"It usually isn't about the last thing that happened to us." Very much resonated with this. It's usually always a collection of little things. I love a sunrise AND a sunset. Both are so anchoring.
Oh so many times I have found myself upset by something minor, only to realize that was a stand in for something else! My kids were asking me to explain the expression "the straw that broke the camel's back" to them the other day - and I had a hard time coming up with a way of describing this very real phenomenon!
The encounter with the dogs must have been scary, glad it led to your numinous event.
I have written in a previous comment about a sunrise in a Portuguese valley while walking the Camino de Santiago in 2019. Sunrises are special for me, I was a farmer for much of my life, generally up and outside before dawn. On military service, I often watched the sun rise above a remote African kopjie or mountain. Some memorable sunrises were those I saw over the Indian Ocean near Durban during early morning training runs.
Now with knees too old to run and no longer farming, I walk at 6am in the morning on a quiet country road. Today the eastern horizon was just turning pink as I got home. Soon I will be able to watch the sunrise during my walk and by June the sun will already be up by the time I start.
Thanks Peter, I hope never to see those dogs again!
And you continue to inspire me with your pilgrimages as well as your varied life experiences. I will think of you over the next few weeks as we watch the same sunrise!
Such a beautiful piece, Christine. I feel so privileged to be able to run to a hilltop or mountaintop to experience that numinous event of a sunrise. I forget so often how not alone I am and it is too easy to let life just carry me along without remembering who I truly am in this universe. I'm so grateful for writers like yourself who remind me, to encourage me to take those moments to settle, to notice what being human is really all about. Sorry for your beach experience with the dogs but grateful that it led to your spiritual encounter. Thank you again, friend, for sharing your wonderful thoughts.
Sometimes the wild dogs of our life get us to where we need to be!
I am sure you have seen so many sunrises on your trail runs! There is something also embodied about it, that you could speak to better than me - I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But somehow feeling more alive, as the blood is pumping while the sun is coming up.
This was beautiful, thank you. I was just telling my husband last night how sacred sunrises have become for me. I sit and watch them daily. What a gift it is to be with God in them.
Oh I am thrilled to know we are watching them together. Also probably something sacred about a few moments of quiet before children get up (at least in my house!)
it is so lovely to listen to your voice, Christine. And I like your contemplation of the sunrise and really staying with it for a while. Isn't it interesting that it often needs a vacation in order for us to watch sunrise or sunset?
I remember a sunrise we experienced as a family the morning we came back from a year long sabbatical in Germany. Jet lagged as we were we all tumbled outside including our then 4 year old just to catch the sunrise right from our front yard. It felt so deeply like a home coming we all were overcome with joy and awe.
Thank you for reminding me of this experience :-)
Also, your voice still tells that you are a singer. So I hope to some day hear you sing :-)
Oh what a beautiful homecoming! And that sunrise was an impromptu viewing for you too - it is lovely to be surprised by something that happens everyday.
And tell you what, when you come and visit me, I will sing then! (Perhaps aided by a few beverages!)
Christine, I am a seeker of soul soothing sunrises and sunsets no matter the landscape, and know exactly what you mean by feeling the thin places spiritually. That’s why I wake early. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Thank you for sharing the practice of visio divina, which I learned about many years ago from Christine Valters Painter @ Abbey of the Arts. ❤️
Gayla, thanks for reading and I'm happy to meet another early riser! I love Christine Valters Painter, (only by her work, I've yet to meet her) she is such a font of wisdom!
Christine, as usual, you transport us and soothe us through your words. This majestic sight of the sunrise or sunset evokes all those things in us, as you say, and for me, the final one, that it is a numinous act, is the most impactful one. That nature invokes that feeling of awe and wonder and appreciation — and perspective— that we are part of a huge, and “awesome”, array of humanity, is so inspiring and reassuring. We can all benefit and at least begin to be healed by it. Thank you!!
Gayle, your words here capture the power of sunrises/sets perfectly! And you're right, it can be so healing, I'm still surprised and delighted by that, despite having it happen a few times now.
Wow, Christine! You give us a gift of beautiful writing, beautiful images, a spiritual practice many of us are not very familiar with, Visio Divina, and that our collective memory almost exactly five years ago, March 13, 2020, when it felt like the world shut down. You were on the front lines for so many days and weeks and months and years, thank you for your service to us all.
Thanks Karla, I wrote this a while ago, but it felt important to post this week as we are officially 5 years out from the start of the world shutting down.
I love the idea of practicing visio divina. I have been guilty of making spiritual practice more complicated than it needs to be. This is simple and profound 💜
"It usually isn't about the last thing that happened to us." Very much resonated with this. It's usually always a collection of little things. I love a sunrise AND a sunset. Both are so anchoring.
Oh so many times I have found myself upset by something minor, only to realize that was a stand in for something else! My kids were asking me to explain the expression "the straw that broke the camel's back" to them the other day - and I had a hard time coming up with a way of describing this very real phenomenon!
