The Home Altar

I had the privilege and joy of representing OEF at the 2025 Chapter of the Order of Lutheran Franciscans. We met from July 25 to 29 at the Bon Secours retreat center in Marriotsville, MD. I enjoyed the rhythm of worship, meals, meaningful conversations, sabbath time, and community deliberations. I was joined by Verleah Kosloske, TSSF and Br. Desmond Alban, SSF as the other official visitors.

Some highlights of my experience included singing lots of liturgical music during the offices and Eucharistic celebrations written by our own Louis Canter, OEF; morning spiritual practices including prayerful art explorations and centering prayer; and warm reunions with siblings I had met in 2018, the last time I was the visitor.

We engaged in some familiar activities, like sending cards to members who could not be present, and in some enjoyable experiments. The gathered chapter traveled to nearby Ellicot City, MD to attend Sunday worship at a local parish. It was such an invigorating experience of public witness, we even encountered a gentleman who was ready to inquire just based on the joyful spirit of the group. It made me curious and excited about what that would look like at an OEF Chapter or regional retreat.

During the Chapter, OLF officially installed a new minister general, Br. Jeff Brown; a new formation minister, Br. Ryan Roberts; and a new bursar (treasurer), Br. Mark Molter. Four new novices made their novice vows and two brothers made life profession during the annual celebration liturgy. There was also great attention to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly (Triennial Conference) taking place in Phoenix, AZ. OLF is now officially an Independent Lutheran Organization, with full legal status under the denomination's Churchwide offices. This is akin to canonical recognition in the Anglican or Catholic tradition. With this year's election of a new presiding bishop, they will be receiving a new denominational relator and are hoping to participate in the consecration and installation of the new leader on Saturday, October 4, 2025 (a perfect day to celebrate humility and peace in transforming the church and world!)

We engaged in really lovely peer triads, taking turns throughout the gathering for check-ins, rule reports, life sharing, and holy listening with curious questions from the two listeners. (I would highly recommend this for a future Chapter, we have done this in the past.) There were also small group JPIC conversations, where people could share joys and concerns about the many dimensions of corporate discipleship that come with a Franciscan vocation. (It's been too long since we've done this, and I'd love to see it again).

I brought greetings from the servant council and the whole order, sharing a bit about the history of OEF and OLF (their founders began their Franciscan exploration with us.)

While dates have not been settled on, next year's Chapter will be in Chicago, IL and I hope an OEF sibling nearby will have the time to experience this lovely community in person.

Practice

• When you are a guest in someone else’s home, community, or setting, how do you balance giving the gift of your presence with receiving the gift of theirs?
• Think of a time when you were welcomed heartily. How did it feel in your mind, your heart, your body? What told you that you belonged?
• How do you savor time well spent with gracious hosts?

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

Learning

I am frequently encouraging people to offer to the world what they have the personal and spiritual resources to give, which of course means accurately assessing that level and then making both under and over performance a finite and well discerned intention, rather than a trauma response. Which is a long winded way of saying that I don’t remember choosing to take a break from this space, but clearly I did make an intuitive choice to do what was in front of me, both in terms of the spiritual seasons of Lent and Easter, as well as the work of caring in the shelter, in my community, and with my clients.

During this time I’ve had some spectacular opportunities for learning and integration, and I’m glad that I took time this year for such moments. I attended the 35th anniversary conference of Spiritual Director’s International, Beyond the Field. Several days of workshops, keynotes, table chatter, affinity groups, and one one one conversations with other healers and listeners not only fed my mind, but my soul. It helped that wandering about the grandeur of Niagara Falls was a part of the experience as I was accompanied by the might rush and rumble of the river that shakes the ground when I stood close.

I also undertook a course of study with the Focalizing Institute, to enhance my practice and add a new therapeutic modality to my toolbox. Learning how to employ conditions for tending to shame and conditioned thinking was a real joy. The work was intense, but I’m pleased to say that I’m now a certified practitioner and excited to offer these skills to the people I serve. Embodiment work is spectacularly non-linear and often times has a feeling of mystery to it, but the more I learn about the neuro-biology of spirituality, the more convinced I am that recovering the wisdom of the body is a big part of healing so many profound wounds.

