The Spirit of Everyday (Final Day. . .sort of)

Today we close our series on Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life.  In some ways this blog series has been about finding ways to use spiritual disciplines in our everyday life.  Spiritual disciplines are the things of life that keep us from becoming comfortable being less than we are created and called to be by God.  These are habits or regular patterns in our lives that bring us back to God and open us up to what God is saying to us.  These are not what to do, or a checklist of things we have to (or even should) do, but things that we do because of why we do them.  They are only disciplines when they are part of being and becoming.   We can't will ourselves into these disciplines, we truly must discover them in our lives, and then nurture their growth as where God is active in our live becomes clearer.  With that in mind here are what are known as the 12 classic spiritual disciplines:

• The inward disciplines -
• Prayer
• Bible study
• Meditation
• Fasting
• The outward disciplines - 
• Service
• Simplicity
• Submission
• Solitude
• The corporate disciplines - 
• Worship
• Celebration
• Confession
• Guidance

Some of these are easy to integrate into everyday life, some harder, but in all the cases the term disciplines doesn't do much to encourage us to try.  The idea that probably does this more justice as we go forward trying to find the spiritual in everyday life is "Otium Sanctum" also known as "Holy Leisure" or "Taking a Break for God."  I have discovered if I look for places where I can find God already close by I can more easily make a time for spiritually recharging. What I have discovered is there is one act I do regularly that includes a high number of these disciplines naturally. That to even my own surprise is playing Ultimate Frisbee. Frisbee for me can be a time of prayer, meditation, and guidance. It also is a celebration of unity and love for others and the world.  All the while I often find myself serving others, enjoy simplicity, and most amazingly finding solitude. 


Frisbee as a time of celebration is easiest to explain. I enjoy being outside, being competitive, and being with others, by playing frisbee I find even in my worst games much to be thankful for and people to celebrate with. Because groups I play with are made up of people from many different places in life, discovering our similarities and differences has become a very meaningful, refilling experience for me. This also though makes the Frisbee field a place of service as I get to share the stories of their lives and often talk with them about their joys and struggles. In sharing our lives I often find things to consider for myself as well.

The greatest joys I find on the field though are actually the peace and solitude I find in playing a simple game among the commotion of the everyday world. As an extreme extravert, I derive almost all my energy from being around people. Thus I have discovered the need to find solitude in ways and places others may not. I discovered back in High School that I would often find a feeling of peaceful solitude while doing something athletic.  Something about the simplicity of sports (at least in my view) gives me space to be quiet internally and let the God who runs with me have some time all of our own, even as the world keeps spinning. 

This is just one example of how I integrate spiritual disciplines into the things I do everyday and enjoy.  I also know people who claim things like laundry, music, art, playing with pets, and even watching TV to be things they can treat as "Otium Sanctum."  I encourage everyone to think about where the spiritual may already be intersecting life (or is close to it) and find ways to nurture this and become a more active participant in all that God is doing, everyday, in everything we do.