual life. If I’m unable to do much on my own, I pretty instantly email or call someone to reflect some reality to me. Often being ridiculously silly helps to break the over-seriousness of hyper-spiritual, shaming self-talk that I can get into. And other times, you just batten down the hatches and hold on for dear life until the seas get calmer. Yeah, not so proactive, but whatever, it’s true. How do you connect with God through life transitions? With courage and grace. Haha, no I don’t. I’ve been historically terrible with navigating major changes. I tend to get deer-eyed and white knuckle the steering wheel. I will say, however, that over the last 2 years I’ve downright shocked myself at how I’ve grown some sea legs which keep me from capsizing through stormy straits, even if they don’t keep me from being violently seasick. I think part of the improvement is born from laying down my idealized self and a false expectation that God only wants to deal with me when I’ve got my crap together. How do I connect with him? In a salty, ragged cry from the deck, “Oh my God, WTF is going on?!” That works pretty well. What is one particular way you’ve experienced God recently? After not seeing my childhood best friend for over 7 years, we got together a few weeks ago and were stunned at how God has been at work in both of us. Our relationship had been unhealthy, requiring us to go our separate ways, but as we continued to pursue wholeness independently, God brought us both to a place as individuals where we were capable of restoring the friendship at a whole new level. It was such a surprise...and miracle. What bit of wisdom from your own spiritual journey do you want others to know? There is solid ground under our feet no matter what kind of tumultuous waters we’re going through. It is God who is always pursuing us no matter what we do or don’t do, are or aren’t. It is not finally about our grip on him, but his grip on us. And he’s not petty. He can handle us, with humor, focus, and creativity. And he is constantly working to connect us with other amazing souls to hatch and let fly collaborative projects that promote truth, beauty, and goodness. He’s basically way bigger and better than we think, and way more normal. And we can just freakin’ relax a little. If you enjoyed this post, check out these related posts: My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Adele Booysen My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Mark Hage My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Brianna Wilkerson Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
Sign up for my email newsletter Notes From Larissa.  This is a continuation of "My Spiritual Practices," a blog series highlighting a variety of people through interviews about their spiritual life and practices. I love learning from other people, and in particular, learning how they live out their faith in daily life. Each person being interviewed is sharing an intimate look at their lives. For that, I am grateful. My hope is that these interviews will offer us a snapshot of how different people experience God in their lives, and that they might inspire and guide us in our own unique spiritual journeys. Brianna WilkersonBrianna Wilkerson is a health and nutrition coach, student ministry volunteer, accountant, worship leader, and blogger for her holistic health business, Made Well. Brianna started Made Well out of her own personal health journey and understanding that only through the pursuit of holistic health (spiritual, emotional, mental and physical) can one actually be made healthy, whole and well. She lives in the Cayman Islands with her husband.  How do you connect with God? What spiritual practices and rhythms do you have? I connect best with God primarily through reflecting and worship. Through prayer journalling, I’m able to focus my thoughts and prayers and reflect on what I’m feeling and what God is trying to say and do in and around me. Through worship music, I hear him speak right to my soul and it helps me respond to him in adoration, repentance, thanksgiving or intercession. The Psalms are always my go-to scripture for comfort, guidance, worship and simply to put words to what I’m feeling God do or say. The Psalms are songs, so naturally, my heart is drawn to the way emotions are articulated through words and music. My spiritual practices and rhythms include daily quiet time with God, where I pray, journal, worship, and read his word. I also read books of some kind and ask God what he is saying through it. I also host small group bible study at my house with my husband, co-lead worship at my church, and try to practice moments, hours, and days of rest. And to be honest, I see my health coaching job as ministry. I have the great opportunity to get to know people and empower them in areas other than just how to eat or workout, but how to deal with root causes of a possible broken relationship with food, themselves, and others. We talk about relationships, their dreams/passions, and even spirituality and Jesus. I always leave a coaching session so filled and with joy, knowing that God was present and moving during that short or long time my clients and I were meeting. What daily or weekly spiritual practices are most important to you? Daily
Weekly