Loving

No one has mastered the art of living fully in the present quite like a dog. So even though we knew that she would face challenges as a survivor of an animal hoarding situation and some time in the shelter, our household has welcomed Phoebe with open arms. She is a boingy, beautiful, dainty, and wild lady. Watching her embody joy, play, sleepiness, hunger, fear, bravery, and more is constantly teaching me about the shared creatureliness that we have. Her confidence gained through attachment and agency is a reminder to me of the sacred slowness and intention that goes with accompanying survivors of trauma.

Praying

I also took time to celebrate with and discern alongside my religious community, the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans. While my other travels this year meant I opted for attending over Zoom, the hybrid gathering did some great work, selecting a new servant council, welcoming a new formation coordinator, professing four new brothers, and engaging in the important but difficult work of discerning our life together in the year ahead, with all of the challenges that the social, political, environmental, and health polycrisis has brought to many of our doorsteps.

I hope to be with the community in person in the coming year.

So now I cruise into July, many tasks finished. New relationships blossoming, old relationships being nurtured, and evidence of my efforts in hand (soon to be “on wall”). I can see my own level of resource and capacity more clearly. I am ready to refresh this space more regularly.

Practice Question

What would it look like to include in my personal examen each day, an honest accounting of my level of personal resource, and then find ways to live within that allotment for the day?

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

Whether they are thoughts, memories, and sensations from things that happened in our past, or the spontaneous reactions that our minds and bodies are having to what we’re witnessing in the present moment, there are times when cultivating a contemplative consciousness feels like being sucked into a giant game of wack-a-mole.

This silly carnival game features targets that pop up at random from a grid and the objective is to bop the mechanical rodents with a mallet. I still remember playing for the first time at a raucous birthday party at a local Chuck E. Cheese franchise. While it might be a fun and exciting rush of endorphins in the context of a noisy arcade, this sort of action happening within us, can be quite distressing.

We experience the shock of the memory or the present distress and ride the surge of adrenaline and cortisol that comes with it. This temporary high leaves us anxious, searching for the exits, irritable, and feeling alone. Sometimes in our effort to combat the sense of powerlessness and isolation we seek to evade our suffering by transmitting it, either in unkindness towards the people around us, or by inviting the nearest safe person to join us in our state of activation and distress.

When we are experiencing a steady drip of activating news and information, we begin to experience the pop, the decline, and then pop again! Pop! Pop! Pop! Startling, exciting our nervous system and never really allowing us to recover to a lower stress homeostasis. Which might make our less than helpful coping mechanism, whether grounded in anger, despair, or even spite a source of activation for the people around us. Pop! Pop! Pop! Wack! Wack! Wack!

I recognize this pattern in myself. I’m embarrassed by it. I want to be able to be present, even to the hard stuff, when things feel like they’re falling apart, and even when they are collapsing at a rate that is too quick for my rational mind to process and my body-mind to metabolize. Even so, I know that as a person called to suffer alongside my neighbors, I’m also desperate for relief.

I pray for a boring day, where nothing unsettling happens. I begin to crave a day when climate collapse, social disintegration, genocide, the march towards the formal resegregation of the United States, the violence of poverty, the terror of disease, war, loneliness, and death do not intrude on my consciousness. Pop! Wack! You can’t win the game if you don’t bop all the moles. At the same time, there is another part of me that is certain that flailing wildly with the mallet is the only way to lose the game. I can’t control what pops up. I can’t control what arises in me. I can control what I do with that impulse if I just slow down. Let each Pop arrive and recede. Just observe, don’t chase, don’t swing, try and notice what is happening in me, to me, around me.

This isn’t passive dissociation that I’m describing. I’m trying to create space to let go of first thoughts, of snap judgments, of unloving responses. I can simply observe, and I when I find that I can’t get myself to that space, I reach out, not to help spread the distress, but to connect with someone who can help me find that slower self.

I reach out, so that together, we can validate, notice, wonder, and begin to tip into curiosity. What is actually happening here? What are the things I cannot control? What are the ways I can act? Whom can I invite to act along with me? How can I attach to something solid outside of this present moment of dysregulation? How can I attune to each mole that pops without needing to smash it instinctively?

I can attune to what my soul actually needs in that moment, whether that’s to take a break, to move, to cry out, to lament, to grieve, to feel deeply, to gather community, to dance, to stomp, to sing, or any other human need that might begin the work of metabolizing that hard thing, those hard things, indeed many hard things.