This was beautiful Christine, thank you for sharing this with us 💗✨
Thanks Mackenzie! I'm glad you're here and appreciate the beauty of the dawn too!
The encounter with the dogs must have been scary, glad it led to your numinous event.
I have written in a previous comment about a sunrise in a Portuguese valley while walking the Camino de Santiago in 2019. Sunrises are special for me, I was a farmer for much of my life, generally up and outside before dawn. On military service, I often watched the sun rise above a remote African kopjie or mountain. Some memorable sunrises were those I saw over the Indian Ocean near Durban during early morning training runs.
Now with knees too old to run and no longer farming, I walk at 6am in the morning on a quiet country road. Today the eastern horizon was just turning pink as I got home. Soon I will be able to watch the sunrise during my walk and by June the sun will already be up by the time I start.
Thanks Peter, I hope never to see those dogs again!
And you continue to inspire me with your pilgrimages as well as your varied life experiences. I will think of you over the next few weeks as we watch the same sunrise!
Such a beautiful piece, Christine. I feel so privileged to be able to run to a hilltop or mountaintop to experience that numinous event of a sunrise. I forget so often how not alone I am and it is too easy to let life just carry me along without remembering who I truly am in this universe. I'm so grateful for writers like yourself who remind me, to encourage me to take those moments to settle, to notice what being human is really all about. Sorry for your beach experience with the dogs but grateful that it led to your spiritual encounter. Thank you again, friend, for sharing your wonderful thoughts.
Sometimes the wild dogs of our life get us to where we need to be!
I am sure you have seen so many sunrises on your trail runs! There is something also embodied about it, that you could speak to better than me - I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But somehow feeling more alive, as the blood is pumping while the sun is coming up.
Beautifully written beautifully read just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for reading and sharing, Cindy! I'm delighted to meet you and looking forward to reading your work.
This was beautiful, thank you. I was just telling my husband last night how sacred sunrises have become for me. I sit and watch them daily. What a gift it is to be with God in them.
Oh I am thrilled to know we are watching them together. Also probably something sacred about a few moments of quiet before children get up (at least in my house!)
Oh yes, it is such a sacred (and mostly quiet) place for me before the kids join in on the day!
it is so lovely to listen to your voice, Christine. And I like your contemplation of the sunrise and really staying with it for a while. Isn't it interesting that it often needs a vacation in order for us to watch sunrise or sunset?
I remember a sunrise we experienced as a family the morning we came back from a year long sabbatical in Germany. Jet lagged as we were we all tumbled outside including our then 4 year old just to catch the sunrise right from our front yard. It felt so deeply like a home coming we all were overcome with joy and awe.
Thank you for reminding me of this experience :-)
Also, your voice still tells that you are a singer. So I hope to some day hear you sing :-)
Oh what a beautiful homecoming! And that sunrise was an impromptu viewing for you too - it is lovely to be surprised by something that happens everyday.
And tell you what, when you come and visit me, I will sing then! (Perhaps aided by a few beverages!)
Christine, I am a seeker of soul soothing sunrises and sunsets no matter the landscape, and know exactly what you mean by feeling the thin places spiritually. That’s why I wake early. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Thank you for sharing the practice of visio divina, which I learned about many years ago from Christine Valters Painter @ Abbey of the Arts. ❤️
Gayla, thanks for reading and I'm happy to meet another early riser! I love Christine Valters Painter, (only by her work, I've yet to meet her) she is such a font of wisdom!
Christine, as usual, you transport us and soothe us through your words. This majestic sight of the sunrise or sunset evokes all those things in us, as you say, and for me, the final one, that it is a numinous act, is the most impactful one. That nature invokes that feeling of awe and wonder and appreciation — and perspective— that we are part of a huge, and “awesome”, array of humanity, is so inspiring and reassuring. We can all benefit and at least begin to be healed by it. Thank you!!
Gayle, your words here capture the power of sunrises/sets perfectly! And you're right, it can be so healing, I'm still surprised and delighted by that, despite having it happen a few times now.
It is truly “awesome” to witness!
Wow, Christine! You give us a gift of beautiful writing, beautiful images, a spiritual practice many of us are not very familiar with, Visio Divina, and that our collective memory almost exactly five years ago, March 13, 2020, when it felt like the world shut down. You were on the front lines for so many days and weeks and months and years, thank you for your service to us all.
Thanks Karla, I wrote this a while ago, but it felt important to post this week as we are officially 5 years out from the start of the world shutting down.
Thank you!!
Thank you for all your inspiring images. Your book has a special place in my Spiritual Direction office!
I love the idea of practicing visio divina. I have been guilty of making spiritual practice more complicated than it needs to be. This is simple and profound 💜
I'm guilty of the same! It is refreshing to know how accessible it can be - even when it takes us by surprise!