5 Things to Avoid First Thing in the Morning

The morning is a critical time of day.  You're either spent or totally focused.  You love it or loathe it.  Wherever you are in the spectrum, we can all agree that mornings are important.  

For productivity-minded folks, the morning hours are vital to getting the most out of a day.

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. -Gandhi

So how should you begin?  That's a loaded question for sure.  To help in the process, we might want to consider listing a few actions that are not helpful at the start of your day.  These include:

1. Shopping- shopping is necessary but try and avoid it first thing in the morning.  Shopping moves our hearts towards objects rather than towards the day ahead of us and the people we serve.  
2. Negative reading- whatever is "negative" in your book, try and avoid it.  This could include dark literature or even current events.
3. News- let's face it: the news can be depressing.  Bad stories sell papers but that doesn't mean that you have to start your day with it.
4. Email- I think that email needs to be addressed early in the day but not necessarily first thing.  Email sucks you in to work rather than keeping your mind clear and focused on getting grounded to begin your day.
5. Too much talking- journaling is very useful as a day starter but don't do all of the talking.  Make sure to allow some time to just sit and listen: to God, nature, the stirrings inside of your own heart.

What types of activities do you avoid at the start of your day?

Photo courtesy of KS 

Five Ways to Prepare for Easter

Lent is officially over, the grocery store is full of candy (and the fake grass stuff that ends up all over your living room floor) and Easter is almost here. How do you prepare for it?

You could do nothing and just enjoy the day- that's certainly an option.

You could overprepare to the point of being stressed by the existence of Easter- that's another option.

Or, maybe you could thoughtfully point yourself in a direction that allows for maximum reflection on what Christians believe is the most important and solemn holiday of the year. I'm sure you aren't surprised that I'm going to recommend this final mode of prep so here goes:

1. Review your local church's services. Most churches offer some kind of "triduum" services- Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Triduum is Latin for "three days" and implies a set of services that flow from one to the other. I'm Catholic so our triduum features the following:

Holy Thursday: Mass that includes a washing of the feet of 12 parishioners. I always look forward to seeing whose feet will be washed each year. The altar is then stripped, symbolizing that Good Friday is right around the corner. Our family then visits several local churches to pray, a tradition that inner city Catholics have carried on for centuries. I guess it started in inner cities because most have a ton of churches to visit by walking.

Good Friday: Either the stations of the cross or a church service whereby a cross is venerated. Churches do this in their own way- some provide one huge cross for people to kiss or kneel in front of while others coordinate people into lines so that many different crosses can be venerated. This service is very solemn.

Easter Vigil (Saturday Night) / Easter Sunday: I love the Easter vigil services. In the Catholic tradition they take several hours and are rich in symbolism. You get it all- candles, fire, water, oil, song, etc. New Christians are baptized and welcomed into the church, something my wife Cary did some 17 years ago. It's pretty awesome and the church is redecorated to symbolize Easter joy.

2. Get away. Believe it or not, sometimes it's better to be anonymous for a big religious holiday. My friend J.B. Wood likes to visit a new church so that it's like a pilgrimage or sorts. Being in a new worship space can give you a fresh set of eyes.

3. Rest. You may be going into Easter with a sense of exhaustion so be sure to take naps, enjoy quiet mornings and take it easy.

4. Give yourself permission to eat simply. My friend Fran is planning on having a bean casserole with frozen vegetables and potatoes from a box. It's easy and I'm sure will taste delicious. Don't feel like you have to go crazy in order to enjoy Easter- find what works for you.

5. Engage with the Scripture story of the Resurrection. When was the last time you sat quietly and read one of the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection? Read it slowly, maybe two times if necessary.

These are five things that work for me.

How will you prepare for Easter?

Photo courtesy of FT

Lessons in Faith from a Juggler

Have you ever felt stuck? I don't mean on the side of the road in your sedan. I'm talking about in your faith- in a rut, not feeling God's presence and not enjoying things at all.

All of us go through it. St. Teresa of Avila was known to have experienced what is often called "spiritual dryness" for nearly 17 years! St. John of the Cross famously called this the "dark night of the soul". Everything seems black and you feel alone.

I've been there and it doesn't feel good.

Not to trivialize the dark night (because it's not fun, let's be honest) but there are two things about it worth noting:

1. It's good if you realize that you're feeling sideways in your faith. That means you can still feel. You're not numb to things and God is still nudging you forward. Acknowledge it, write about it, talk to God about how it feels and ask what it might mean. Stick with your morning devotions and pray for the grace to stay on this side of the conflict.