None of this minimizes or invalidates the strong initial reaction. That too is body-mind wisdom trying to keep me alive. If anything, the increase in observable suffering all around me is an invitation into the heart of my contemplative practice. Beholding and bearing witness to the world as it is, sitting in contemplation and consenting to the divine presence in what is, being stirred to action and inviting others to freely choose action, engaging in robust and loving practice reflection, that the actual outcomes of our action would be the seeds of new beholding.

In my imagination, each mechanical mole slows down. The pop sound elongates and becomes mysteriously slow. Hands opening and palms facing up in a gesture of supplication, the mallet falls away. This latest worry is one more invitation to pray. So into the silence I go, so that into the world I go, so that into the silence…

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

The 1976 Flexible Flyer used to help my partner race downhill with siblings and enjoy all of the magic that a New England winter had to offer to children playing in the snow. Everything about this piece of living nostalgia speaks to the adventure and even the riskiness of growing up with all of its bumps, bruises, and tumbles.

It seems like nowadays sleds are mostly made with molded plastic and aren’t nearly as flashy or fun as this metal rail mini sleigh. I also can’t help but wonder if the ever more rapidly shifting climate would even allow for enough deep snow long enough to use this treasure for its original purpose. There’s also deep questions of whether our now middle aged bodies should be rocketing downhill that fast.

We’ve helped my partner’s mother with a lot of death cleaning, the sort of relinquishment meant to reduce the burden on family and friends when the actual moment of bereavement arrives. Most of what we have removed from the childhood home has gone into annual yard sales, so a new family can enjoy the item for a few dollars. Some of it has ended up at the recycling center, doing our best to not create more landfill waste, where possible. The sled however stays.

It is a potent connection to the joys of childhood, even if it can’t be useful in the same ways today. It’s a reminder of the love of siblings, family, and adventures. As a part of rekindling this joy in a new context, we turned the sled into a part of the Christmas lights display this year. It was a wonderful way to celebrate past and present, and to recognize that this joy remains accessible, even now, when we are open to it.

This can be true of our childhood practices too. Perhaps the paper crafts, homemade holiday treats, candle lighting, summer camp songs, and rhyming childhood prayers simply don’t land the way they used to. The truth is, they probably shouldn’t. The part of you that cherishes these things needs to be coaxed to the forefront of your consciousness in order for the emotional and spiritual impact to be truly felt. This brings with it the risk of surfacing the unprocessed memories and experiences of that part of you as well.

This doesn’t mean we have to scrap every practice that illuminated our childhood, youth, or early adulthood. In fact, that would be to deny ourselves and our very real journey in the life of the Divine. Perhaps what’s needed is to explore whether a gentle repurposing can help us connect in new and meaningful ways, like the sled that now announces the festive joys and wistful remembrances of the Winter Holidays.

This turning over of the calendar year and the waning of celebrations like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Yule, can open us to exploring what we need to leave behind in 2024, what we might consider anew, and what things from our own past are ready to be purposeful in the present moment. It is in this moment that we, our practices, and the Holy One are all truly and fully present.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year, and whether you’re preparing for Winter adventures, or the beauty of Summer in the southern hemisphere, I hope that the days ahead give you moments of both joy and thoughtful pause.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

In the Christian liturgical calendar there are two seasons of preparation and reflection, Advent before the 12 days of Christmas, and Lent before the 50 days of Easter. These times can be useful for the renewing of spiritual practice, trying out new practices, and engaging with sacred story in a way that prepares us for the celebrations that follow. It’s also a great time for practice reflection, mindfully and heartfully engaging with what we have done and asking questions about what might be next.

For me, this involves sending a letter to all of the directees in my practice and inviting us to prayerfully consider what we have done, and what might still need doing.

I find that this invitation opens the door to important conversations around conclusions, adjustments, and deeper understanding that is needed to move forward. The insights gained here can lead to a new contemplative awareness of where we are now, in comparison to where we were when we began.

What’s posted below is the text of that letter.

Dearest Spiritual Companions,

This year has certainly had its share of ups and downs, marked by personal and corporate losses, dramatic shifts to the ministry landscape, and opportunities to test the limits of our daily practice as we attempt to remain lovingly and mercifully present with what is actually happening. We do this even as our mindful and heartful presence leaves room for lament, grief, sorrow, rejoicing, and deep unknowing of what comes next.

