Spiritual disciplines and practices

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Thank you to Kurt Willems of The Pangea Blog for drawing my attention to this

Gleaning as a spiritual practice.

Over at Godspace, Christine has a wonderful little exercise going under the title of What is a Spiritual Practice? This takes my fancy, somewhat.

You see, in this day and age, many people - even a very good Marxist atheist friend of mine - admit to spirituality. May people consider themselves spiritual or spiritual seekers while not owning a specific spiritual tradition. And, I say to myself, why not? If, as some of us believe, we are here to learn stuff and that stuff is of a spiritual nature, then all of us, whether we realise it or are oblivious to it, are on a spiritual journey.

Some of us do this in formal and structured ways. We study religious texts. We pray in certain ways. We study in certain institutions. Some of us though find ourselves entering the spiritual dimension in multitudinous ways. While I express my spirituality through two traditions - Anglican and Quaker - I find that in living my life the spiritual is expressed in many ways.

The responses Christine has attracted are testimony to this. I wish to add another: gleaning. For over forty years, I have been gleaning one way or another. Sometimes through auction sales. Sometimes through second hand shops and through eBay. However, perhaps the most satisfying has been through gleaning from the "hard rubbish" people place on footpaths.

OK, OK. I can hear some of you raising your hands in horror saying...But that's illegal. You can be fined for that. Ah well, you will have to put my actions down to plain old fashioned civil disobedience. Gleaning is an ancient tradition although in ancient ways it applied to what was left after the harvesters had completed their task. We read in the Book of Ruth that Ruth, in her asylum-seeking state, went out to glean. Boaz was compassionate and asked the harvesters to secretly leave a little more for her.

I see no difference in my gleaning from the "hard rubbish" of someone's left-overs on the footpath than gleaning for grain in a paddock. And, in my experience, most people who put out "hard rubbish" don't seem to either.

In fact, the habits of those who put out rubbish are quite thoughtful and amusing sometimes. Householders are clearly aware that their cast-off stuff will be of use to someone and, on many occasions, the goods are placed or stacked neatly. I have seen wardrobes left with a door deliberately ajar to attract people's attention to their good condition. I have seen china and kitchenware so neatly and carefully stacked that I wonder why it has been placed on the footpath when it could have been delivered to a nearby Op Shop.

And, having gleaned my selections, what comes next? For me, this is a most spiritual experience. I renovate, rejuvenate, refurbish. I make the discarded valuable once more. And I think that is what my Creator does with me. I get stripped back, re-finished, a few decorative touches and re-channeled into useful service.

Just look at the picture on this post. It is of an outdoor eating area. There is hardly a thing in this photograph that has not come off someone's footpath in the City of Knox. The table - well, I think I am the only one who could have seen its possibilities. It had peeling varnish which had turned green from exposure. The table top was rough because clearly it had been left in the open to all weathers. I sanded it back; painted it; made a nice trellis pattern; and then decorated it with flowers cut from a calendar bought at a Girl Guides garage sale. The chairs with the pink and mauve cushions at either end of the table were as good as new except that a weld had come apart. I paid $20 at a neighbourhood welding shop to have them repaired. I painted them my favourite not quite white to give them a shabby chic look. The baskets, the trellis, the hanging pots etc. etc....

And for my time and effort and gleaning, I have something original and creative. I have something that I can share with others as I bring in that other spiritual practice of hospitality.

Season of the Soul: Discipline

Echoes of Eden: Gardening as a spiritual discipline

DISCIPLINE

Throw away your rod,
Throw away your wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.

For my heart’s desire
Unto yours is bent:
I aspire
To a full consent.

Not a word or look
I affect to own,
But by book,
And your book alone.

Though I fail, I weep:
Though I halt in pace,
Yet I creep
To the throne of grace.

Then let wrath remove;
Love will do the deed:
For with love
Stony hearts will bleed.

Love is swift of foot;
Love's a man of war,
And can shoot,
And can hit from far.

Who can 'scape his bow?
That which wrought on thee,
Brought you low,
Needs must work on me.

Throw away your rod;
Though man frailties hath,
You are God:
Throw away your wrath.
George Herbert

Seasons of the Soul: Fasting and abstinence

Fasting and abstinence is an ancient tradition of the Christian church. Since Reformation times, some Protestant churches have moved away from the practice but the late 20th century saw many of these churches and individuals return to the practice. Much of this return to tradition could be attributed to the writing of the Evangelical Quaker, Richard Foster, and his Renovare movement.

Traditional Lenten practice in the Christian Church in the western tradition is that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence and all Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence. Fasting means one main meal during the day and, if necessary, two smaller meals to keep up one's strength. These smaller meals should not exceed the main meal. Abstinence means abstaining from meat. Beef and poultry are out on days of abstinence but fish is permitted. From this tradition of fasting and abstinence during Lent comes the tradition of "giving up" something for Lent i.e. children might decide to give up lollies, men might give up alcohol and so on.

The purpose of such practices is to encourage a penitent way of life during this season of the soul remembering our dependency on God and how sinful human nature impeded, and continues to impede, our relationship with our Creator and brought Jesus to the Cross.