Describe the environment that helps you best connect with God. When trying to have my own personal time with God, any space that is quiet and I can have my own private space. Someone else can be in the same room as me, but I need to have my own space where I can look up or do whatever I need to do, without having to worry about them right around me or look at them. I prefer to be by the water, but if not, just the privacy of my own home has worked really well for me. What tools or resources help you connect with God? Journal and pen, Bible, any bible study by First Place 4 Health, and worship music/Ipod. Even before I would say I fully committed to Jesus’ lordship in my life, I always wrote my prayers in journals and found that I could be more focused, more honest, and understand God more when I wrote. So I still do it to this day! My heart is also for musical worship, meditation, and reflection. So my typical quiet time looks like me journaling, doing a bible study, or reading the word, and responding by listening to some worship music and praying in the way God leads. How have your spiritual practices changed over recent years? I don’t think my spiritual practices have changed over the years, as much as they have deepened. Since I truly started to follow Jesus 7 years ago, musical worship, journaling, regular small group and corporate study/worship, reading and meditation on the Word, and times in solitude have been consistent in my life. However, as I face more of what life brings, I find my soul longing for more time to do all of those things. I find that I can go deeper quicker in those practices as my relationship deepens with God and we journey longer together. On days when your schedule changes, are you able to adapt your spiritual practices to fit in with a different environment? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I am a morning quiet time girl and love to get a hot cup of coffee, my journal, Ipod, and Bible, and have me some Jesus time. However, I often find that sometimes I have to be certain places early in the morning, which either cuts down on my time with God or eliminates it when I'm too exhausted from the days before. Sometimes I find other times in the day to have quiet time, but sometimes I don’t. On those days, I’m challenge to sneak away for a few minutes just to sit and speak with God, and to also just speak with him in everyday life. His presence is always with us, it’s just a matter of acknowledging His presence and accepting that He is near - which is harder some days than others. Do you practice the Sabbath or spiritual retreat? If so, what does that look like for you? To be honest, I’ve always struggled with Sabbath. The idea of taking a day off to rest has always felt like a luxury I couldn’t afford to have. However, in the last month, I have felt God convicting my heart of that and showing me that rest is not a matter of leisure, self-indulgence, or luxury, but is actually a matter of self-denial where I have to choose to deny my Type A and work-a-holic self to sit and enjoy his rest. To see that ultimately, he is the one who is in all things, does all things, and from all things come from. As of late, sabbath and spiritual retreats simply look like making more space on the weekend and everyday life to just sit, rest, reflect and not have my mind going in a million directions. I have felt God saying that rest for me cannot be one day, but has to be my lifestyle. That from everything I do and say, to operate out of his Yoke, His rest, and His power. What people or relationships contribute most to your spiritual growth? So many! My husband and I have both been so fortunate to have great Christian friends, leaders, mentors and family members in our lives. Whether it be our InterVarsity Staff and community, Tampa church community (Tampa Underground), Cayman church community (Church of God Chapel George Town), other Christian married couples, Christian friends around our age and even the students we work with, so many individuals speak into our life and walk with God - and we are so grateful for them! For me in particular, women who are older than me and love Jesus have played a huge role in my life by mentoring me, coaching me, listening to me, and challenging me to go in the direction God is leading. What gets in the way of your spiritual growth? Saying yes to too many things, putting too much meetings or activities in my schedule and honestly, not resting physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. Since I’m in the process of starting my own business while working another job, I have found that I tend to see every moment as a chance to do some sort of work - send an email, meet up with a client, share an essential oil sample, etc. But what I realized over the last few weeks is that although I was still having quiet time, I didn’t feel like I was fully present in those times and definitely missed out on what God may have been saying and doing. Since coming back from a Young Leaders Christian Conference in Indonesia this past summer, I’ve really seen the importance of making moments, hours, days of rest a regular thing, and not just when I’ve reached the end of myself and am completely burnt out. I’ve started reading this book called “The Radical Pursuit of Rest” by John Koessler and it has challenged everything I’ve ever thought about what rest really is. I went into reading the book telling God that I need more than a day of