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A Sacred Journey

practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad

Finding God in Nature: Prayers and Practices for Earth Day

Finding God in Nature: Prayers and Practices for Earth Day

You all know that I can’t get enough of nature these days.

When it comes to spiritual practice, nature serves as an icon—a window to the Divine—offering respite from the chaotic world both without and within as well as ancient wisdom for my soul. (Think about it—the trees, wind, rocks, and rain have been doing their thing far longer than I’ve been doing mine!)

As with my love for the liturgical seasons, I particularly admire nature and its elements for the invitations they offer in my everyday life. The Celtic Christians would agree, and the practice of seeking inspiration from the elements is something we’ve explored each time I’ve gone on pilgrimage to Ireland with Christine Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts (I participated in a journey last year and co-facilitated one for young adults this past March).

You don’t have to travel to Ireland to find inspiration and invitations from nature like the ancient Celtic Christians. In celebration of Earth Day, here are some quotes, prayers, and practices for each element pulled from Christine’s book, Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements, as well as my own invitations:

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I’m Back! A Peek into Our Young Adult Pilgrimage to Ireland…

Ireland 2015

I’m back from leading a young adult pilgrimage to Ireland with Christine and John Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts!

I originally intended to write about Holy Week today, but I decided to share some snapshots of my recent journey instead. (There will be more on Holy Week this Friday, along with a great list of resources—I promise!)

The theme of our pilgrimage was “the soul’s slow ripening,” and it was an inspiring week filled with Celtic wisdom, camaraderie, and soul stirring. I hope this recap takes you straight to the Emerald Isle on this first day of April as the world surrounding many of us continues to turn green.

Here’s a peek into our daily itinerary, as well as images and captions I shared via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter each day of the pilgrimage.

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Why I Went on a Pilgrimage to Ireland (+ why I’m going again)

Samhain Garden, Ireland

This past March, I visited Ireland for the first time.

I joined a group of ten other pilgrims on a pilgrimage facilitated by Christine and John Valters Paintner of Abbey of the Arts.  For eight days, we visited Sacred sites along the western coast of the Emerald Isle, with each day’s theme focusing on a different practice that encourages us to be Monks in the World.

On the first evening of our journey, as the pilgrims gathered together in Christine and John’s living room to orient ourselves and learn names, Christine asked a question I had not yet had the time to ask myself: “What is it that brings you here?”

The weeks and months preceding the pilgrimage were chaotic at worst and busy at best, and the roller coaster that was my life in that season didn’t come to a halt until days after I had been on Irish soil. Professionally, I knew why I was on the journey—Christine has been a generous advocate and mentor since before I started my work with A Sacred Journey, and I wanted to learn more from her about leading pilgrimages. Emotionally and spiritually, though, my desires were unclear.

Amidst all of the coming and going, I had not yet had the opportunity to pause and wonder what the deeper question was behind my quest. As someone who writes about pilgrimage and is continually inviting others to engage their own journeys with intention, I was deeply embarrassed. I felt like a fraud. How am I supposed to lead others on journeys if I myself had failed to be attentive to the journey at hand?

But, as someone who writes about pilgrimage and is continually inviting others to engage their own journeys with intention, I was also aware that I will forever be on a journey (pride be damned), and the invitation to re-engage the journey with intention is always there for us, waiting for our acceptance and surrender. “Always, we begin again,” St. Benedict said. And so, I did.

After sharing the questions, hopes, and longings that brought us on this journey to Ireland in that moment in time (or, in my case, wondering what they might be), we left our first gathering that night with the invitation from Christine to “receive” a seven-word prayer about the journey ahead.

The invitation prompted within me a deep sigh of relief. Could it be that, although I myself had not diligently prepared for my journey (as a Type A person always should), God had already laid out the path and spread a table before me and all I needed to do was surrender and receive? (Note to my future self: this is always the case.)

Celtic Cross, Ireland

Over the next few days as we hiked through fields to ruined monasteries and abandoned holy wells, chanting together or listening in solitude to what was stirring within us at each stop, I played with words that might become my prayer, turning over the rocks of my emotions and hoping to uncover a seven words sourced from the Sacred desire hidden underneath.

