Spiritual Disciplines During COVID-19
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed life as we know it and we find ourselves in uncharted territory. It has disrupted our plans, daily routines, communal rhythms, and spiritual practices. Gov. Jay Inslee recently announced that Washington state’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” initiative has been extended through May 4th and school closures will now continue through the end of the school year. Many top health experts are saying that even when social distances guidelines are lifted, life will likely never really go back to “normal.”
And while no one knows what exactly this new normal is going to look like, the reality is that with any new season — it’s important and necessary that we learn to adjust to our new circumstances and environments by finding new ways of being and new ways of staying centered and grounded in Christ. Jesus says in Mark 2:22, “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins." New circumstances call for new spiritual practices.
As we all are trying to navigate how to be people of faith and what it looks like to be the church during these very challenging and unusual times, I want to share a few resources and spiritual practices that may be helpful for you during this pandemic. These spiritual practices and disciplines may be new to you, but they are not at all new to the Christian tradition. In fact, it’s sometimes in new seasons that often the best thing that we can do is to look back in church history and uncover ancient traditions that have benefited so many who have come before us. I pray that you will consider building some of these spiritual disciplines into your daily rhythms.
COVID-19 APRIL PRAYER CALENDAR
This prayer calendar for the month of April was put together by Dominique DuBois Gilliardas as a resource to center, ground and encourage the church during this pandemic. This calendar will challenge you to pray around a diversity of different topics that you might not otherwise think about praying for during this time. Dominique is the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for the Love Mercy Do Justice (LMDJ) initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). He is the author of Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores, which won the 2018 Book of the Year Award for InterVarsity Press.
Do you want to pray more, but aren’t always sure how to pray or what to pray for during this time? This pray-at-home guide for the Coronavirus has been created to help guide us into deeper empathy for those suffering the most during this pandemic.
IGNATIAN EXAMEN FOR LIFE DURING COVID-19
The Examen is a traditional method of prayerful awareness that is a bedrock in Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit education. It’s a short, easy way to reflect on your day and become more mindful about where you are experiencing grace or goodness and where there is room in your actions and life for growth. Especially in times of uncertainty and rapid change, taking time to reflect becomes essential. This guide was put together by Susan Haarman, Associate Director at Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Experiential Learning, facilitating faculty development and the service-learning program.
4 WAYS TO FLOURISH IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS
This podcast by Pete Scazzero, author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, shares four ways to transition from surviving to flourishing during this COVID-19 pandemic. Using the framework of a Rule of Life (an intentional tool to help us remain in the center of God’s love), they share ways to structure our days amidst our involuntary isolation. Looking at the four areas of prayer, rest, relationships and work, they provide examples from their own lives to stimulate your thinking before God so you can create your own Rule of Life.
7 RULES OF LIFE FOR THE SEASON OF COVID-19
For the foreseeable future, the vast majority of us are now quarantined in our homes by COVID-19. What will we do with all of this time? What we might need is a set of rules, rhythms or boundaries that can help grow our love of God and neighbor. In other words, “a rule of life.” A rule of life has a long standing tradition within the monastic tradition. You might have heard of the rule of Saint Benedict, the rule of Saint Augustine and more recently Justin Whitmel Earley’s The Common Rule. Developing a rule of life can come in handy at times like this because all of our normal rhythms and routines have been disrupted.
LECTIO DIVINA AND CENTERING PRAYER
Lectio Divina is one of the great treasures of the Christian tradition of prayer. It means Divine Reading, which is reading the book we believe to be divinely inspired. This tradition of prayer flows out of a Hebrew method of studying the Scriptures which was an interactive interpretation of the Scriptures by means of the free use of the text to explore its inner meaning. It was part of the devotional practice of the Jews in the days of Jesus. During this time of COVID-19, this ancient practice of reading scripture by listening, meditating and contemplating deeply can foster a deep sense of refreshment and intimacy with Christ.