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It's four days before the presidential election; do you know how your soul is?
These are hard times for our nation. The supporters of the two major party candidates for president seem farther apart than ever. The racial divisions and distrust in our country have come to the surface. The reality of sexual harassment and assault have been made painfully clear. The problems we face are many and the solutions seem farther away than ever.
If you're like me, politics during this election season have raised your anxiety. I check news sites daily and listen to more political podcasts than is good for me. I tell myself that keeping up with election news is a way to be an informed citizen, but it also feeds my desire for excitement, novelty and outrage. This political season has made it harder for me to be a spiritually grounded person.
When it's hard to be spiritually grounded is when we most need our spiritual practices. Habits of connection to our deepest values and highest aspirations serve us during difficult times. Sustaining those connections keeps us attuned to our lives' callings.
What are your spiritual practices? Mine are prayer, walking, and spending time in spiritual community. Prayer is quiet time with a text and in contemplation. It is a time when I reach out to that which grounds my being, that presence I call God, and listen for the still, small voice within my soul. Walking opens me to the beauty of the natural world and the city which inhabits it. I walk in the mornings and notice the wind, the colors, the people in the neighborhood, the living breath of the city and the animals and plants which share my world.
My spiritual communities are many. I ground myself first in the spiritual community of my family, where we strive every day to live together according to our ideals and values. I find spiritual community with other ministers, when we come together for learning and mutual support. And I come together in spiritual community with you, the congregation I serve, every Sunday morning. I worship with you and find that my soul speaks to me more clearly when I do. Time spent in solitude, walking or praying, connects me to God. Being in spiritual community helps me know the presence of the holy more fully.
How do you nurture your spirit? Do you find connection to your deepest values and your highest calling in solitude or with others? For you, is it sitting still in prayer or meditation, or is it in movement or walking? Do words or music speak to you more fully? Is it contemplation or action which connects you most fully to the source of your being?
If you have a regular spiritual practice, I commend it to you now. In these last days before the election and in the days and weeks after, your spiritual practice will help keep you oriented toward your true values and your true self. It is when times are hard that we especially rely on those habits of the spirit we have developed.
If you do not have a spiritual practice, let me invite you into one. Set some time aside-maybe starting twice a week-to listen to that still, small voice. Find a practice that sets aside distractions and leads you to your deepest values. Take advantage of what you know calms you-walking, sitting, singing, painting, listening, praying, journaling-and focus on that practice without checking your phone or listening to music. Let the silence breathe in you. Let the thoughts that come to distract you arise and diminish without following them. Be with yourself and with your surroundings. Be with that which grounds you. Be with the spirit of the holy which feeds your soul.
My hope for you is that your spiritual practice will not only help you during the end of this election, but would be a source of comfort and grounding for you in all seasons of your life. I engage my own practices imperfectly, but the more I dedicate myself to them, the more they help me know my soul and my source. I am especially grounded by my spiritual practice of worshiping with you, my church community, through good times and hard times, as a people of faith.
In faith,
Rev. Sarah Stewart
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