Wednesday is my holy day.
Like every day of the week it starts around 5:00 a.m. with 20 minutes of silent prayer.
On Wednesdays my solitary prayer is followed by:
7:15 a.m. - breakfast Bible study and prayer with a bunch of guys, some of whom I have been meeting with for 25 years
8:30 a.m. - 20 minutes of silent prayer at the church with staff and anyone who drops in
10:00 a.m. - Service of Word and Silence with responsive prayer, lectio divina, 20 minutes of silent prayer, and spiritual conversation
7:00 p.m. - weekly meeting with a small group committed to The Work of being conscious and living more fully in all dimensions of the human condition
Not every day of my week is quite as filled with spiritual practice as Wednesdays. It just happens that all these things accumulate on this one day.
Why do I engage in all these activities and all the other spiritual disciplines of my week? Is it all just a self-indulgent escapist waste of time? Am I merely seeking a warm cozy experience to shelter me from the cold harsh realities of every day life?
I follow the spiritual disciplines of my life, in order that I may be more sensitive to the reality of God's presence and action in all of life and live more authentically from that deep place of truth that is the seed of God's word implanted in my deepest being (James 1:21).
I engage in spiritual practice so that I may experience the reality that it is not just Wednesdays that are holy days.
My spiritual practice opens me to the awareness that every day is a holy day. Every moment of every day is holy. Every event in my day is holy; everything I see is holy; every person I meet is holy. All of life is holy because all of life is conducted in the presence of the Divine. Wherever there is life, the numinous invisible mysterious dimension of existence we call God is present.
The problem is, I do not always see the holy. Sometimes I just see people and they seem to me anything but holy. There are days when life seems to be characterized mostly by the absence of the holy. It is hard sometimes to perceive the deep reality that all is held in goodness and love.
There are so many forces that conspire to yank me to the surface. I am so easily distracted from the deep places, carried away by my preoccupations, compulsions, and schemes. It is hard to remember to look more deeply.
I need to be awakened again and again to the deeper realities of life. The work of my life is to heed those reminders that call to me from the depths, so that I may live from that deeper place of compassion and beauty that is my true nature.
I do not want to live only on the surface. I do not want to miss the indefinable dimension of the sacred that I glimpse when my heart cracks open to the beauty and wonder of life.
So, I practice the silent prayer of surrender. I seek to absorb the words of sacred text into my being. I try to be in situations where I am encouraged to speak authentically and to live genuinely. I join in corporate worship so my hear may soften and open to the deep mysteries of life.
These are the disciplines that enable me to perceive the hidden depth dimension of life from which I receive spiritual nourishment for the journey of life in this time-bound material realm.
