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Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Shawl
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Shawl
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
In many spiritual traditions people have covered their heads in prayer. Medieval monks had hooded robes. To be under the hood helped them to turn inward, to have custody of their eyes and ears. It encouraged them to keep their curiosity in check, to not wonder about another’s way…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Bowl
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Bowl
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
An empty bowl is a wonderful symbol of openness. It will teach us to be receptive, to allow our hearts and spirits to align with God’s desire for us. Using a bowl or a cup as a prayer object can, over time, help us recognize that we ourselves are vessels for God. When our inner b…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Candle
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Candle
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
Candlelight has all the associations of the past when, with a fire, it was the only source of light. Lighting a candle is different than lighting an electric lamp. A candle is a living, flickering light. It can easily be blown out. As we watch a candle burn we see the wax diminis…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Clothespin
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Clothespin
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
So many things can be prayer objects for us—little icons that we may use to recognize a deeper reality. One such simple household object is the clothespin. Two pieces of wood and a spring become a means to hold something fast. If we looked a little deeper we would recognize how w…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Stone
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Stone
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
We pick up shells and stones on the beach because something about them is pleasing. We leave them on our shelves and windowsills to touch now and then and to enjoy again. But to make something a real presence in our lives we must use it often and get to know it intimately. Many p…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Table
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - A Table
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
A table can be so many things—from a desk to an altar. It is around the table that we gather for meals. At the table we study, play games, sort the mail, pay bills, and do so much of what is needed for a household. Tables are often cluttered. In a rush we pile them high, be they …
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Care of Things
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Care of Things
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
The things we use daily serve our needs, and we in turn must take care of them. When such care is not haphazard, not just getting through chores, but becomes a way to pay attention, we may find we live with things that grow to be luminous for us. From daily use they become full o…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Closing
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Closing
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
God is a word we use, and we think we know what it means. But, in truth, God is always far beyond our understanding. We can only know God by unknowing. We can only offer our willingness and our wonder. This kind of constant and open inquiry is an intense intimacy through which we…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Dwelling
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Dwelling
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
To dwell is to live in a place, to remain in it. Any space we truly occupy becomes, through dwelling, a home— becomes, through time, a sanctuary. There is, in the word dwell, a sense of repose. When we really inhabit our homes we gain a sense of time, and are then more able to kn…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Introduction
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Introduction
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
For many years now I have written about spirituality in the every-day. It is the every-day in which we live. Being human we often long for something more transcendent than the ordinary, but then we quite often miss that which is numinous and extraordinary right under our noses. S…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
The world, our lives, our daily bread, our loved ones, our opportunities, our challenges and difficulties—all are gifts. Even the innate capacity to receive is a gift. There is not a single moment in life in which we are not given something. We can begin to notice this; we can in…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Nature
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Nature
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
Under every stone and in every stump we can find burgeoning life. Tiny life swims in a thimble full of water. With eyes that can see, there is unstoppable life in every nook and cranny. God’s joy is expressed in such variety that not even one snowflake will be exactly like anothe…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Challenges
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Challenges
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
Trusting God with all of our life means also to be able to trust the difficulties that come our way. Challenges and bitter sufferings can be gifts as well. To open to them is a profound act of humility. When the door slams and our hopes are dashed, when our health fails, a loved …
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Bread
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Bread
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
In a day we may say thank you ten to twenty times as easily as we say hello or goodbye. But to truly receive and give thanks for our daily bread we must give more than words; we must recognize how many are the givers. Countless hands have been at work for us to have what is on ou…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Round
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Daily Round
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
If we count up the hours we make beds, wash dishes, run the vacuum or the lawn mower, pay bills, shop for groceries and cook, we will realize that we have spent not just days, but months and years in these activities. Every day we have a choice to just get through our daily round…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Opportunities
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Opportunities
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
We have preconceived ideas of what we consider opportunities. Unless an opening comes in a recognizable way, we might miss it or be afraid to take a chance. So much keeps us unduly cautious—like fear of failure or a sense of our ineptitude. Lack of imagination or the inability to…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Relationships
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving Our Relationships
by SPCK - Gunilla Norris
We are often not aware how full of expectations our relationships are—that we should be considered, understood, and done right by. Unstated rules, for the conduct of ourselves or another, lie like land mines on the path of our connections. The conditioned sense of one’s rights, o…
Simple Ways - Towards The Sacred - Receiving The Gift Of Our Being