Spiritual Rhythms
By: Jen Lutz
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
As I sit down to write about spiritual rhythms, I feel the weightiness of the topic. I’m certainly not an expert, though I am on a lifelong journey of learning to quiet myself and spend time with Jesus. As my husband often reminds me, “If you want to build a relationship with someone, you spend time with them.” If this is true of our earthly relationships, how much more with our heavenly father? Below is a glimpse into what encourages me to create daily spiritual rhythms.
Jen in real life:
On my own, I am often self-sufficient, distracted, and consumed by today’s pressing needs. And I don’t have to look too far for a real-time glimpse of my flesh in action. It’s easy to wake up feeling anxious about the day’s worries—from my relationships (husband, four kids, and their needs) to work (deadlines, performance, etc..), managing a home (what needs to be fixed, cleaned), the news (world’s going to hell in a hand basket). And then there are the incidental worries that I bring upon myself by opening social media. Cue the comparison game!
This is just a small glimpse of the daily pressures that can bear down on me and choke out peace and joy. My guess is many of you may have your own version of the same. Of course, it’s no wonder that anxiety, depression, and hopelessness are skyrocketing, and young women are often collateral damage. There must be more.
What then is the antidote? A good question to ask is, “What do you believe will actually satisfy your soul?” I think many of us raised in church reflexively say we need more time reading the Bible or praying. But often our personal habits tell another story.
A book that has encouraged and challenged me this past year is The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, by Justin Whitmel Earley. He challenges readers to practice daily and weekly habits that create space for spiritual rhythms and guard against busyness and distraction. He describes habits as a liturgy. A liturgy is a pattern of words or actions repeated regularly as a way of worship (example: repeating the Lord’s Prayer every evening, reading through the Book of Common Prayer every morning).
So, I ask myself, “What habits am I creating to make space for spiritual rhythms?”
Morning Rhythms:
Responding to the The Common Rule’s encouragement to start the day with prayer and quiet. I wake up to my alarm and decide not to look at my phone. As soon as I choose time with the Lord over text messages, Outlook Calendar, daily news, and Instagram, I make my first decision of the day one which acknowledges God as the center of the universe and my life. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me make space in my life for spiritual rhythms. Sometimes I light a favorite candle and turn on quiet worship. Grab a cup of coffee, favorite cozy blanket, pull out my bible, journal, devotional. I quiet myself and pray “Heavenly Father, teach me how to walk with you.”
Beginning my workday, whether driving to campus or at home, I often ask myself, what will bring peace to my soul as opposed to what feeds worry and discontent? So, whether I’m driving to work or washing dishes at my kitchen sink, I put on a bit of worship music. It is another simple way I can begin the day with a posture of thanksgiving and worship.
Mid-day Rhythms:
By midday, I’m often tired. Part of acknowledging our humanity is stopping to rest, break bread and commune with a friend(s). This is a great opportunity to grab lunch, coffee or walk with a friend, and as a true extrovert, people energize me! But mid-day is also an opportunity for quiet and reflection. Perhaps refueling by joining noon-day prayer or spending time reading scripture and praying.
Evening Rhythms:
Establishing evening habits. Even simple exercises like making dinner are opportunities to engage the spiritual. Being in my kitchen, cooking for the family, listening to a good podcast, calling a friend to chat while I chop vegetables, playing worship music, praying, or having conversations with the kids. There is something about preparing a meal and dining that is an opportunity to slow down, and commune with God and those we love.
After dinner, can be a time when I do mindless scrolling on social media, the news, or other entertainment. It’s so difficult to be intentional when I am tired! So, I work at curating my media (Earley suggests 4 hours of media weekly). I practice putting my phone to bed by silencing notifications and plugging it in away from my nightstand. I also like to keep a good book on hand and maintain a reasonable bedtime so I can prioritize early morning devotions.
Bedtime is another time to quiet myself and say evening prayers. Thanks to Brock, I now appreciate prayer apps, such as, Abide, Pause and the Daily Office. Ending the day listening to a guided prayer app has been a good way to refocus my scattered heart and mind.
Weekly & Seasonal Rhythms:
Finally, as a family, we work on weekly and seasonal rhythms such as taking a sabbath and pausing to observe the church calendar with lent and advent. Each of these are reminders that we are not the center of our universe—that we worship a holy, infinite God and we are part of a much larger creation story.
These spiritual rhythms, from the daily, weekly, and seasonal are met with varying degrees of success. Just another reminder of our humanity and need to invite the triune God into our daily lives and rhythms. The Psalmist reminds me:
“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8
