Spiritual Gardening

This Season of Easter invites us to discover new ways in which life can arise out of the spiritually dead places in our lives.  Like a garden where the renewal of the soil can make possible a concert of floral beauty, so the cultivation of a new spiritual practice can be a fruitful way to enrich and deepen your spiritual life.

In his recent book, Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words, Brian D. McLaren describes this approach to spirituality:

“How can we build a naked life with God that is rich in spiritual experience, with or without dramatic experiences? On this question our ancient traditions and our contemporary theories of education and human development agree:  a way of life is formed by practices.  By practices we mean doable habits or rhythms that transform us, rewiring our brains, restoring our inner ecology, renovating our inner architecture, expanding our capacities. We mean actions within our power that help us become capable of things currently beyond our power.”

If we are to receive the most from our spiritual practices we need to find ourselves as part of a community of practitioners.   If you would like to explore a new spiritual practice, you might want to begin with a book like Brian McLaren’s and then discover some of the ways the Grace Community can support you as you seek to break through the hard winter soil.  A little spring gardening anyone?

For the journey,
Stephen