Then one afternoon in Galway, after we returned from our daily trek to encounter the Sacred, the words came. I was crossing a bridge over the River Corrib, on my way to Christine and John’s apartment for our evening gathering, when I paused. Something about the force and speed of the river resonated with me. It felt akin to the weeks and months that led me there—the pace of my days, my crowded mind, my weary soul.

Despite my best efforts to avoid it, I couldn’t escape from this season of uprooting (which included five weeks away from a home that didn’t really feel like home yet). If I wanted to feel grounded, I would need to find a way to center myself in the midst of the chaos, and the words that arrived that day provided me with an answer:

Sink in deep beneath the rapid river.

I have always been drawn to water in a mystical way, so in that moment I knew the words I was receiving were an invitation from God (not to mention that “sink in” was the word/phrase I received only months prior in the New Year for the year ahead, also by Christine’s prompting).

Over the course of the trip, we encountered water in many new ways, each instance adding a new line to my prayer and another invitation from the Divine to find the source of Life in the midst of chaos. As our journey came to our end, so did my prayer, its final phrase revealing the path God had been laying before me there in Ireland all along:

Sink in deep beneath the rapid river.
Surrender to the ocean’s roar.
Sit quietly beside the trickling stream.
This is what you came here for.

Holy Well, Ireland
I’m returning to Ireland again next March, this time to co-lead a pilgrimage for young adults in their 20s and 30s with Christine and John. On this journey, we’ll gather near a different body of water, Glendalough, and I look forward to discovering what it has to teach me along our journey’s theme, “The Soul’s Slow Ripening.”

The Celtic Christians were right—creation is truly revelation. We just need to slow down long enough to receive its Sacred message. The green hills, cool waters, and harsh winds of Ireland are calling me back to its landscape once more, inviting me to learn from the Celtic wisdom that echoes across that Emerald Isle on the edge of the world.

If you’re in your 20s or 30s and feel a tug to journey to this Sacred edge and listen closely to its ancient wisdom, I’d love for you to join us. The deadline to register for this transformative journey is next Wednesday, September 17. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.

Learn more about the pilgrimage »

GO FURTHER…

Have you ever journeyed to Ireland? What did its landscape teach you? Leave your response to the questions or the post in the comments.

PS: pictures from my journey

Photo Album: Pilgrimage to the Sacred Edge of Ireland

Our journey to the Sacred edge of Ireland has come to an end, and while I’ll still be on the Emerald Isle for a few more days, I will miss the community I’ve journeyed so deeply with so far during my first trip to Ireland. Though it might be days, weeks, or even months before I have the words to more deeply explore here my own stirrings while on this journey, I wanted to share with you pictures from the road.

Below you’ll find pictures and captions that I’ve been sharing on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook since my journey began. I have a few days left here and Ireland and will continue to share pictures online, so be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter and like A Sacred Journey on Facebook!

SETTLING IN…

I arrived a few days early to talk about pilgrimage with Christine (our guide and online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts) and settle in at our B&B in Galway on the west coast of Ireland before the others arrived.

Claddagh Ring » asacredjourney.net

Didn’t even know until getting here that my B&B is in Claddagh, birthplace of the Claddagh Ring, a symbol of love, loyalty, and friendship. Now I know what my souvenir will be!

DAY 1: HOSPITALITY

In the spirit of hospitality, John and Christine gave us a tour of their new hometown, Galway, and encouraged us to practice hospitality within on the journey ahead.

Galway Cathedral » asacredjourney.net

Started our walking tour at Galway Cathedral. Can you believe it was built in the 1950s? My favorite rose windows I’ve ever seen…

Galway to Seattle » asacredjourney.net

Another “Who knew?”: Seattle and Galway are sister cities! This plaque has an arrow facing Seattle’s direction, and apparently there is one in Seattle facing here.