I completed a 12 week course through Spiritual Directors International in the spring to deepen my understanding of trauma informed principles in spiritual care work. I also helped teach a course of Queer perspectives in spiritual direction through SDI. I remain in the care of my director, Fr. B Simon Dinglassan, under the supervision of Joan Alexander, and involved in the Bethany House peer supervision group. In the year ahead, I’m looking forward to attending SDI’s annual conference in Niagra, NY for new insights, formation, and learning.

As we prepare for a confluence of religious, social, seasonal, and astronomical celebrations, as well as the passing of one calendar year into another, it is a good time to take stock, reflect, and visit anew our intentions. If we have been sitting together for a while, 6 months, a year, maybe more, now would be the perfect time to dedicate at least a portion of our next session to carefully discerning the following questions:

• Have we completed the work we were meant to do together?
  • If we connected over a specific question or incident, have we successfully navigated it and would new forms of support be beneficial?
  • Would you like a referral to a new or additional trusted listener (counselor, coach, etc.)?
• If we have ongoing wondering and witnessing to do, have your needs and central questions shifted significantly?
• Is there an area of practice that we have overlooked thus far, and that you would like to explore more intentionally in the year ahead?
• Are you anticipating any major changes in the year ahead to which we should give particular attention?
• Is there anything in our work together that you’d like to adjust?
  • Opening practice, Closing Practice, Mode of meeting, etc.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

The little season celebrated by the Franciscan family from September 17th to October 4th is called Francistide. The community reflects on the faithful death of Francis and his confidence that Sister Death would carry him home to Christ.

Francis had been fasting in preparation for the commemoration of Michael and All the Angels when he had an incredible vision of a Seraph on Holy Cross Day (September 14th) This mystical encounter left him marked with the wounds of Jesus, known as stigmata (signs), on his hands, feed, side and head. The revelation of these signs of unity with Christ is celebrated on September 17th.

Francis was in ill health, failing from his days as a prisoner of war and from the constant discipline to which he had subjected his body. When it became clear that he would not recover, he was laid in the Little Portion Chapel and attended to by his closest friends. The community began to mourn, and all the while he kept pointing away from himself and towards Jesus.

During this time Francis composed his most famous poem, the Canticle of the Creatures, a soaring exposition of his faith in Christ, love for God as creator, and profound sense of kinship with everything around him.

Most High, all powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, the honour, and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendour! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us and who produces varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.

Traditional celebrations of Francistide include visiting with members of the Franciscan family for prayer and meditation, liturgies celebrating creation and offering blessings to animals, meditating on the power of the Cross, and a solemn vespers on October 3rd to mark the occasion of Francis’ dying. This is often followed up by eating sweet almond cookies, a favorite treat of Francis, in memory of the kindness of Br. Jacoba, a devoted follower who visited him near the end.

Practice

• What’s a significant stretch of days in your practice and tradition?
• What are the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of that time?
• How do you gather with others for an experience of shared life and practice?
• Take some time for silence and then offer a prayer of thanks for this time.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

I have never been the sort of person who prepares a detailed agenda or itinerary for my time away. When people try to wring every ounce of experience out of a trip, because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) or to maxmize ROI (Return on Investment), what I hear is the anxious mind that drives our work and world far too often laying hold to the blessing of rest and renewal.

This isn’t to say that I am aimless when I travel. There is a certain amount of planning that goes into the actual journey there and back again. I may have hopes of sharing moments with loved ones, like the beach walk and shell finding in the picture. Part of what makes rest into rest is a lack of demand, either internal or external. The reset that my body, mind, and soul needs comes from that flexibility, freedom, and non-attachment to outcomes.

I do think of different kinds of time away differently, and find that when I try to mix and match, especially multiple kinds of time away into one trip, I often feel undernourished and overstimulated. Instead of dwelling richly in one heart and headspace, I’m bouncing from one posture to another, effectively recreating my daily living. There can be great joy in being present to one good thing.

When I’m away from home for Retreat, I go to focus on nurturing my relationship to the Divine and to other pilgrims who are following their practice along the way. Whether solo or in a group, I look for ways to embrace prayer, silence, contemplation, worship, active sharing and listening, being fully present to what is happening. I may see beautiful sights along the way, but I don’t go sightseeing. If there is a schedule planned by the group or the site, I follow it, while also attending to my needs. If there is no schedule, I let the simple rhythms of the Earth and my daily practice be a loose framework, and then move mindfully through whatever comes. There may be meals to enjoy, recreation available, but I simply fold these in, without making them the point. I dwell in the present and enjoy God’s company.

