Daily Nourishment for December 12, 2024: It’s a Good Idea to Sit Anyway
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 45 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“It’s a good idea to sit anyway.” - Pádraig Ó Tuama
Pause.
Rest for three minutes. While seated or lying down in a spot in that feels safe and comfortable, set a timer, close your eyes, and rest. If you like, begin this time of rest with six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale
and/or read Psalm 31
Here’s a portion of Psalm 31:
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
Prompt.
Read these good words:
“Neither I nor the poets I love found the keys to the kingdom of prayer and we cannot force god to stumble over us where we sit. But I know that it's a good idea to sit anyway. So every morning I sit, I kneel, waiting, making friends with the habit of listening, hoping that I'm being listened to. There, I greet God in my own disorder. I say hello to my chaos, my unmade decisions, my unmade bed, my desire and my trouble. I say hello to distraction and privilege, I greet the day and I greet my beloved and bewildering Jesus. I recognize and greet my burdens, my luck, my controlled and uncontrollable story. I greet my untold stories, my unfolding story, my unloved body, my own love, my own body. I greet the things I think will happen and I say hello to everything I do not know about the day. I greet my own small world and I hope that I can meet the bigger world someday. I greet my story and hope that I can forget my story during the day, and hope that I can hear some stories, and greet some surprising stories during the long day ahead. I greet God, and I greet the God who is more God than the God I greet. Hello to you all, I say, as the sun rises above the chimneys of North Belfast. Hello.”
― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World
Practice.
Set a timer and write a response to the rest or Scripture or quote for seven minutes.
Journal, pray, take notes, or start a new poem, essay, story, or letter to a friend.
Make It Advent:
Explore how Advent themes of waiting, mystery, and unknowing intersect with the ideas in the quote above.
Want More?
Read anything by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Here’s Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World and pre-ordering Kitchen Hymns is a good idea. Also, a new Poetry Unbound collection is coming out in February.
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Resources, Workshops & Gatherings
—Advent Resources: Throughout Advent, I’ll include a new resource each day. For today, here’s a lovely book by Malcolm Guite.
—New: A project by Charlotte Donlon and Spiritual Direction for Writers®: All of Life Is the Writing Life™
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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