Below is the weekly chaplain's newsletter called 'Table Talk' that I write for the Lower School division of Holy Innocents' Episcopal School.
What are your favorite ways to pray?
What are you doing when you feel closest
to God?
These were two
guiding questions that I asked students during our FISH classes this past week
as we continued our exploration of what it means to pray without words.
Previously, we’d
talked about how, by repeating the line “and God saw how good it was,” the
Bible’s first creation story underlines the holy practice of seeing. I called
this practice ‘praying with your eyes.’ This week we talked about how walking
can also be a holy practice of prayer.
Just as the
narrator of the first creation story emphasizes God’s seeing, the narrator of
the Bible’s second creation story underline’s God’s walking and says that God
“was walking in the garden [of Eden] in the cool of the day.” In other words,
walking can be a godly exercise—and, along with swimming and looking into the faces of other people, it’s
among my favorite forms of prayer and feeling close to God.
(Labyrinth at Holy Innocents')
Spiritual walks
can be a way of praying with your legs. Such walks are a strong reminder that
we are journeying with God through life and that our spirituality is connected
to our bodies. In the Episcopal tradition, labyrinths are a tool used to teach
people how to take spiritual walks of prayer. Fortunately, Holy Innocents’
campus has a labyrinth in the church garden.
One enters the
labyrinth on the circle’s periphery and, through many twists and turns (that
represent the twist and turns of life), the maze eventually lead to the flower-shaped
center that's in full bloom.
Labyrinths help reveal
that God is with us with every step we take. In this respect, walking the
labyrinth is similar to the breathing exercise called ‘centering’ that we begin
and end each FISH class with. During that practice, we use our breath to center
our minds on God’s peace, our hearts on God’s love, and our souls on God’s
presence. It’s a reminder that God is with us with every breath we take. A key
point that both the walking and the breathing practices highlight is that God’s
love and peace are at the center of life.
I’ve found that
in the Digital Age of smart phones, laptops, and iPads, it is crucial to take
pauses to unplug from technology and go on spiritual walks. Praying with your
legs—whether on or off of a labyrinth—puts us back in touch with the natural goodness and beauty
of God’s creation. It helps us see God’s goodness in the outdoors, feel God’s
goodness in the sunshine, hear God’s goodness in the birdsong and breeze, and smell
God’s goodness in the flowers and trees.
The song ‘Draw
The Circle Wide’ is a Lower School favorite during chapel. It’s a great
reminder that we need to think outside the box—or the circle—when it comes to
ways of connecting with God. This week I hope you make the time to take a
spiritual walk with your kids and identify the goodness of God flowing through nature.
With love and
prayers,
Chaplain Timothy
(Labyrinth at the Cathedral of St. Philip)
For regular updates, photos, prayers, and glimpses of what's going on in the spiritual life of the HIES Lower School, you’re welcome check out the following:
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