When I travel for Renewal, I have the nurture of my mind front and center. This includes events like conferences and workshops, as well as making visits to cultural and historic sites. I find that this sort of time away is best suited to places I might only visit once, or unique learning opportunities to be nourished by gifted teachers. The spirit I try to bring to this wandering is curiosity, and a generous heart to receive the best of what I encounter. Even as I do this, I leave room for lament, and the weight of grief that comes with encountering the sorrowful side of history. Engaging in this way helps me to learn with my whole body, and not just my intellect.

Respite, like the beach trip pictured above, is about being away from my daily responsibilities, moving intentionally and slowly through the day, savoring the little things, like a lovely walk, a good meal, a quiet moment, a thoughtful story. If I have forgotten for a moment what day it is, or what task I would be doing on a typical day, but feel deeply grounded in the moment, I know that the time is unfolding as I had hoped. This can even be true as I flex and float around weather, shuffling activities, or deciding to do less.

Travel for Revival is about watering the seeds of compassion and justice in my heart. I may be headed to a state or national capital, to the headquarters of a church body, or to another seat of power, but in every case, I go so that I can go together with other people of good conscience. This sort of time away isn’t for entertainment, incidental touring, or relaxing. It’s also not meant to be tourism in the pain and suffering of my neighbors. I go so that our voices can be heard, and I can practice speaking truth to power in great love. I go to encourage the others who go, that our spirits might be lifted that very day, even if the particular curse we are contending with isn’t.

In all of these adventures, there are anchors that they share.

For one, I am never alone.

Whether I am in the company of the Spirit and the prayers of my global community on solo retreat, in the crowd at a conference, on a vacation like the beach trip with my household, in a monastery surrounded by silent siblings, or enjoying a raucous meal with chosen family, I am connected to and in communion with those around me.

Regardless of the form of travel, I attend to my rule of life, and the keeping of my daily spiritual practices. These help create the pace I need.

I look for ways to notice, to savor, and to cherish the good that arises from each kind of time away. In so doing, they become a part of me for the rest of my life.

Practice

Spend some time with your journal or in conversation with a trusted friend.

• What makes time away refreshing for you?
• When does it feel like more work than work?
• How can you move at a pace to be present to what is happening now, and not what is happening next?

Reflect on what you learn and wonder about how you might shift your practice to make time away nourishing and nurturing for you!

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

I can't help the mothering instinct, asking if everyone is home safe

There is comfort, replies of both adventures and misadventures trickling in

The circle grows ever wider

Those who found a home in solitude

In this year's family portrait

In another family's portrait

In the faithful discernment of both hello and goodbye

There are ones who aren't home yet

Beckoning to us to become

Our kin in

Community

Ministry

Radical welcome

Mutual liberation

Not everyone is home yet. Praise the Holy One for dispersing us

To meet and love them with fierce gentleness

In the days, weeks, and year ahead.

A reflection on traveling home from Chapter 2024.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

I’m taking some time away this week, living in community with other members of the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans. We’ll be spending time in silence, in conversation, in prayer, and in prayerful discernment for the life of the whole community.

Each year, Chapter and Convocation includes several components, each of which is nourishing in its own way.

Communal Living- we share space, a schedule, meals, conversation, walks, silent abiding, and the sharing of news and stories from across our many lives. We make cards for those who cannot be present, and we lift both the order and the larger Franciscan family in prayer. Regional fellowships plan gatherings and retreats.

Worship- we keep the hours of the Daily Office, with rotating leadership in prayer and contemplation. We celebrate the Eucharist together as a sign of our unity in diversity, and get to hear some marvelous preaching and teaching. We celebrate rites of passage as people are welcomed at every stage of formation and discernment, as well as renewing those vows across the community. We sing, we laugh, we love, we rejoice, we lament, we console each other.

Convocation- we learn together. This year we’re having a series of panels to share the experience of joining the order in various decades as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.

Chapter- we sit together in prayerful discernment to listen carefully to each other and to the urging of the Holy Spirit. We receive news of the order and its activities and make plans for the year ahead. We make solemn decisions about admission and release.

Service– we engage in service to our host community as a way of being in solidarity with the people who call it home year round.

Play- we solve puzzles, play games, go for walks, do silly dances, compete for the ignominious prizes of the Juniper Cup (a farcical talent show). Some siblings go for a run, engage in yoga, or even go for a swim.

