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What
bliss: A day at the Holy Spirit Spa
by Annemarie Burke |
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I've never been what people would call a girly girl. I
never got into painting my nails because the polish
chipped when I climbed trees. I liked collecting bugs
more than braiding my hair. So when somebody gave me a
gift certificate to a spa, I wondered why. I'm not the
spa-going type. Spas? Manicures, facials, the color
pink? I figure spas were designed for people with
fancier tastes than my own.
I
used to live in Tucson, Arizona where there are plenty
of spas, from day spas to destination spas. All kinds of
people go to them, from local folks to celebrities.
People go to spas for all kinds of reasons — health and
wellness, relaxation, and rejuvenation from the
pressures of the world. But me, I'd just drive by and
think, “Yep, there’s another spa,” and keep going. All
those wonderful opportunities for spa-going right there
in front of me, and I would never stop.
I
suppose my main reason for not stopping was the expense.
Spending money on a day of pampering myself isn't a
priority, especially on a budget like mine. But
actually, if I'm honest with myself, I can think of many
occasions when I wasted my hard-earned cash instead of
setting it aside for pampering. Picking up a fast-food
lunch instead of making a sandwich, for example, or
buying a paperback book instead of checking it out from
the library. Things like that can add up quickly, up to
the price of a whole grand day of massage, steam rooms,
and mud baths.
My friend who gave me the gift certificate knew that I'd
been through a rough time lately, so she gave me a
coupon for the super-deluxe massage spa package. It took
me a little while to loosen up, doing something new and
strange, but before long I relaxed into it and really
enjoyed that day of massage, aromatherapy, and body
scrub. What bliss. After several hours in that haven for
body, mind, and spirit, I emerged back into the world
more relaxed and breathing easier, feeling freer and
more refreshed.
Holy Spirit Spa
Now, if that’s what an ordinary day spa can do for the
body, think what a Holy Spirit spa could do for the
soul. If spending time in an ordinary spa with massage
and aromatherapy gives us a new lease on life, what
would spending time with the Holy Spirit of God, the
Lord and Lover of your soul, do for us? What bliss.
God loves you and me just as we are right now, not for
who we could be with a change here and an improvement
there. Bringing our thoughts and awareness to God is
like stepping out of the pressures of the day and into
that refreshing world of health and wellness. God’s
Spirit renews us. And since that's so, why don't we
spend time in God’s Holy Spirit spa more often? Why does
it seem that so many of us have to struggle with our
daily schedules to make time for God?
Maybe taking time to be with God could be compared to my
experience with the day spas I passed by. I believe with
all my heart that God is always present with us, but I
don't always give that presence much thought. As I get
busy in my day, I get wrapped up in my checklists and
deadlines. I know, for the sake of my spiritual health,
I should stop at the beginning of my day to spend time
with God. But often I just drive on by without giving
God a second thought.
Spending time with God requires a conscious
decision to make it a priority. One reason I ignored the
day spas is because I thought I couldn’t afford them.
But the truth was that I was spending my money
elsewhere, on other priorities. When other activities
are more important to us than spending time with God,
that’s like saying, “I don’t have time for you today.”
We must decide what we can set aside to make room in our
schedules for soaking in the presence of God.
I
also didn’t visit the day spas because I didn’t think I
was the kind of person who visits spas. But when my
friend offered me the chance to finally experience one,
I loved it. How much do our preconceived notions of
ourselves, or prayer, or meditation keep us from stepping
into the sacred space of God’s presence? Do we hear
ourselves saying, “I’m not much of a pray-er” or “I’m
really not the silent meditation type”?
Find your spiritual spa style
Maybe you have predetermined ideas about what prayer is,
and those ideas don’t work for you. Maybe sitting and
silently meditating doesn't fit with your personality.
That's all right; God created each of us with unique
personalities, unique ways of being, unique ways of
meeting God. What works for me will not necessarily work
for you. Some people soak in the presence of God while
walking or hiking. Others spend time with the Holy
Spirit while working with their hands or gazing at an
icon or sitting silently and focusing on their
breathing.
Sometimes it takes a little push to get us started. The
friend who gave me the gift certificate to the spa
helped me see what I was missing. Perhaps we need a
friend (or need to be a friend) who's a prayer partner
or mentor in faith. If you're the one who needs some
spiritual encouragement, be easy on yourself and relax
into it. Soaking in the presence of God might not feel
natural right away. It might take a little time to tune
in to the rhythm of God’s presence.
But the Holy Spirit meets us where we are, just as we
are. God does not expect us to fend for ourselves, but
is always ready to hear us and draw us in when we turn
our hearts toward God. My prayer for you this month is
that God may show you the way into a Holy Spirit spa
that suits the unique child of God that you are, and that
you may be refreshed and renewed by God’s presence. What
bliss!
The Rev. Annemarie Burke serves at Mount Tabor
Lutheran Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Enjoy a one-day retreat
by Audrey Novak Riley
Gather the group for a one-day retreat with the LWT
summer Bible
study, "Act Boldly for Mission" by Kelly Fryer.
Here's how.
Ingredients:
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A group of women that want to chill out, participate
in Bible study and get refreshed: friends,
co-workers, neighbors, etc.
-
June and July/August issues of LWT. Or
download it free from the
LWT
web site.
