Spiritual Fishing?
June 14th, 2011
Today is a big day for us here at Baugher’s Summer Camp. We’re going fishing!
Today we get a lesson in what it really means to eat meat. A lesson on how if you’re eating meat of any kind, some living thing gave it’s life for you.
This is a lesson that I don’t think very many people learn in life. We consume tons of meat on a constant basis, but very few people ever really stop to think about where that meat actually came from. Very few even momentarily consider that the meat they consume once belonged to a living, breathing Being.
I’ve only ever been fishing maybe twice in my life, but I’ve always loved eating fish. My boys love fish too, and they love the idea of fishing. Sounds like a win-win to me.
I went and got my $20 fishing license yesterday, and while we were there, we got three poles and a small tackle box with sinkers, bobbers, and hooks. I can’t tolerate the idea of impaling a live worm on a hook and then drowning it, so we’re going to grab some fake bait on our way to the water today :)
And because I love any opportunity to teach my children Spiritual practices, we’re also going to talk about how we don’t take any more from nature than we need. We’re going to Bless the water before we fish and we’re going to actually thank the fish for its contribution to our sustenance before we kill it.
I know fishing is fun and relaxing, and I’m looking forward to sitting in the sunshine, sharing a beautiful afternoon with my kids, but I am really feeling a lot of reverence here. I’m feeling this is a sacred act. The hunting and killing to sustain and flourish.
It doesn’t feel “wrong” but I definitely feel the need to approach with honor and respect and gratitude and reverence for the sacrifice that’s being given.
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This new hobby of ours also makes me feel a little more self sustainable.
The garden is going well. I planted from seed in the waxing moon in May, and transplanted in the waxing moon in June. So far, so good. But it’s nice to know we now have a meat source that doesn’t depend on anyone else too.
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A Meditation Phrase
June 13th, 2011
I found a free guided meditation online this morning so I thought I’d try it. It wasn’t very good, which is why I’m not linking to it, but I did get something rather profound from it.
In another guided meditation I did, the speaker says to make a movement that will indicate to your body that you’re now going to relax and go into meditation. I tried that but I couldn’t come up with a movement that my body doesn’t do all the time without being ridiculous.
In this new meditation this morning, the speaker said to pick a word or short phrase that describes your intention in meditating. For example, peace, love, God, joy, or a phrase of 1 to 5 words.
I was already relaxed and breathing deeply and slipping into my meditation, and when the speaker said a phrase of 1-5 words, the phrase that immediately came to mind was, “The lord is my shepherd.”
What a perfect phrase to repeat on my exhale to signal to my being that I’m going into meditation. And guidance IS what I seek, so it totally fit.
Half an hour or so later that phrase popped into my head again and I remembered that I’d wanted to look it up. I pulled it up online. Psalm 23.
I read the Psalm and remember it fondly from my childhood. I close the page and pull up my Twitter page. My Twitter page informs me that I am following 11 people, I have 22 followers, and I’ve tweeted 444 times.
Wow! What a very cool synchronicity!
I post about it on Facebook AND Twitter. As I start telling a friend about it because she was ON Facebook when I posted, I look up at my Zynga toolbar which announced my next drawing is in 5:55:55.
So I’m thinking “The lord is my shepherd” is my new meditation trigger phrase.
Everyday Magick
June 12th, 2011
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
When I was a kid, I lived with my Gram. We would go to Sunday School early every Sunday morning. At noon, when church got out, we crossed the street and went back home. My other grandma (Gram’s daughter-My mom’s mom), and my aunt Phyllis would already be there, in the kitchen having started lunch.
Around 12:30 we would all sit down to Sunday Dinner. By 1:30 everyone was asleep. There’s nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon nap. When we all woke up, usually an hour later, the rest of the afternoon was filled with reading, playing, gardening, etc.
Gram wouldn’t work on Sunday. She didn’t fix anything or run anywhere. We didn’t even go to a store on a Sunday. A lot of the church folks would go for lunch at the local diner after church. Not Gram. Not ever.
I remember trying to get her to leave the dirty dishes in the sink and come play with me by saying, “But Gram, you’re not supposed to work on Sunday! Dishes is work! Come play!”
Sometimes it even worked.
She prayed a lot on Sunday. Well, she prayed a lot, period. So to say it was more on Sunday truly is saying something.
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Today is Sunday.
Gram’s been gone for fourteen and a half years now, but every Sunday I still think of her.
Today I will clean-up in the sun room. I am surrounded by nature in there and it is my most sacred space. I am at peace there. It is where I sit, now, as I write this, and where I spent most of my days.
I will bless and rearrange my altar. Also in my sun room.
I will spend time in meditation.
I will spend time in my garden with earth on my hands.
I will take a walk outside. A walk not intended for exercise. A leisurely, moving appreciation for the divine nature of everything around me.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
We need a day of renewal. We need a day of reconnection. Sunday is the first day of the week. Your week will ripple out from Sunday so why not begin refreshed and focused?