2. Have a sense of humor about it. This isn't like laughing at a car crash on your way to work out of nervous energy. This is about acknowledging that you're human and sometimes life gets the best of you. It's almost like going on a diet and then falling off the tracks at the hands of a delicious pack of Mrs. Fields white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. The crumbs are in your lap and you realize you've just devoured six of the little devils in the span of two minutes. Just smile, wipe off your mouth and move on.

If you anticipate imperfection, the fall will be far less painful. Getting back up will become part of your routine.

My friend Gene is a juggler who talks about the importance of having a "drop line". In other words, when he drops a bowling pin, he already has a funny line ready to say. The audience thinks it's funny and he just moves on with the show, calmly picking up the pin as if it's part of his act.

Imperfection is part of the thing. This applies to life, juggling and living as a disciple of Christ.

Question: When was the last time that you had to push through a spiritually dry patch?

3 Signs that You Are Becoming More Contemplative

Mother Theresa said that her sisters, who lived simply and served the poor, were more than social workers. She described the role of her nuns in the following way:

“We are all called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world — by seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and [God's] hand in every happening; seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

This is contemplation being lived out not on an isolated mountaintop but through daily life.

Like daily saints, contemplatives hug the world in which they live. They see the hurt and walk towards it. They find beauty in unexpected things. They find ordinary life to be an opportunity for God to do something amazing. It's good to be contemplative but it does take time to develop.

How do you know that you are becoming more contemplative?

1. You notice something that you didn't see previously. A sunrise, a mailbox, a physical characteristic of a colleague, the accent of someone you know, a field on the way home that you ordinarily wouldn't notice.

2. You read more slowly. Rather than being sucked in by the quick pull of Twitter or Facebook or Email, you manage to read more slowly. Books come alive, the Bible is interesting once again and you have more "AHA" moments.

3. You actually listen when others are talking. I don't mean that you are waiting to speak in a more polite way than usual. I mean actually listening to folks and then taking in everything that they say. Real listening.

Being a contemplative is powerful stuff.

Are you recognizing signs in your own life that show a growing contemplative spirit?

*Photo courtesy of JW.

Four Methods for a More Consistent Relationship with God

Faith takes practice and the practice of faith takes perseverance.  As St. James says, “The testing of your faith develops perseverance.”  (1:3)  I get all of this and yet the practice of my faith can be so darn frustrating.  The lyrics from Bruce Springsteen come to mind, “One step up and two steps back”. (One Step Up)

Like the kids in my own family, sometimes I just don’t get it.  “The habits should have kicked in by now,” I tell myself, when I get frustrated as I try to carve out time for daily prayer.  One would think that a Christian, almost 40 years old, would be running on all cylinders.  Maybe yes and maybe no.  

Why does this bother me at all?  Seriously, very few people have daily prayer times if we stopped long enough to ask them.  I should be happy that I’m trying to pray on a regular basis.

Or should I?

Should sporadic spiritual practice be good enough for God?  Does He expect that every single day is marked with rosaries and Bible reading?  Come on God, isn’t there a place for slackers in the spiritual life?

One person who was far from a slacker was Blessed Theresa of the slums of Calcutta.  She once said, “God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.”  When you look at it this way, it could be that effort matters as much as the momentum that one builds up in his/her spiritual life.  That’s anti-slacker material if I ever heard it.

“God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try"

So here’s my formula for avoiding slackerdom in the spiritual life:

1. Try to pray every day.  Quietly, without fanfare, including the practice of journaling when possible.  Try and then after you mess up or just forget, try again.

2. Read your Bible.  A little a day goes an awful long way.  A “pericope” is a short snippet of text.  Find some and ponder it by sitting with it in your head.

3. Talk out loud to God.  Every time I do this I’m reminded that faith is about relationship above all else.  You’ll feel funny at first but trust me, this works- big time.  If you can get comfortable talking to God, you may find that God ends up talking to you!

4. Seek perspective from wise and holy people.  Use a spiritual director, cherish your holy friends and ask their advice.  There's little that they haven't seen in life.

Let’s be honest, being a person of faith takes work. When we hit the speedbumps and feel less than motivated, it can be tempting to quit or get down on ourselves. Still, it’s important to remember that we’re in this first for God and second for ourselves.  

If you’re feeling like a slacker, that’s the perfect time to go “back to work” on the four disciplines laid out above and beg for God to bolster your resolve.

Which of the four disciplines speak most to your spiritual life?

Photo courtesy of RR