HUMILITY

This photo inspires humility in me. I need to be rescued more than I care to admit. Humility is the topic I am exploring during this Lenten season. On this topic I am reading a wonderful book by Richard Foster: Learning Humility, A Year of Searching for a Vanishing Virtue. It is a lovely journal of his exploration on the topic based on scripture and the 12 moons/virtues of the Lakota people. Remember that Sunday School song: “I don’t want to be a sheep, baa, baa, baa, baa?” Maybe humility is, in part, realizing we are sheep and not the shepherd…and we truly do need rescuing by our Good Shepherd.

Nearly as soon as I began reflecting on this topic, I had my own lesson in humility…which some of you may have encountered last week. I was recording the monthly Meditation with Harp session and decided to use the amp with my harp, as some had mentioned that the music was a bit hard to hear previously. Feeling quite pleased with myself that I had a good solution, I completed the Meditation recording and posted it to the Members’ Section on the website (without bothering to review it, I might add). Soon I received a message saying that the harp was not audible at all except for an occasional distant strum. What!?!?! ….It took me awhile to ascertain how that could’ve possibly happened…and then, when I was able to set aside my ‘but-I-have-this-all-figured-out attitude,’ I realized that I had used my AirPods as my mic, and they simply could not pick up the amplified sound because when I stop speaking the mic is essentially muted. There’s nothing quite like technology to humble this disciple. I will humbly try a “take two” and seek to replace the current video for all of you Spiritual Wellness Community Members.

Humility has me thinking about how Jesus’ followers learned to be disciples. Jesus recruited completely novice followers who, unlike students of other rabbis, had not gone through the additional training levels required after their bar mitzvah in order to apply to follow their rabbi of choice. Each apostle began following Jesus as a complete novice, and then learned from his teaching and example. At some point they became like an apprentice and they were expected to do like Jesus did with his supervision until they could be trusted to do ministry unsupervised like a journeyman would do. This was likely the point at which he sent them out in pairs to proclaim/heal/cast out demons on their own. Much later, after Jesus had been crucified, resurrected, ascended and had sent them the Holy Spirit; they then became the masters who were sent to duplicate that whole process with others as they built his Body, the Church. It’s an ancient and effective process…novice becomes apprentice becomes journeyman becomes master. People who learn trades today, like electricians and plumbers, still follow this method.

Having been humbled on more than one occasion in my life, I can certainly say that I am no master. In fact, I am probably a novice, an apprentice, a journeyman, and perhaps an aspiring master depending on the area of knowledge/skill. That said, in today’s versions of Christianity, my experience has been that there isn’t really a way to be shaped into disciples like Jesus did with his apostles. Jesus, the Master, launched (I believe) a process of multiplying disciples that was meant to go on and on, and yet, I have spent my entire adult life as a follower of Jesus trying to figure what I am supposed to be doing/practicing/learning as a disciple so that I can be part of Jesus’ mission here and now. I have always known that it must include a balance of inner work and outward living, but never have I experienced having a master that walked with me in whatever novice/apprentice/journeyman stage I might be in. How is this process supposed to continue today?

If that process exists today for disciples, I haven’t experienced it other than in bits and pieces. That’s why, in addition to being an ordained pastor, I have explored/experienced/learned so many spiritual disciplines throughout my life. That’s a lot of trial and error experimenting with and practicing various spiritual disciplines in order to become the disciple that Jesus is calling me to be. Now, decades later, I have finally found a rhythm of spiritual practices that works for me at this stage of my life….it has changed many times over the years depending on what’s going on. But one interesting thing I’ve learned along the way is that so many Christians do not really have any intentional spiritual disciplines that are shaping them as disciples either…and few have a master (or mentor) to guide them. Oh, we are told to go to church and read our bible and pray….but even pastor friends I know often struggle with developing the spiritual disciplines that can actually feed their soul and shape them as disciples. That’s why I continue to meet regularly with a Spiritual Director…it helps to have someone walk with you and help you notice God’s presence in your life. We certainly didn’t learn that in seminary!

It was after conversations with many of my pastoral colleagues and others who are leaders that I saw a need for a community in which we can be novices to apprentices to journeyman together along the way, free to be at whatever stage we are at with whatever the discipline. I realized that I could share my variety of experience and knowledge to facilitate and help others, and we can all share what we are learning and what is working/not working in the spirit of learning and trying to develop the set of spiritual disciplines that works in our individual lives. Thus, the Spiritual Wellness Community Membership was born. So far, we are exploring one topic per month and reading one book per month, as well as sharing a session of group spiritual direction and a session of meditation with harp music. (the Spiritual Wellness Community Membership is $15/month, first month free, plus a coupon code for 1 hour of private spiritual direction after your first paid month)

I would love to hear from you about what you might be seeking to learn and explore on your journey. As always, I also continue to offer Private Spiritual Direction and Private Harp Therapy. But I do hope to add options on the site (a humbling work in progress) and to the Spiritual Wellness Community Membership as time goes on.

One addition is already coming: in March I am completing certification as a Holy Yoga instructor. I chose this because I had started doing yoga during COVID to keep my physical health/balance as I age…and then it became part of my meditation and prayer time. While I am clear on the fact that yoga is not a religion (it predates both Hinduism and Buddhism, both of which utilize yoga as a spiritual discipline), I am not comfortable attending yoga classes because of the teaching of yoga philosophy that often is associated with other religions. So I began doing research looking for Christian yoga and found a few options…I took Yogadevotion training, and YogaFaith Meditation training along the way. But it wasn’t until I found Holy Yoga that I found what really worked for me….the entire focus is on Jesus and being a disciple, with physical postures as a means of spiritual discipline to connect with Him. I think of it this way: all the world religions use prayer, meditation, worship, and have some type of holy writings…all can also use yoga postures too. Whatever the spiritual practice, it is shaped by your own religion rather than the practice being your religion. Holy Yoga has become an amazing way for me to integrate prayer, meditation, scripture and physical movement to “love the Lord your God with all [my] heart, and with all [my] soul, and with all [my] mind, and with all [my] strength.” (Mark 12:30)

Watch for a free Holy Yoga class sample coming soon….and you don’t have to be a super stretchy pretzel body to do it since there are so many variations!! Each class will also include scripture, prayer and some meditation time.

If Holy Yoga is of interest to you…would you like it available as part of the Spiritual Wellness Community Membership?

Would you prefer to have a Holy Yoga monthly membership?

Would you enjoy individual classes or buying a pass that allows you to access a 4, 6, 8, etc classes of your choice?

Do you prefer live or recorded?

Your feedback is important…I only want to offer what is meaningful in helping others on their spiritual journey (so you don’t have to spend decades figuring out what works to nurture your spirituality like I did!). Please email me at angelstringsministry@yahoo.com and share your thoughts and ideas. And, in the spirit of my Lenten theme of humility, please make sure you share what isn’t working for you or what can be improved as well. I look forward to hearing from you.

May your Lenten journey be humbling and blessed, and may grace abound in your life today and always,

Julie

pastor/spiritual director/harp therapist/yoga teacher

angelstringsministry@yahoo.com