Wonder- we anchor ourselves in the present moment, asking where we have been, where we might be going, and what new adventures are a part of the unfolding wisdom being revealed in our midst.

I look forward to sharing the fruits of these endeavors in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, I pray that your practice will be a blessing to you and to everyone you meet. When the temptation to do or overdo arises, remember that you can simply be and in so doing you are beloved.

Practice

Take a moment today to journal some memories of a community that means a lot to you and where you feel deep safety, connection, and thriving.

• How do you know you belong?
• What are the gifts you give to the community?
• What gifts do they give you?
• How is your shared practice held by the community?

Take a moment to pray for that group, expressing your gratitude and love.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef

Our little dog is getting old. Sure 14 going on 15 doesn’t sound old, but that’s 102 in human years! It seems like everything is up for renegotiation. Playing with toys has been replaced with resting gently on a stuffy as a pillow. Long nature walks have been replaced by long afternoon naps. Just this year he’s needed treatment for a serious illness, special prescription food, and now daily eye treatments as he struggles with vision loss.

Our canine brother is truly a senior and it has brought what feels like non-stop change and daily challenge. Caring for him is now part and parcel in my daily discipline. From listening for his first stirring in the morning to carry him downstairs to the main floor, to making sure he gets a quick relief walk right after a meal, to the administration of a couple kinds of eye medicine.

Getting up and down the apartment porch stairs was starting to get scary, both for the humans and the dog. The once brave and bouncy descendant of wolves was struggling to find the stairs and plant his feet. It was time to do something different, to accept that an accommodation and a new tool were needed to continue finding the joy in each day, even the strange ones.

Spending a day building a custom ramp for a dog might seem frivolous or like too much work, but I firmly believe that just as age and disability come for all of us, that those moments of honest encounter provide an opportunity to practice kinship with all creation. Especially the parts of creation that we have promised to care for. It was a chance for compassion to shine, and for love to be rekindled.

I’m pleased to say that it only took a small amount of scattered kibble and some gentle coaching, and now Matteo is a true Ramp Champ. The added dignity and safety of the trip up and down has resulted in more requests to go outside, whether to walk around the neighborhood, or to fall asleep in the grass sunbathing. We were better able to be family together with the right adaptations in place.

This isn’t all that different from our relationship with ourselves, others, and God that comes through our daily practice. Sometimes, what worked in one phase of our life simply isn’t helpful, safe, or loving any more. Other times, we can engage in components of our practice, with assistance from a new tool or structure.

We may move from memorized prayers to simply abiding silently, or from walking the labyrinth on foot to tracing one with our finger. We may have to embrace the reality that streaming or on-line worship is more accessible, due to our mobility, neurotype, or trauma history. We may lean on our fellow travelers more, trusting that the practice of the whole community is our practice too. We might be on more people’s prayer lists than we’re used to, relying on the love and compassion flowing to us.

This is all healthy, good, and kind. The insistence that a practice must be exactly the same for the entirety of our time embracing it is simply the delusion of control and permanence that we love to chase as human beings. Matteo is lucky to be a creature who thrives on living in the moment (except for when he dreams vigorously!). His ability to face change once he knew that he was safe and cared for is inspiring. The pursuit of contemplative consciousness is the longing to be lovingly and mercifully present to what actually is. If we cling to that space, that is where our caregivers, both divine and human, can meet us where we are and help us find joy and safety going in and out and about our daily living. We can be ramp champs too, putting our feet confidently on the artificial turf and moving forward with our companions.

Practice

Take a moment to ground yourself and center on the Spirit moving through your breath.

Let your mind wander over the many ways you have engaged with spiritual practice over your lifetime. Savor the goodness and the consolation that came along with it.

• What practices have you set down? Give thanks for what they provided and then gently bid them Godspeed to the next person who might use them.
• What practices continue to this day? Spend some time in gratitude for your current disciplines.
• What practices need modifications or adaptations? Who might you ask to help you build a structure that will allow you to move forward safely and confidently?

As you finish this reflection, marvel at all the connections represented in these memories and wonderments. Move into your day with this breath prayer:

Inhale: I am still here.

Exhale: I am not alone.

Be gentle with yourself, you are worth it.

Peace and Everything Good,

The Rev. JM Longworth, OEF Spiritual Direction and Trauma Care

https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/GreenMtFriarOEF/ To book an appointment: https://calendly.com/greenmtfriaroef