We Commune
Jesus took time away from his friends and family to be alone for meditation, reflection, and prayer.  Before he launched into his public ministry, what did he do? He took a month-long spiritual retreat to get his head on straight and his vision clear. If Jesus needed to spend time alone to develop his spiritual communion with God, doesn’t it track that we need it, too?  

The discipline of spending time in solitude, stillness, and silence grounds us in Shalom, in Spirit, in God. To take time to commune is like telling our closest friend or loving parent to buzz off.  God can certainly handle the rejection, but can we live deeply, shalomy, when we limit our time drawing from the Source?
Here are some practical ideas to help make the most of the time we invest in communion with God.
  • Protect the time and space.  The point is to be alone and quiet, so choose your time and place accordingly.  When and where (preferably near the beginning of your day) works for you?  Sometimes coffee shops can work. Sometimes a favorite chair. Sometimes alone in your car. Sometimes on a park bench. There is no one rule.
  • Lose the aura of obligation.  As you build this practice into your life, keep your motivation in check. If it begins to feel like a “should”, take some time and check in with yourself. “Should” is a killer for all relationships.  Our attitude regarding our motive makes all the difference.  You get to spend time in communion with God – you don’t have to.
  • Check in with yourself.  How are you feeling? What emotions are you carrying? Identifying how you are doing makes it available for diving dialogue.  Sometimes we jump over this importance step for the sake of efficiency and sabotage the process.  The point of this time is to be open and honest with God which requires being open and honest with ourselves.  Menfolk: there is a strong chance you have a very short list of emotion words at your disposal, accompanied by little skill or practice articulating how you feel.  Keep a list of feeling words handy and begin learning to identify how you really truly feel.
  • Spend time on breath work. Take slow, deep breaths in and out for as long as it takes for you to get centered. Some days it won’t take long at all. Some days it will feel like an eternity.  Some people benefit greatly from tuning into the thoughts that come tom mind, and others benefit from acknowledging those thoughts but parking them to the side to be attended to after meditation.  The point is to help us be attuned to our breath and our Breath, bringing those together so that we live from an aligned, connected space of communion in the moment with hopes that we will be in the zone for the entire day.
  • Incorporate devotional reading.  There are lots of option for this.  You could subscribe to a source like the Center for Action and Contemplation and get a short devotion emailed to you every morning. You could buy a book of daily devotions to help inspire and nudge you for the day. You could practice Lectio Divina – divine reading of the Bible, where you read a short passage several times and reflect on what seems to be speaking to you.  If you choose a book or subscription, choose wisely.  This kind of reading isn’t for study; it’s for fostering your oneing. There is a big difference between study materials and devotional materials.
  • Journal your thoughts and gratitude.  Writing stuff down works.  Writing down your insights makes them stick more.  Writing down what you are grateful for makes you more grateful. You get bonus points if you take some time at the end of the day to record your thoughts, insights, and hopes.  There is a reason journaling is so highly recommended.
  • End with a benediction.  There are lots of good Bible verses to bless your day.  And there are lots of poets who write good stuff, too, like these two from Rich Orloff, one to start your day and another to finish it:  
Daily Prayer
Thank you for this day
May I be aware of all of its blessings
May I notice each moment of love
May I appreciate each breath
May I see beyond my fears
May I recognize beauty
May I receive each molecule of joy offered
May I absorb kindness
May I not sabotage the happiness of myself or others
For the blessings of this day
I give thanks in advance
Today is an opportunity to experience
The miracle of every moment
Evening Prayer
May I recognize the blessings of this day
And of my life
May I absorb the blessings of this day
And of my life
May I always have access to the wisdom gained today
And use these blessings tomorrow
As I share my blessings with others
One love at a time
Till love blossoms into a field of joy
Covering the earth
Bonus Quote:
Finally, there must be a matured and maturing sense of Presence. This sense of Presence must be a reality at the personal level as well as on the social, naturalistic and cosmic levels. To state it in the simplest language of religion, modern [humans] must know that [they are] a child of God and that the God of life in all its parts and the God of the human heart are one and the same. Such an assurance will vitalize the sense of self, and highlight the sense of history, with the warmth of a great confidence. Thus, we shall look out upon life with quiet eyes and work on our tasks with the conviction and detachment of Eternity….  

All of us want the assurance of not being deserted by life nor deserted in life…. When Jesus prayed, he was conscious that, in his prayer, he met the Presence, and this consciousness was far more important and significant than the answering of his prayer. It is for this reason primarily that God was for Jesus the answer to all the issues and the problems of life. When I, with all my mind and heart, truly seek God and give myself in prayer, I, too, meet [God’s] Presence, and then I know for myself that Jesus was right. – Howard Thurman, Deep Is the Hunger: Meditations for Apostles of Sensitiveness (Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 1973), 144, 146.