Tuesday, April 19, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 115

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SOLITUDE


+ The best and sweetest flowers in paradise, God gives to his people when they are on their knees in the closet. — Prayer, if not the very gate of heaven, is the key to let us into its holiness and joys.

+ In Scetis, a brother went to see Abba Moses and begged him for a word. The old man said, "Go and sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything."
-- A Saying From the Desert Fathers & Mothers

Holiness is the goal of this portion of the explorations, the Journey of the Body.  Prayer is, of course, what all of these explorations are all about.  I take the command of St. Paul to pray unceasingly very seriously.  But I haven’t figured out how to do it.  I certainly don’t believe that the closet or the cell is the only place set apart for prayer.  But it is an important place and that’s what we are emphasizing here.   The aim is to become so accomplished in the closet or the cell or whatever sacred space you can create for solitude that prayer becomes a natural part of your life with each and every breath.

It is beginning to make sense for me that this practice belongs to the Journey of the Body.  When you create this sacred space of solitude, you become very aware of your body.  It is a good time to make decisions about caring for your body, to affirm your body which allows you to experience this wonderful world so thoroughly.  Our bodies are indeed holy.    


+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Beauty and a Twelves Gallery of Memes on Beauty.  The meme above comes from that gallery.  Thank You very much S&P.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Solitude Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Solitude” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html

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