March Recap: Spirituality

This chapter was a fun one, talking about spirituality and how we can care for our souls. We discussed our spirituality and religion can work together, and where some of their limitations are as well as how we can tend to our souls moving forward.

We started by painting with water! Each member of the group got a piece of paper, paintbrush, and water to paint for a few minutes. We reflected on how using water helped us break out of some of our perfectionism, how we found the activity very peaceful, and how even though we used water instead of a more permanent medium our papers still reflected that something had happened. The wrinkled papers were marked by our activity even though we could no longer see the messages we had put on them. (we highly recommend you do this at home!)

Discussion: 

• What does the word Spirituality spark for you?

• Spirituality - being concerned with the human soul rather than material things

• Religion - set of beliefs that guide practices

• How do these two ideas play into one another?

• Page 39 - seasons. What seasons or repetitive rhythms do you have through your _____ (week, month, year, life)

• Ephesians 3:14-19

• Living as a spiritual being means being comfortable with the things that surpass our understanding. We can dwell in mystery. We can leave room for the unexplainable. We can be enchanted by that which is not of this world. We can be awed by the height and depth of God’s love being far bigger than our minds can imagine. Rooted in love, paying attention to the vast universe, our spiritual being can thrive.

• Christ may dwell in our hearts - how does that strengthen our spirituality? 

• In what areas of your life do you find yourself keeping score?

• What are you doing?

• Who are you with?

• Where are you?

• When do you feel most connected to yourself?

• God?

• The earth?

• Choose one of your five senses that you underutilize. 

Homework:

• Choose a spiritual practice for the month.

Tiny Things from previous months:

• Spend the first 5 minutes of your day away from technology, in the analog world.

• Watch the sun greet the day.

• Be fully present, even while answering emails. (but put a time limit on that)

• When drinking your coffee or tea. ONLY drink coffee or tea. 

• Pause your day to roll your neck and take 3 deep breaths.

• When you’re awake in the middle of the night, go outside and behold the beauty of the stars.

• Take a mid-afternoon tea break, put electronics down and spend time noticing how the world is experiencing the day.

• Shut down your device (computer, phone, etc.) and take conscious breaths while it reboots

• Go somewhere for 30 minutes between work and home each day.

• Mindfully empty the litter box

• Count breaths, or practice box breathing

• Go outside and look all the way up, be reminded of how big the universe is.

• Feel your feet on the ground, be reminded that you are supported.

• Chop vegetables. Let it take the time it requires.

• Linger in bed when you wake up and say “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

• Light candles.

• Pet a dog a moment longer.

• Get outside, no matter the weather.

• Move your body and pay attention to your body while you do it (not your to-do list).

• Journal your senses. (I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I feel)

  February Recap: Work

“presence is the best gift you can give someone”

Month two of the 12 Tiny things study was an exciting conversation! We discussed how we experienced space in the past month as well as Chapter two of the book: Work. There was much discussion about what “counts” as work and how we can be more present in our lives both through work and outside of our employment. 

Discussion: 

• What does work mean to you? Do you differentiate between work that generates income and work that does not?

• We were not all in agreement here. Folks shared that work was something that made them feel accomplished or where they felt they were making a difference. We talked about motivations for work. That list included financial security, but we were much more energized as we discussed other reasons for work.

• Read John 4:4-42

• Jesus shows presence in his work by really listening to the woman at the well. In listening to her with his heart open, he spoke right to her heart. How can we bring this level of presence to our work and our days?

• We discussed how much of Jesus’ work was simply being Jesus. How much of his work did not result in “deliverables,” and yet it was Holy and good work.

• Where do you spend the majority of your energy? How do you show up each day?

• Is there a part of your day or your week where you feel particularly present? Where you know you’re always (or almost always) not fully there?

• “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” Annie Dillard, page 20

• How do you spend your days? How do you want to spend your life? Where do those two things overlap? Where is there a disconnect?

• Martin Luther is known for saying “whatever you are, be a good one. If you’re a shoe maker, make the best shoes you can make”

• Does this quote support being present in our work? Our life?

• Do you think this quote was intended to lead us to over working?

