This is a guide to help you encounter God through reflection, listening & prayer. Use this in your times of prayer, retreat, and Sabbath. Click here to get a printable version of this guide. SETTLE INTO GOD’S PRESENCE Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and slowly quiet your body, mind, and soul. Adjust to the silent stillness. Reflect on where you have been, what you have been doing, and what you have felt and experienced in the last several weeks. How has God been present to you? What are the things occupying your mind and heart? What hopes and fears do you have as you prepare to meet with God? Share these thoughts and feelings with God. Listen. OPENING PRAYER Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (From the Book of Common Prayer) SCRIPTURE READING: MATTHEW 13:44-46 Take a few moments to sit with the following passage. Read through it, allowing it to wash over you, and speak to you. What words or verses caught your attention? Hold these words in your mind, paying attention to what is going through your mind and heart. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
CLOSING PRAYER Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (From the Book of Common Prayer) How was your experience as you went through this guide? How did God speak to you? Please share in the comments. If you want more like this, check out the Spiritual Journey library for more guides. Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
Sign up for my email newsletter Notes From Larissa. Once we clearly acknowledge the soul, we can learn to hear its cries." What has your soul been crying for lately? Have you heard its cries? Most of us don't sense our soul's cries. We're busy with the more tangible elements of life, and our soul's cries get ignored. Or our soul's cries are too painful, and we avoid them entirely. The voice of our soul can be difficult to hear because it generally comes out in symptoms, rather than direct cries. Wouldn't it be simpler if your soul spoke to you directly, like "Hey, I'm hurting here. Please pay attention to me and meet my needs today." Instead, our soul speaks to us indirectly through our emotions, our choices, our thoughts, our bodies. In order to listen to our soul, we must learn to hear its voice. We can develop the skill of listening to our soul. One helpful way to learn to listen to your soul is by asking these questions: When my soul is neglected, what tends to happen? When my soul is needing something, what tends to emerge in my feelings, choices, thoughts, body, and relationships? When my soul is healthy, what flows out of me? When I am deeply aware of my connection with God, and living out of my identity as his beloved child, what emerges from me through my feelings, thoughts, and actions? I'll use my own reflections as an example. Here are the symptoms of my soul: Symptoms of soul neglect: shame, fear that my needs aren't getting met, overworking, emotional disengagement, insecurity, comparing myself to others, frustration toward my kids, bitterness, projecting other people's expectations of me, lack of intimacy with people, restlessness, isolation, a critical attitude. Symptoms of soul health: joy, compassion, peace, trust in God's goodness, creativity, a sense of humor, generosity toward others, clear sense of vision, intimacy with others, energy for work and play, a desire to connect with God. Focus on the causes, not the symptoms. We can spend so much time and energy trying to decrease the symptoms of soul neglect. But when we focus on the symptoms rather than the causes, we always end up in the same cycles. The results are short-lived and sometimes counterproductive. Instead, focus your attention on the soul neglect in your life. Fundamental aspects of life such as art, sleep, sex, ritual, family, parenting, community, health, and meaningful work are all in fact soul functions, and they fail and fall apart to the degree that the soul diminishes." In order to have true and lasting health, we must tend to our soul's needs. Everything about our lives and identity is in some way a function of our soul. So what makes a soul healthy? It's not related to our external circumstances. A soul is healthy to the extent that it has a connection and receptivity to God. That's it. The health of your soul depends on your connection and receptivity to God. When you are connected to God and receptive to him, your soul comes alive. Your soul experiences deep joy and peace, no matter your external circumstances. Psalm 23 says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul." Take a good look at your soul today, so that you can experience God in restorative ways. ACTION & PRACTICE Ask yourself the question: What has your soul been crying for lately? Spend some time reflecting and journaling about that. Ask God to meet the needs of your soul. Ask him, "God, what is your invitation to my soul today? What do you want to say to or do with my soul right now?" What has your soul been crying for lately? What does your want from God today? Please share in the comments. If you enjoyed this post, check out these related posts: 20 Self-Care Practices Activities For Your Health and Well-Being Questions That Lead Us to Transformation Want guidance and inspiration for your spiritual journey delivered to your inbox?
Sign up for my email newsletter Notes From Larissa. We overvalue nonessentials like a nicer car or house, or even intangibles like the number of our followers on Twitter or the way we look in our Facebook photos. As a result, we neglect the activities that are truly essential, like spending time with our loved ones, or nurturing our spirit, or taking care of our health." Take a moment and think back to yesterday. As you consider how you spent your day, think about the different activities you did. How much of your day was spent on things that lined up with your deepest values? How much of your day was spent on nonessentials? When I look back to yesterday, I see moments of nurturing things that are essential to me. I played with my kids, worshipped with my church community, and spent time in prayer with God. There are other moments when I spent lots of time on nonessentials, like browsing the internet, and worrying about something I have no control over. We're human, with limits of time and energy. Some people live as if their time is unlimited. That is simply untrue. Our resources of time and energy are limited, so we must learn to spend them on the right things. Jesus was a master at this. He was an essentialist, saying no to nonessentials in order to nurture the essentials. Just look at the Gospel of Mark - you'll see Jesus saying no to all sorts of good but nonessential things. For many of us trying to make space in our daily lives to connect with God, we may discover that there are nonessentials that we need to let go of first. We have many other activities we could say "yes" to, instead of connecting with God. These other things may be good; they may be places where we experience some level of joy or rest. But ultimately, our souls are still yearning for a direct, focused, sacred moment of engaging with God. That's how I feel after reading a good book or watching a TV show - it's nourishing on some level, yet I want and need to have that space to truly abide and dwell in God's presence. The larger life principle is that we each have power to choose how we spend our time. If you want to have a fulfilling and thriving life, you must put the essential things first. HOW TO SAY NO TO THE NONESSENTIALS (AND YES TO THE ESSENTIALS) 1. Examine your daily life. Decide what activities are essential to you. Nurturing your health? Spending time with loved ones? Making time to connect with God? What things are most important to you right now, and how can you build your day around those things? 2. Block out the time and space for the essentials. Create space for the essentials. Put those priorities in first, and allow them to take precedence over the less important things. If it helps, block out times during your day for those activities. 3. Eliminate (or limit) the nonessentials. Instead of thinking "I can do everything," ask yourself, "What are the trade-offs I want to make?" You may need to say no to certain things. You may want to edit out or put time limits on various activities. 4. Do this process, refine, and do it again. Living as an essentialist is not a one-and-done thing. It is a process which invites us to learn, change, and grow. MORE RESOURCES: Join our community The Spiritual Journeyers on Facebook to get support in saying more "yes" to God. If you enjoyed this post, check out these related posts: How to Use the Wheel of Life: a Tool For Personal Development (+ free worksheet packet) How to Create Space to Listen to the Voice of God (plus free printable prayer guides) ACTION & PRACTICE What do you need to say "no" to today? What things need to be removed and cleared away so that you have the ability to say "yes" to receiving all that God has for you? Consider how you can shift your day to make space for God's work in your life. How much or little does your daily life reflect what is most essential to you? What adjustments do you want to make to create more space for what is essential? Please share in the comments. 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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