rest but a lifestyle of rest where I learn to abide in him and make moments to just be every single day. And what I’ve found since reading this book and creating space to just be and sit with God, my soul has felt more at peace and revived in this stage of transition than it has in years. I have truly come to see that in order to grow in my walk with God, I must create space to truly be at rest and reflect to see all that he is doing and wants to do. What do you do when you get spiritually stuck? I tell those closest to me what’s going on and ask for prayer. I also just cry out to God, asking for him to show me himself and to show me where I may be walking the wrong way, or if I need to do anything. I try my best to not just stay in being spiritually stuck, but to actively move forward and get out of the rut I may be in, with the help of Jesus and others. How do you connect with God through life transitions? Conversations with both God and people, journalling and honestly, tears. I’m a firm believer that processing what we are thinking and feeling is a fundamental way to deal with transitions. So many positive and negative emotions come with transitions and you often feel alone in those feelings. It’s funny you ask actually, I’m going through a life transition right now in taking some risks to further my business and I feel both excited and scared out of my pants! Yet, by sharing those feelings with others and God, I have felt peace, joy, and expectation. I’ve also felt the presence of God so near and know that he is faithful in both times of stability and instability and I must, no matter how I feel, hold fast to the truth that he is the same yesterday, today and forever. What is one particular way you’ve experienced God recently? Honestly? It’s hard to pick one. I feel like ever since I’ve stopped to actually reflect on each day to see what God did or was up to, I’ve seen Him move mightily in so many ways! This is definitely thanks to your Daily Examen guide on your website! :) However, if I have to narrow it down to only one, I would say him providing a way for me to pursue the health and wellness building he has called me to, as well as still work in my accounting job until my business is ready for me to give it my full attention. That is a gift I know only a Good Father could give, and I am so incredibly humbled and grateful for it. What bit of wisdom from your own spiritual journey do you want others to know? Understanding who God is and what it means to have a relationship with him is simply, a journey. You never fully arrive here on earth, but each day is an opportunity to learn more about God, experience His love, and partner with what He’s doing around you and in the world. Don’t try to get everything perfect - rest in his grace and receive it. Pursue Jesus and let him love you, completely and unconditionally. If you enjoyed this post, check out these related posts: My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Adele Booysen My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Mark Hage Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
Sign up for my email newsletter Notes From Larissa.  This is a continuation of "My Spiritual Practices," a blog series highlighting a variety of people through interviews about their spiritual life and practices. I love learning from other people, and in particular, learning how they live out their faith in daily life. Each person being interviewed is sharing an intimate look at their lives. For that, I am grateful. My hope is that these interviews will offer us a snapshot of how different people experience God in their lives, and that they might inspire and guide us in our own unique spiritual journeys. Mark HageMark Hage is a theologian, spiritual director and pastor at Vineyard Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He loves to curate ideas, exegete cultures and celebrate beauty. He is married to Inez and they deeply enjoy their daughter Lucy.  How do you connect with God? What spiritual practices and rhythms do you have? I feel like God connects with me in many different ways. It could be through listening to some singer-songwriter as I am travelling by train, or as I am reflecting on the presence of God while staring at some random bush in our garden; I even started meditating on our 11 month old daughter. I love the way she is so honest, is not concerned about honor, and how she carries such joy and unconditional love and attention. Although I see the deep value of rhythm and ritual I still find it very hard to have consistent rhythms in my life. Chaos would probably be the most consistent thing in my week. In the midst of this I pray often and study a lot. I also always carry a few key verses and a couple of songs with me through different periods in life that keep me focussed and believing. What daily or weekly spiritual practices are most important to you? Although I regularly figure this out too late, one of the most important things to me daily and weekly is to find solitude and silence. It is in silence and solitude that I can straighten my thoughts and find perspective. As if I am putting down a bottle of dirty water and all the dirt sinks to the bottom. I gain clarity and peace. And it helps me to be even more attentive to God’s still small voice in the midst of the cacophony of voices in and around me. Describe the