Five spiritual practices for waiting in darkness
1 Night sky meditation Go to a quiet spot, under the night sky. Pray with Psalm 8. (“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”) Ponder: How am…
Strengthening faith for the coming year
When a new year begins, many people resolve to lose weight or begin exercising. But the dawning of a new year is also a good time to consider improving one’s spiritual fitness. Josh Wallace, who is Mennonite Church Saskatchewan’s church engagement minister, says spiritual practice is essential to a healthy faith. “Our lives depend on…
Hitting reset
Anyone who has operated a computer knows that, from time to time, it’s necessary to hit reset. The same is true in the life of faith. “Resetting is an affirmation of God’s grace,” said Rachel Miller Jacobs, an associate professor of congregational formation at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind. “Things do not have…
Nurturing spirituality
The church’s primary job is growing relationships with God, says Dave Rogalsky in the feature, “Experiencing the good news,” on page 4. He encourages faith communities to be “actively teaching spiritual practices to strengthen the experience of God in people of all ages, in order to underpin our community, worship, evangelism, missions, and peace and…
Experiencing the good news
“You . . . were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people” (Ephesians 1:13-14, NRSV). I understand spirituality to be our knowledge and experience of God active in our lives. But I hear little in our congregations about how we…
Experiencing God
When my youngest son “graduated” from Grade 5 in June 2000, his class took a special year-end trip to Toronto. I was working as a school bus driver at the time—we lived in Ontario then—and I drove the bus. The highlight of the trip was attending The Lion King live at the Princess of Wales…
Less please: Pop theology for Lent
The customary practice of self-sacrifice during Lent carries tinges of earnest piety and religious compunction. It can feel like a moral “heavy.” But it also has a certain appeal.
