A season of self-reflection

Recently it was suggested to me that when I speak of a person's 'spiritual life' that folks have no idea what I am talking about.  I have to admit I was taken aback.  I was having this conversation with a regular worshiper, a student of the Bible, a person who prays.  So I am sure that this individual has a spiritual life, she just might not call it that.

Then I fell upon the phrase 'self-reflection' and that gave me anew way to talk about our internal relationship with God.  To me, self-reflection implies a lively assessment of our inner life as a grounding for the way we live our outer life.  It is a practice that I would associate with meditation or contemplation or even prayer, but could also be that deep thinking you do right before you fall asleep.

When we shut out the clanging noise of the world, when no one is enumerating their expectations of us or disappointments in us, when we are not assaulted by advertising's claims about the vapidness of our lives..........then we have a chance to release the tension, lay down our defensiveness, and in a true and open manner, reflect on ourselves.  Since no one else is listening, we can be perfectly frank about our own disappointments in ourselves, our own expectations and our own sense of missing out on what the world has to offer.

When we shut down the outside, we have a chance to listen to the inside and to find our center again.  It is a time when we can re-discover what is truly important to us; we can recognize the places we have lost our way. Away from the demands of others, we can honor what is truly good in ourselves and in our lives, and admit what we truly need to adjust.

For many, this kind of self-reflection becomes a dialogue with God - a place where we consider what we have learned about God's love for us. Then we can look to where God might be calling us.  Those hopes and dreams can be God's call for your life.  Those resolutions to do a bit better can be the Holy Spirit moving us towards a fuller and more authentic life.  Those places that have caused us shame or embarrassment can be our first step towards embracing the depth of God's love for us in the forgiveness of Jesus.

Few of us go into the desert or to a mountaintop to take a 'spiritual retreat' but this doesn't mean that we aren't attentive to our spiritual life.  We may not have an 'every single day' spiritual practice, yet we do take the time to consider our lives before the face of God and in light of Jesus' forgiving love.

That, my friends, is your spiritual life. The more you nourish it, the stronger it grows.  Lent is a great time to feed the spirit ....and an even better time to have the Spirit feed you.  Take a moment today and listen in the quiet for the Spirit.....and be at peace.