This year, as my spiritual discipline for Lent, I will engage, through prayer and reflection, the practice of mindfulness. In their book, “Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems,” Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson define mindfulness this way:
“Mindfulness is keeping our heads and hearts where our bodies are. Moment by moment, we sustain a deep, nonjudgmental awareness of our thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and surroundings, right where we are.”
I believe spiritual mindfulness also includes a deep awareness of God’s presence, stirrings, leadings and goodness.
Each day during Lent I hope to take some time for stillness to read some poetry, essays and Scriptures that heighten this awareness and point me toward God. Some days I will write in my journal. Other days I may listen to music as I walk the neighborhood intentionally looking for signs and scenes of peace and presence.
I pray that your season of Lent is filled with expectation and prayer and peace, as you practice the presence of God.
Peace,
Andy
Here is one of my new favorite poems: Getting up Early, by Anne Porter
Just as the night was fading
Into the dusk of morning
When the air was cool as water
When the town was quiet
And I could hear the sea
I caught sight of the moon
No higher than the roof-tops
Our neighbor the moon
An hour before the sunrise
She glowed with her own sunrise
Gold in the grey of morning
World without town or forest
Without wars or sorrows
She paused between two trees
And it was as if in secret
Not wanting to be seen
She chose to visit us
So early in the morning.