-
a scenic spot, on a lake or in a park to meet. Maybe
someone's condo that has a nice clubhouse with a
patio. Be creative.
-
B.Y.O. Bible
How to:
Share the work among several women: Ask someone
different to lead each session, ask someone else to lead
a closing devotion (Worship Boldly offers several
possibilities), and ask a few other people to arrange
for healthy and delicious snacks and drinks.
A.M.
Start the morning with prayer or a hymn and a light
breakfast:
coffee, bagels or croissants, and fruit. About 9:30,
gather the group for
the first session, "With the Message of Jesus," in the
June issue.
That'll take about an hour or so, and then it's time for
a break!
Then call the group back together and tackle the second
session, "Like the First Evangelists" in the July/August
issue. When you've finished that, it's time for lunch!
P.M.
After a healthful lunch, call the group back together to
enjoy the
third session, "In the Power of the Holy Spirit." When
the group has
completed that, it's time for a closing devotion.
Welcome people to linger for a little more conversation
before
picking up and heading for home. And as you wave goodbye
until the next time, bask in the joy of sharing
friendship, hospitality, and God's word together in the
beauty of a summer day.
Audrey Novak Riley is associate editor of
Lutheran Woman Today magazine.
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Faith
reflections
by Elyse Nelson Winger
He
thought she was drunk. He thought that she’d washed down the
sacrificial meat with too much wine. He thought she was babbling to
herself in the sanctuary of the Lord, with her lips moving silently
and intensely. He was wrong.
Eli
must have seen a lot in his days as a priest at Shiloh: worshippers
fighting over money, family feuds, even staggering drunks. Many a
bedraggled pilgrim must have crept into the temple for desperate
prayer, burdened by needs and fears of every kind. Yes, he'd
witnessed a lot, but clearly he wasn’t prepared for the full
body-mind-spirit prayer that Hannah was offering.
Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was also married to Peninnah.
Peninnah had children. Hannah did not. Her husband loved her,
cherished her, in fact, but as our biblical storyteller relates, God
had closed her womb. Like so many other women, Hannah could not
conceive. Her heart ached. She was filled with grief and despair.
She couldn't even eat the sacrificial meat at the temple in Shiloh.
Her misery was so deep that she lost her appetite.
But
not this time. This time is different. This time she eats and she
prays.
After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented
herself before the LORD.
Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of
the temple of the LORD.
She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD,
and wept bitterly. She made this vow: “O LORD
of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and
remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your
servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a Nazirite
until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor
intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.” As she continued
praying before the LORD,
Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips
moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was
drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you make a drunken
spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.” But Hannah answered,
“No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither
wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before
the LORD. Do not
regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking
out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.” Then Eli
answered, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you
have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in
your sight.” Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with
her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.
1 Samuel 1:9-18
The
story of Hannah does not end here. God opens her womb. She does
conceive, and unto her a son is given, and his name is Samuel. When
he is weaned, she brings little Samuel back to the temple at Shiloh
as she had promised. (Can you imagine? Giving your child to the
temple at the age of three?) Hannah consecrates her child to God
with thanksgiving and joy, and with prophetic power.
Her
prayer is a psalm of trust in God’s justice and presence, and it is
a prayer that Mary, mother of another extraordinary child, must have
known, for her Magnificat as recorded in Luke's Gospel echoes
Hannah’s song at Shiloh, recorded in the second chapter of First
Samuel. Hannah is mother of Samuel, and also a mother for all of us
who seek to come before God in deeper, more intense prayer.
Consider
how Hannah prays. She prays in her anger. She prays in her grief.
She prays with unrelenting passion and purpose. She prays with
thanksgiving and joy. She allows herself to share her emotions fully
with God,
whom she trusts to listen and respond. And it’s in the
Temple — literally a place of sanctuary — where she lets it all
loose. Hannah wouldn’t have used our words, of course, but in
essence, she has found a Holy Spirit Spa at that place called
Shiloh.
Our
Scriptures offer very few stories of women as models of the
spiritual life, and so the story of Hannah is a powerful source for
reflection and practice. We do not have to be childless co-wives in
ancient Israel to call forth the same kind of spiritual energy she
had. She brought what she had to that temple.
She truly poured her heart out before God, and yes, Eli thought she
was a fool . . . at first. But when he listened to her explanation,
he knew that there was a powerful connection at work, and he sensed
that God would respond.
What, within each of us, is stirring up
grief, anger, fear? What, within each of us, is bringing us joy,
peace, hope? Like Hannah, let us bring all of it before God in holy
practice, lips moving, bodies responding, hearts pounding, spirits
exulting. Like Hannah, let us welcome a sense of “Holy Spirit Spa”
to inhabit our beings and transform our ways of being God’s women in
the world. Let us go to our sanctuaries, wherever they may be, and
rest…and renew…and respond to God’s call to
each of us.
Elyse Nelson Winger serves as a pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in
Bloomington, Ill. Before coming to St. John, she served as associate
pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Dearborn, Mich. St. Paul's
worship and community life remain sources of spiritual sanctuary for
her, and she looks forward to growing into that sense of divine
presence and wholeness in her new call. She and husband, Stewart,
are parents of 6 1/2 year old Catherine and 4 1/2 year old Daniel.
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When you and your friends, classmates, or co-workers meet to
discuss this issue of Café, try out the questions for
reflection on our new study
page.
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