Writing as a Spiritual Practice

A Way to Connect

When this topic popped into my head, I had no idea what I would write. Does that happen to you? You get the germ of an idea, but it doesn’t grow until you sit down and start writing? I think it applies to most of what I write.

As some of you may know, I’ve been learning new spiritual practices. One of the pastors at my church, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran in Mahtomedi, MN, has been designated the pastor of Spiritual Formation. He is a trained Spiritual Director, a designation that required two years of study under the leadership of another Spiritual Director.

Listening Circles

Last year this pastor, Pastor Brian, led a group spiritual formation process called Listening Circles for a group of 5 men and several women. We met once every month or so.

We checked in, prayed, listened to something spiritual, perhaps read as a Lectio Divina, then broke up into our listening circles where each person got a chance to share what was on their hearts. We would listen and provide supportive feedback. We committed to hold everything said under a cloak of confidentiality and listened with utmost respect to the person sharing. We’d listen with one ear tuned to the Holy Spirit and one ear tuned to the speaker. (I confess, I don’t know what that means. I faked it.) When the speaker finished, we would provide supportive and encouraging comments and feedback.

I was amazed at how quickly this group of men opened up and shared some of their deep concerns. Men, especially, are often loath to do that. Yet, in this environment, and I attribute much of that to the leadership of Pastor Brian, men did open up. We shared concerns and deep longings with sincere honesty.

Lectio Divina

What is the Lectio Divina? It is a form of reading that is led by the Spirit. It’s goal is communion with God. You read a poem or short piece of spiritual writing, then spend some time in silence pondering what you read. Perhaps a word of phrase or verse jumps out at you and you meditate on that. Then your read the passage again. If done in a group, as we did, the selected text is read aloud and prayerfully by the leader. A discussion may follow. Traditionally, Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading, was reading from the Bible, but in modern times it has become a sacred reading of any suitable text.

Contemplative Photography

Another practice that our pastor introduced us to is Contemplative Photography. It involves RECEIVING photographs rather than TAKING them. The idea being that we are blessed to see the sight and receive the image to hold and cherish. The photograph can be of anything that inspires us to think deeper. Often the photo shows a nature scene, a landscape, clouds, a sunset or sunrise, or flowers. Anything the photographers attention. In some respects it is not so different from normal photography.

We have formed a Facebook group to share and comment on our photographs.

The group hosts a gallery of wonderful photos received and shared by members for you to enjoy and contemplate.

Writing as a Spiritual Practice

Being a writer, it occurred to me that writing can be a spiritual practice. As I thought about it, I thought not “can be” but IS a spiritual practice. What lies deep within us seeks to come out and be expressed. It wants to dance in the sunlight. We may deny this and try to keep it repressed, but the truth be known, it wants out. It is our truth. For better or worse, it is who we are.

We don’t use a camera, but we paint word pictures. Then we publish them for others to read and contemplate. If we’ve done our jobs, we will move our reader in some way. They will come away from our work with some new insight or with confirmation of something they already believed.

The Johari Window

Perhaps you’ve heard of it — a psychological concept that describes our psychic landscape:

I contend that the most interesting writing comes from that “Private hidden” self which may be influenced by the “Blind” self and the “Undiscovered/Unknown” self. Whether fiction or non-fiction, whether intentional or not, writing reveals who we are. It shows what we think and how we think. It represents our attempt to reach out and touch the reader and to elicit a response from him or her.

Writing requires courage

If we fear revealing who we are, we may write page upon page in our journals, but we will never publish anything. I know. I did it for years. Publishing forces us to take off the protective, defensive mask. Of course none of us feel brave enough to stand naked before our readers, but we have to take off a garment or two if we want to connect. And, if we don’t connect, our writing will shrivel and die like unpicked grapes upon the vine.

What helps me find that courage is knowing that I am a child of a loving, protective God and that all things work together for my good. I may not like how that “working” occurs, but it will be for my good.

I am encouraged to “fear not for I am with you.” No matter what I do or where I go, God is with me. He’s got my back. He will guide me and protect me. With an all-powerful, all-knowing protector, I need not be afraid.

I know that God has a plan for me, a plan to prosper me and not to harm me, a plan to give me hope and a future (a promise made in the Bible in Jeremiah 29:11). Without that assurance and encouragement, I doubt I would ever have the courage to publish a single story.

Centering Prayer

Another spiritual practice I started last year is Centering Prayer. Basically, it is a Christian form of meditation. I choose a “sacred word” such as “Yahweh” or “Yes” or “Be Still” or… Then I sit quietly for 20 minutes and try to empty my mind by not focusing on any of the thoughts that chatter away in my mind. If I find myself following some train of thought, I repeat the sacred word once or twice and re-center myself. The goal is to sit silently in the Presence of the God who says “Be still and know that I am God.” Unlike eastern meditation where a mantra is repeated over and over, centering prayer only uses the sacred word to return the focus to being in God’s quiet Presence.

Conclusion

So, for me, writing is a spiritual practice just as much as Lectio Divina or Listening Circles or Contemplative Photography or Centering Prayer. It involves my spirit reaching out to your spirit and doing so within the Great Spirit whom I call God. As some have written, it is within God that we exist. Writing can and often does put us in contact with our higher selves, our authentic selves.

According to Judy Cannato in Radical Amazement, we humans are all connected in very deep and mysterious ways. We are, in fact, all one, though we often fail to recognize it. We are all made of stardust (but that is a story for another time.)

I picture something like the Aspen groves where all trees are really one organism interconnected through their root system below the ground. For us looking at them above ground, they appear to be separate trees. We can’t see their connection just as we can’t see our connection to others. But, we sometimes feel it. Good writing brings out that interconnection (we readers feel connected to the author and to the characters in the story or the message). The better the writing, the better the connection.

Writing, then, is a way we can explore our connectedness. We use it to dig down and find that common root system. As such, writing becomes a spiritual practice. It is a way for my spirit to reach out and touch your spirit. In the process we will (hopefully) discover that we are not so different after all. (Yeah, I know, I’m more than a little weird.) We have the same hopes and fears. We all bleed when cut.

When I read a good book or story, I may find myself saying “YES!” that’s exactly what I thought, or “Oh, Wow, that’s interesting.” I may find myself rejoicing in the use of a word or phrase that the author selected. My great joy is knowing that the author’s spirit is speaking directly to me, to my spirit, and, in those moments, we are one.

I don’t know how the writing process works. I see words appear on the screen and I wonder where they came from. I have no awareness of them within me. Often times I will read something I wrote a while back and wonder: did I write that? Really? So, for me, writing is also a process of self-discovery. By writing, I learn who I am and what I think. Sometimes it is God’s Spirit speaking to my spirit. My journal often reflects this though my writing seldom makes that the focus as I’m doing here.

Writing is like driving a car or riding a bike. I don’t think about it. I just sit down and do it. Granted, it might turn out better if I thought more about it. I’m sure a good editor would make hash of my sacred cows. But I have overcome my reluctance to share, my fear of revealing myself.

I do go back and re-read my work several times proofing it for obvious errors in spelling and word choice. I tidy it up as best I can. Letting it sit for a while then reading it again helps immensely. Still, I know it will never be perfect, just as I am not perfect. At some point I have to let it go.

Maybe I’m the oddball. Maybe my writing muse hides out in that “unknown to me and to you” pane of the Johari Window. Maybe yours is more open and known to you. I’m curious and will look forward to reading your thoughts on this if you care to share them in a response below or in a story. If you do write a story, please tag me so I can read it.

Happy Reading, Writing and Connecting!