environment that helps you best connect with God. I’ve discovered several years ago that the monastery is the perfect place for me. I come fully alive and start to blossom in the communal rhythm, prayer and silence of an old Benedictine monastery in the south of the Netherlands. Every summer I try to go there for a week and some of the most important decisions in my life have been made in that context. What tools or resources help you connect with God? I engage a lot with Scripture, read a wide variety of christian and non-christian books, listen to a lot of music (I used to be a musician so music is in my blood and woven through my life), and like I mentioned before: silence and mere attention is the best tool I know right now. Everything finds its right place and crystallizes or evaporates in staring at the face of Jesus. How have your spiritual practices changed over recent years? I used to just read Scripture and only listen to worship music. I still value this a lot, but I’ve also become more and more aware of how God can be present in all things. I find that more and more I am surprised by God in many different ways. I’d like to try and fast again regularly, since I haven’t done that regularly anymore and I feel like fasting and in general more simplicity good be a great practice for me. The last few years I also started doing the Spiritual Exercises (twice) with a spiritual director. Spending time in Scripture meditating on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus through Lectio Divina and Imaginative Prayer have been very valuable, as well as doing the Examen daily (becoming more aware of consolation and desolation in my life). On days when your schedule changes, are you able to adapt your spiritual practices to fit in with a different environment? Yes, I am really flexible with these things and like to improvise my way forward. Do you practice the Sabbath or spiritual retreat? If so, what does that look like for you? I practice the Sabbath on Saturday with my wife and daughter and on Monday together with my daughter (my wife is away studying that day). We like to hang out together, visit family or friends and enjoy each others company. I take an extra monthly day to pray and reflect on my own considering my life and our community and what God might be saying to me. What people or relationships contribute most to your spiritual growth? I feel very blessed with great people around me. A wonderful spiritual director. Good friends. A very encouraging mentor/friend. My wife who keeps me on track. And a great community of people that teach me what it means to love and trust. What gets in the way of your spiritual growth? That would be me, myself and I. I am full of all sorts of distractions, worries, fears and disordered desires. What do you do when you get spiritually stuck? I seek silence and prayer and in these the presence of my Father who loves me and finds joy in me. And I place myself in relationship and community with others that can carry me when I am weak. How do you connect with God through life transitions? I have found that my trust and ‘onbevangenheid’ (a beautiful Dutch word for careless, carefree) have been profoundly shaped and grown in these periods. There have been periods in life where I’ve felt like running on character. I just needed to stay faithful and continue to do in the darkness what I’ve been doing in the light. With or without feelings or instant fruit. Psalm 84:11 has made a profound impact on me - especially the Hebrew word tamiem (often translated as blameless), which I would translate as something like undivided attention and surrender to God. What is one particular way you’ve experienced God recently? Just recently I was part of the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering in Jakarta. I feel like God met me in so many people and stories. He was challenging me to continue to abandon fear and walk in faith and expectation. I was reminded of a prayer that an old Irish couple prayed for me years ago: you’ve been believing your doubts and doubting your beliefs, it is time you start doubting your doubts and believing your beliefs. Since that gathering I’ve started meditating and praying with 2 Timothy 1:7. What bit of wisdom from your own spiritual journey do you want others to know? The past couple of years I am intrigued by the concept of improvisation. I feel like improvisation could be an incredibly helpful lens through which we can get a better view on what life could be like. You could say theater improvisation has five principles: 1) always serve the bigger story 2) stay true to your character 3) don’t block but accept 4) make the other shine 5) don’t be afraid to fail. If we could start living by these principles as part of God’s ongoing story and faithfully improvise our way forward I think it would improve the way we do live in relationship to God, ourselves and others. Maybe give it a try and don’t be afraid, he has already overcome. Let’s play! If you enjoyed this post, check out this related post: My Spiritual Practices: An Interview With Adele Booysen Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
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WELCOMEHi, I'm Larissa. I am an artist and spiritual director on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i.
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