Spirituality of the everyday

Fiona asked me some good questions on my previous post about Morning Prayer.

She asked me about how to use the material that I’d provided.

Note firstly, by the way that I’ve already updated the pdf file with version 2 as I had made some mistakes in the earlier one. I’d left too many antiphons in and there are enough antiphons to worry about in Advent without adding in any more. I’ve more too. Here is a copy of the Bible readings that the church suggests at this time of the year. I tend to use the Old Testament and Gospel in the morning. The theory is that one uses the New Testament and Gospel in the evening. At the moment we only do Morning Prayer each day in St Mary’s but I hope for a time when we might be able to sustain Evening Prayer too. I could also imagine different groups meeting either at different times or in different places to say the offices.

With regard to using this material at home, firstly, I’m going to suggest that anyone interested in how to say the Daily Office at home hops over to Kimberly’s blog and have a look through her post on exactly that subject from a few months ago. I can’t improve on it.

I think that whilst the churches worry themselves about things that they think are important, people have been rushing off to every shop in town to buy votive candles, incense, and piles of pebbles, to say nothing of feather dreamcatchers and crystals. People will build a spirituality of the everyday whether we encourage them to do so or not. I don’t think that is a bad thing either though I do think some of the things said about crystals are nonsense.

I think that for me, I would recognise some pretty old fashioned tricks for building spirituality into one’s life. It tends to come down to space, rhythm and ultimately intent. It takes intent to light that candle. It takes intent to put one stone on top of another as though putting it there has some meaning. It takes intent to build a breathing space into life. It takes intent to keep trying a regular rhythm with words until it becomes a part of us. I’ve no idea where that intent comes from. Does it come from within? I neither know nor care.

People are often helped to pray by having somewhere special to do it. That does not have to mean a hermitage in the garden though I’ve known people do that. It could just mean trying to be still and be with God in the presence of something that has carried meaning for you. An icon of Christ that I’ve lived with for many years does it for me.

Setting aside a particular time helps a lot of people though the truth is, I’ve never been able to sustain that for long myself on my own. I tend to need to be responsible to other people to pray at any regular hour.

Ultimately it does depend on our own lives and personalities. God meets us in the everyday and meets us where we are and wants the company of who we are. That moment can be all that there is. And that moment might be the start of being utterly transformed.

Light the lamp. Breathe in the rhythm of the words. Know you are loved. Know you are not as alone as it might seem.