June 25, 2024

My favorite way to begin a summer day is first to go on a walk and then to return to our side patio, an area I call “Paris, for devotion time. I have not followed that routine often yet this summer, although most days I have gone for a walk. Often, however, by the time I return it is raining or threatening to rain. How good it was Monday morning to say to myself, “Do it, Nancy. Go to Paris.”

And I did, after first bathing in a natural essence insect repellent spray.

I began by reading Padraig O’ Tuama’s opening prayer in his book Being Here, Prayers, for Curiosity, Justice, and Love. This book is my companion this month. Each of the 31 daily meditations begin in the same way:

Turning to the day
and to each other
       We open ourselves to the day
       and to each other.

This is the day that the Lord has made
and a day we'll have to make our way through.

...

        Because this is a way of living
       That's worth living daily. 

Each day O’ Tuama offers a reading, a piece of scripture, a collect of the day, and a “Remembering Prayer.” Often I reread the Remembering Prayer before going to bed at night.

In my post “Tree Work,” https://wordpress.com/post/livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/3582 I shared the form for writing collects:

1. Address someone or something
2. Say more.
3. Ask one thing.
4. Say more.
5. End.

In that post I shared a collect I wrote addressing the trees and since then I have occasionally written other collects. Sitting in Paris yesterday morning, I wrote,

Oh, Pleasing "Paris"
provider of sanctuary,
even as I peer beyond the entrance,
my place of inspiration,
of contemplation,
may I enter this day,
in the same way I enter this space:
open to beauty,
open to a new day, a new week,
open to moments of pause,
open to the Presence.
Amen. 

I wrote in my journal. I reread a chapter in Emily Freeman’s How To Walk into A Room, The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away. I read this book fairly quickly in May, underlining so much and noting questions and sections that demanded more reflection. Sitting in Paris, I was ready to enter into deeper conversation with that book.

Today’s chapter, “Remembering Your Path,” reminds me once again to name my personal core values: “What embodies you with God and gets you back to yourself?” (p. 72). I paused and allowed the words I have identified for myself to rise yet again.

Being a presence.

Knowing the Presence.

This morning time–walking and sitting in Paris–brings me into the present, strengthens the way I live in the world, and deepens my awareness of the movement of God.

Once again I was ready to walk through our garden gate, where a Swahili word is posted, “karibu,” which means “hospitality.” I was ready to be present to the fullness of the day.

An Invitation

What summer routine increased your awareness of the movement of God? I would love to know.