• How does deepening your presence at work support your faith journey?

Homework:

• What one part of your life do you want to be more present for? How can you build that habit?

• Lent Challenge - 40 days of tiny things calendar (pick one up next time you’re at Rejoice)

Tiny Things:

• Spend the first 5 minutes of your day away from technology, in the analog world.

• Watch the sun greet the day.

• Be fully present, even while answering emails. (but put a time limit on that)

• When drinking your coffee or tea. ONLY drink coffee or tea. 

• Pause your day to roll your neck and take 3 deep breaths.

• When you’re awake in the middle of the night, go outside and behold the beauty of the stars.

• Take a mid-afternoon tea break, put electronics down and spend time noticing how the world is experiencing the day.

• Shut down your device (computer, phone, etc.) and take conscious breaths while it reboots

• Go somewhere for 30 minutes between work and home each day.

• Mindfully empty the litter box

• Count breaths, or practice box breathing

From Last Month:

• Go outside and look all the way up, be reminded of how big the universe is.

• Feel your feet on the ground, be reminded that you are supported.

• Chop vegetables. Let it take the time it requires.

• Linger in bed when you wake up and say “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

• Light candles.

• Pet a dog a moment longer.

• Get outside, no matter the weather.

• Move your body and pay attention to your body while you do it (not your to-do list).

• Journal your senses. (I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I feel)

January Recap: Space

The group gathered for our first 12 Tiny Things book study discussion and took the time to set boundaries for our group and how we want to engage this book. We discussed our reactions to chapter one, and what it will look like to put 12 Tiny Things into action in our lives.

Boundaries: We agreed to follow these boundaries as a group so that everyone feels safe and is cared for as we gather.

• No judging others (what is tiny for one person may not be tiny for another)

• No judging yourself 

• Small, TINY, steps. Check each other when we get too big.

• This is courageous work, we will remember that as we engage and remind each other.

• Lean into discomfort

• We don’t share someone else’s story. We are welcome to share our own experiences with this text and study, and we will maintain confidentiality of what is shared in group discussions.

Discussion: We learned that everyone is in need of space in different ways. Folks present shared that they are looking to add space in their schedules, to find emotional space between them and loved ones, and that they have found great peace by adding more space in their home (through getting rid of unused items). We discussed the following questions:

• Read Mark 1:35-38

• What do you think Jesus did when he went away?

• Discussion highlights: due to the land in that area, Jesus likely would have needed to go out while it was dark in order to feel alone. There are few trees, so he would have been always able to see someone and be seen during the day. Jesus didn’t defend himself when he came back, just moved right into the next thing he had to do. 

• When is the last time you were bored? What did you do?

• Discussion highlights: for some of us it was more helpful to think of having “empty” or “unscheduled” space rather than being bored. Some of the group has negative associations with the word bored, but we learned that what we (and the authors) were talking about was unstructured time that allowed creativity to emerge.

• What made you the most uncomfortable about the chapter?

• In general, we were not uncomfortable with the ideas in the chapter. Though we did acknowledge that saying no and reorienting our lives is uncomfortable.

• Where do you feel you need to start creating space? (inbox, home, calendar, mind, etc.)

• What is one thing you can do to create space?

• How does creating more space in your life support your faith journey? 

• We talked about how creating space helps us remember God is with us. Taking time to pause, or to be creative, or to just sit with our identities as children of God frees us to be with God.

Activity: Each member of the group was given two post-it notes to answer the following prompts:

• I’m not __________ enough.

• Now replace that with a mantra that is true. I am ________________. 

“Homework”: To close our time, we each shared where we hope to make space in our lives in the following month, and we brainstormed some tiny things we can do to be more present.

Tiny Things Brainstorm:

• Go outside and look all the way up, be reminded of how big the universe is.

• Feel your feet on the ground, be reminded that you are supported.

• Chop vegetables. Let it take the time it requires.

• Linger in bed when you wake up and say “this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

• Light candles.

• Pet a dog a moment longer.

• Get outside, no matter the weather.

• Move your body and pay attention to your body while you do it (not your to-do list).

• Journal your senses. (I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I feel)