Find Your Space and Nourish Your Spirit

This morning as I sat at my desk I pulled from my shelf a book given to me a number of years ago called “The cup of Life” by Joyce Rupp. This book invites people to make a journey for spiritual growth.

I began to think about the reality that we are currently living and how vitally important it is for us to tend to our spirits. This can be difficult as we find ourselves caught in navigating the day to day under such different circumstances. I don’t know about you, but my days have taken on a new normal. It usually begins by checking Facebook and listening to the radio gleaning what I can about how things are going in the world at this moment. I find that throughout the day, even though I don’t really want to, I am drawn to articles and news broadcasts wanting to stay as up to date as I can the latest information about the virus and how that will impact our lives. Most every conversation, even with strangers in the line up at the grocery store, focuses on what is happening now. With the lightening of restrictions there are also conversations about what will be.

People wondering about a second wave.

Concerns about how we will survive another lockdown.

Then there are the countless emails from other churches in our extended faith family as we all try to figure out how and when we will best return to in-person worship. I have researched and written protocols for returning to our buildings and those are added to regularly as new information surfaces.

And what I realized is that taking time to nourish the spirit takes a lot more concentration and intention than ever before.

But it is, perhaps, more necessary now.

It is, I believe, vital for our own well being to step away from the noise and concerns and chaos that surrounds us, and connect to the energy of the universe, the source of our being. For each one of us this will be different. Joyce Rupp, in her book, uses a cup as a tool for her daily devotion/reflection/connection. This visual helps to focus the thought for the day. She writes:

a simple container has spoken to my solitude.
a teacher and bringer of wisdom

whispering truths of an indwelling God
in the container of my soul

hearkening to my hidden ability
to be filled
and to pour from a life of abundance

reminding me
of necessary boundaries
for nurturing the sacred space
within me

inviting me
to sip from the Divine wellspring,
source that slakes my spiritual thirst

calling me like a seed in the soil

believe, believe, believe
in the power that is present
in the life that is possible

I Will Go to My River

For me that visual is, as most of you have heard me say many times, my beloved river. While I cannot sit beside it now as I have in summers past, I can call it to mind and see it in my being. As the cup for Joyce, the river for me is that reminder of connection with something greater than I.

It speaks to me wisdom, of courage to flow freely into something greater.

It calls me to dream and imagine and it fills the thirst of my soul.

My mind is free to soar and I am one with the Universe.

So I have decided to change the beginning of my day. Each morning I will go to my river and there journey inward to tap into the source of my being. I invite you to find your space, go there daily. Step out of the chaos around you and feed your spirit. Breathe deeply, as you focus on whatever it is that speaks to you of Divine presence, Life, Possibility and Promise. Offer your thoughts and words into the wind of Spirit. Drink from the well and be renewed and refreshed.

Blessings
Valerie