Archive for the Category »Spirit Rituals «

19
Nov
How to Spiritually Prepare Your Home for the Holidays

Preparing your home for the holidays involves more than just cleaning and cooking. Creating a place of warmth and hospitality happens as much in the spirit realm as it does in the physical.

Since I have a large house and a huge family, my guest room is getting a quick cleaning before guests arrive for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year I’m setting a little welcome card on the dresser:

“Come to a warm place in this house. Come in the name of Christ. My heart and I agree, welcome in the name of the Lord.”

This prayer is one of my favorites, written hundreds of years ago by Brigid of Kildare (c. 450—523). I sometimes use her prayers to pray as I walk through my house before guests arrive. Such prayers also provide a creative way for children to help prepare the home and hearts for the festivities. Just write the following prayers out on cards and together pray through your home.

In the center of your home

“May God give His blessing to the house that is here. God bless this house from roof to floor, from wall to wall, from end to end, from its foundation and in its covering. In the strong name of the Triune God: all evil be banished, all disturbance cease, captive spirits freed, God’s Spirit alone dwell within these walls. Amen.”

In the doorway of your home

“May all be welcomed here, friend and stranger, from near and far. May each be blessed and honoured as they enter. Christ, in our coming and in our leaving, the Door and the Keeper; for us and our dear ones, this day and every day, blessings for always. Amen.”

In the living room of your home

“There is a friend’s love in the gentle heart of the Saviour. For love of Him we offer friendship and welcome every guest. Lord, kindle in my heart a flame of love to my neighbor, to my enemies, my friends, my kindred all, from the lowliest thing that liveth to the name that is highest of all.”

In the bedrooms of your home

“May God the Father be the guardian of this place and bring His peace, that fear may find no entry here. May Christ be a chosen companion and friend. May loneliness be banished. May the Spirit bring lightness and laughter, and be the comforter of tears. Courage be at each going out; rest be present at each return; each day, each night, each going out and each returning. Amen.”

You can find more prayers of Brigid of Kildare in Celtic Daily Prayer (see the side bar).

Today’s question: what do you do to spiritually prepare your home for the holidays?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

Be Sociable, Share!
One Comment
Category: Celtic Christianity, Holidays, Prayer, Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , ,
05
Nov
What Bookends Hold Your Day in Place?

Have you ever thought about the bookends that hold your day in place? The two bookends of my day seem to be grogginess when I roll out of bed in the morning and enough exhaustion at night to induce sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. (The latter fascinates my husband who has trouble sleeping.) Yet, the Psalmist calls us to a higher purpose when we awake and when we go to sleep: “To proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:2).

Bookends for you 

The truths I’m to proclaim are God’s love and his faithfulness—love to help focus my mind as I face a new day and faithfulness to calm my mind as I fall asleep. I know that by announcing God’s love and faithfulness I am making a stand in the spirit realm, but I also know that I am reminding myself of the kind of God I serve.

I checked out several translations of this verse and found these words for proclaim: show forth, declare, and announce. Those are things I do with my mind, my mouth, and my actions.

In her book, Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, Ruth Bell Graham tells the story of living this verse as a college student. “While attending Wheaton College, one of my roommates, Kimberly Long (Wyckoff), and I would sing ‘His Lovingkindness’ while we walked the six blocks to campus in the morning. In the evenings when we walked home, we sang heartily, ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ The idea came to us from Psalm 92:2. ”

Bookends for your family

Here are some ideas for incorporating this verse into your family life:

  • Teach your kids to “think it, speak it, smile it.” Smiling adds a positive note to the heart and face as the words are spoken. (“God loves me”—as they climb out of bed in the morning. “God is faithful”—as they climb into bed at night.)
  • When you kiss your spouse in the morning and before bed, add “God loves you” or “God is faithful” after your kiss.
  • Small children love to sing a morning song and a bed time song. Sing one they know or have them make up their own about God’s love and his faithfulness and sing it together.
  • When you greet your kids in the morning, add “God loves you” to your greeting or after you ask them about how they slept. Do something similar at night with God’s faithfulness.

Care to add your ideas to our list? How can you use God’s love and faithfulness as bookends in your life?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

Be Sociable, Share!
2 Comments
Category: Brain overhaul, Daily, raising kids, Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , , ,
27
Aug
Honoring the Life God Has Given You

Recently I visited my cousin Polly and stepped into the spacious bathroom that once belonged to Grandma Chris. Close by was Grandpa Ivan’s bathroom—connected by a little room where the toilet reigned. The scent of lavender was gone, but since Polly lives in this old adobe ranch house, she has maintained the rustic, yet rich, feel of the 50 year old place.

Grandma’s bathroom caught my attention because it instantly brought back memories of how Grandma honored herself and the life she had been given. This bathroom was totally hers. One of my favorite memories is taking a bubble bath with lavender soap and scrubbing my nails with her little nail brush. I haven’t seen one of those nail brushes in years, but there was always one at Grandma’s, and you always scrubbed your nails while taking a lavender bubble bath. 

I’ve thought a lot about honor after having celebrated 35 years of ministry in the same church and honoring the lives of my parents as each transitioned from earth to Home. We tend to honor other people with appropriate cards and gifts at certain times of the year and especially at their death. But how often do we take the time to honor ourselves and the life God has given us?

I’m not talking about excuses for self indulgence or vanities, but simple, honest ways of honoring the special gifts that God has placed within the life we each live and the person we have become. When we honor something about ourselves, we are saying, “This is good about me and my life. I’m going to take care of it, treasure it, and enjoy it. Thank you, Lord, for creating me.”

