Selfless Service

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camaraderie, Celebration of Discipline, Fully Awake and Truly Alive, hidden service, hospitality, Jan Phillips, No Ordinary Time, Rev. Jane E. Vennard, Richard Foster, service, spiritual deepening, spiritual growth, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Every two weeks on Wednesday I meet with two sections (afternoon and evening) of a book study group. We have come to be known among ourselves as NOW (No Ordinary Women) after the title of our first great read, No Ordinary Time, by Jan Phillips. These gatherings have become an oasis of camaraderie and spiritual deepening for all of us, I believe, and yesterday was no exception. Almost at the end of Fully Awake and Truly Alive: Spiritual Practices to Nurture Your Soul by Rev. Jane E. Vennard, we considered the practices of Hospitality and Service. The beauty of this book is found in its practicality. One does not need to go looking to do something extraordinary but rather to look into everyday choices and activities familiar to us for our on-going spiritual growth. Some of the suggestions are simply a matter of attitudinal shifts.

Such was the last suggestion in the section called “hidden services,” a concept that Rev. Vennard takes from Richard Foster, author of the wonderful book, Celebration of Discipline. Foster speaks of the goodness that comes when we serve others without being noticed. “These are not acts done in secret,” he says, “but rather are ways of relating to other people that slip by their awareness. However, the results of these acts of service impact both the individual and the community in which they take place.”

Rev. Vennard’s illustrations of such practices were all quite apt but none more than the last entry. “A final hidden service is quite paradoxical,” she writes. “It is the practice of willing to be served. Service cannot happen if there is no recipient, yet we are often reluctant to accept the help being offered…Your grocery bag splits in the parking lot and someone comes to help. “Thank you,” you say. “I can take care of it myself.”

Agreeing that this kind of refusal is ingrained in most of us, we agreed to consider occasionally setting aside our fiercely independent nature and offering to others this most uncomfortable (for us) opportunity to serve. What about you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awake and Alive

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beautiful, conscious breathing, everyday activities, Fully Awake and Truly Alive, prayer, rest, Rev. Jane E. Vennard, simple, spiritual practices, summer read, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

We’re starting our summer book study next week at The Sophia Center with a book called Fully Awake and Truly Alive. Each time I try to tell someone the title of the book I have to find either the book itself or the flyer announcing the topic. It’s not that complicated but I’m always concerned about remembering it correctly. “Is it Truly Awake and Fully Alive or does Fully come before Truly,” I ask myself. And then there’s Awake and Alive to deal with. Is it possible to be awake before you’re alive or is it all a question of those demanding modifiers?

Regardless of whether I ever get it right, the book is a great summer read. It offers a new look at prayer and spiritual practices in a way that gives credence to the value of everyday activities like gardening, hiking and rest. Who thinks of resting as a spiritual practice? And yet the concept of Sabbath is foundational to much of religious tradition. Pair rest with conscious breathing and silence and the foundation grows even stronger. In other words, simple is beautiful. For those of us who are driven by work and the necessity of achievement, these are good reminders. Actually, even for those less inclined to feverish activity, the reminder to stop for a moment to breathe in the day may be an inestimable gift.