I honor who I am by getting my hair cut and colored. I’ve always been a red head and have decided that I will follow my mother’s lead and get my hair done on a regular basis. My mother never missed her weekly appointment with the hair dresser until the week she died. She was the softest, sweetest, little old silver haired woman I’ve ever known.

So, being thankful for the head of hair I have, I keep a regular monthly appointment with my awesome hair stylist, Kris. In this way, I honor the God who gave me something special—my hair. (And yes, I do know that someday I will have to switch to gray, but that time has not yet come.)

My husband, Tom, heads to the gym three times a week. Sometimes he swims. Often he endures the treadmill and weights. This ritual is one of his ways to honor the life God has given him.

How do you honor who you are and the life God has given you? What is there about your life that says, “This is good about me. I’m going to take care of it, treasure it, and enjoy it”? What will your grandchildren remember about the way you honored the person God created you to be and the life you lived as a result?

Your thoughts, answers, comments and lavender soap are encouraged. Leave the former in the comment section below and save the lavender soap for my next birthday. 

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

Be Sociable, Share!
5 Comments
Category: Daily, Personal growth, Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
08
Mar
Step Into Your Story

read with the windHow does one step into the story that God has planned for his life? How do we encounter the Holy in the daily in such a way that our life makes sense and contains purpose mixed with destiny? Here are 5 ways to step into your God story.

Consider your story

Begin each morning by consulting with the Author. He alone knows the direction your story line should take and how that might play out in the living of your day.  

Follow your story

Your story may or may not be reflected in your day planner. Such lists are good for the basic outline of your days, but the real story happens between the lines. The scribbles of your story are just as important as the lists.

Tackle those projects on your schedule in rhythm with the Spirit Holy. Watch for the interruptions in your day and give the unexpected your attention.

Listen to your story

Listen to the writer of your story. He knows your tale from Table of Contents through Endnotes. In his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller explains, “There is a writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness.”

Learn through your story

The point of our lives isn’t our accomplishments or even our journey. It is the change that happens in us because of our journey—the change that occurs as we overcome the challenges of life. Therefore, every life situation is an opportunity to learn and grow into the likeness of Christ.

Enjoy your story

Take a few minutes just before you fall asleep to reflect on your day. God wants to enjoy the wonder with you of living the life he has laid out for you. Musing with the Lord creates a story bond between the Author and the main character—you. 

Our questions for today: What do you want people to say about you when you are gone? What do you want them to remember? What stories do you want folks to tell while holding the memory of you close to their hearts?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below for us to mull over.

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

See What Story Are You Living for more on this topic.
Be Sociable, Share!
2 Comments
Category: At work, Daily chores, Personal growth, Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , ,
28
Dec
Cleanup Ritual

1029014_stripedglasCleanup is not my favorite Christmas ritual. Twenty-five big and little people make lots of messes, so I cleaned the kitchen six times on Christmas. Tom took the last shift. He also bagged wrinkled wrapping paper and vacuumed before I tided up the house.

I decided this year to approach the obvious with an attitude of ritual. The seasons, patterns, and decor of holidays vary, but the ritual of cleanup remains. Recognizing it as part of the holy in the “holyday” creates a place for honoring Christ in the mundane part of the celebration.

A. W. Tozer once said, “It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it.” Approaching the kitchen sink as holy ground cradles my work in a positive perspective. Sitting to rest my back every so often also helps.

I don’t know what my job assignment will be in the new heaven or new earth, but my resume will definitely list: “Exceptional Maid, Cook, and Bottle Washer.” I hope it also notes, “Works with a positive attitude.”

In Him together, Susan Gaddis

Be Sociable, Share!
4 Comments
Category: Advent, Daily chores, Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
23
Nov
Spirit Ritual

903597_holding_coffeeI was thinking about the word spiritual last week—how it entwines two words: spirit and ritual. Several things began to churn around in my mind:

  • To be a spiritual person involves some sort of ceremony as part of my daily and seasonal routine.
  • To grow as a spiritual person requires regular practices or disciplines that bring change.

I sensed the dance of spirit and ritual yesterday as I pushed the plunger through the swirl of dark water and coffee grounds in my French Press. My early morning routine suddenly felt infused with the presence of the Lord and I realized that, for me, making coffee had become a spirit ritual.

I embraced the holy moment and didn’t get too mental about the experience until later. (A tip I learned from St. Teresa of Avila: never interrupt the Holy with a detailed conversation during intimate moments—just enjoy His presence and save the discussion for another time.)

“Later” came as I sat on the couch with my Bible and hot coffee. Grinding coffee beans, combining the just barely boiling water with the beans, stirring the brew with a wooden oatmeal stick that I picked up on Iona in Scotland, pushing the plunger through the mess, and then pouring the coffee into the cream sitting in my special mug—this is the prelude to my discipline of Bible reading, prayer, and devotional reading every morning. It is holy time. It is a ritual.

I want to explore this dance of spirit and ritual in the weeks ahead—the idea of ceremony combining with discipline as one way to experience the holy in the daily. Thanksgiving is this week and Advent starts the Christian year next Sunday. I hope you’ll join me. As for today, what rituals or ceremonies enrich your disciplines for growth into the Holy?

Susan Gaddis

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Be Sociable, Share!
2 Comments
Category: Spirit Rituals  Tags: , , , , , , ,