DAY 2: COMMUNITY

As we began to get to know each other as those we would journey with over the next week, our temporary community of monks set out for our first day of visiting Sacred sites, including Temple Cronan in the Burren and Kilmacduagh Abbey.

Just returned from our first outing visiting Sacred sites—ruins of monasteries and Celtic Christian communities over 1,000 years old (image of Kilmacduagh Abbey)—and we were graced by the presence of a rainbow (and harsh winds and hail... It's a give and a take). No word yet on the pot of gold...

Just returned from our first outing visiting Sacred sites—ruins of monasteries and Celtic Christian communities over 1,000 years old (image of Kilmacduagh Abbey)—and we were graced by the presence of a rainbow (and harsh winds and hail… It’s a give and a take). No word yet on the pot of gold…

DAY 3: KINSHIP WITH NATURE

Nature dominates the Irish landscape and atmosphere and consequently played a central role in Celtic spirituality. On this day we visited a garden created in honor of St. Brigit, called Brigit’s Garden, as well as Cnoc Suain, where we learned more about Irish culture and how greatly it is informed by its natural surroundings.

Spent a rainy morning at St. Brigit's garden today, where there are gardens for each of the four Celtic seasons. This is "Samhain," or winter—a time for shelter and rest, stillness and reflection, death and rebirth.

Spent a rainy morning at St. Brigit’s garden today, where there are gardens for each of the four Celtic seasons. This is “Samhain,” or winter—a time for shelter and rest, stillness and reflection, death and rebirth.

DAY 4: SILENCE + SOLITUDE

As we visited Cong Abbey and Inchagoill Island, we were encouraged to explore the sites and soak in their essence in silence and solitude.

Today's theme: silence and solitude. My theme: soulful rest. This is how I started my day. (In a café called "The Hungry Monk" of course!)

Today’s theme: silence and solitude. My theme: soulful rest. This is how I started my day. (In a café called “The Hungry Monk” of course!)

Inchagoill Island, or "the island of the devout foreigner," where St. Patrick was briefly in exile.

Inchagoill Island, or “the island of the devout foreigner,” where St. Patrick was briefly in exile.

DAY 5: SABBATH

To mark the middle of our journey, we paused for a day of rest and delight, encouraged to follow the stirrings of our souls.

Irish Breakfast » asacredjourney.net

The start of Sabbath… “And it was good.”

DAY 6: WORK + SERVICE

As we entered the latter half of our journey and began to think about transitioning back to life at home, we visited Inishmore in the Aran Islands, with a tour of the island’s various Sacred sites led by Celtic priest Dara Malloy.

Took the scariest boat ride of my life to Inishmore in the Aran Islands, but the sites were worth it. Tying a prayer on a Hawthorne tree, found at Celtic Sacred sites.

Took the scariest boat ride of my life to Inishmore in the Aran Islands, but the sites were worth it. Tying a prayer on a Hawthorne tree, found at Celtic Sacred sites.

The hole down there is a holy well, and as we knelt in the mud and reached in today, our guide and Celtic priest told us it was like reaching deep within to find the Source of life. Loved that.

The hole down there is a holy well, and as we knelt in the mud and reached in today, our guide and Celtic priest told us it was like reaching deep within to find the Source of life. Loved that.

DAY 7: CONVERSION

On our final full day of our journey, we reflected on the transformation happening within us as we visited St. Colman’s hermitage and holy well in the Burren, spent time collecting rocks by the sea, and then ritualized the end of our journey and blessed those who had journeyed with us around the altar at Corcomroe Abbey.

St. Colman's Holy Well » asacredjourney.net

Evidence that pilgrims have gone before us to today’s holy well. There were ribbons, strips of fabric, keepsakes, medallions, and perhaps most poignant of all, a hospital bracelet, no doubt left as gratitude for healing or a prayer for a passed soul.

Within these stone walls we sang and blessed one another as our journey came to an end. Tomorrow we say goodbye, and then I'm off to Dublin!

Within these stone walls we sang and blessed one another as our journey came to an end. Tomorrow we say goodbye, and then I’m off to Dublin!

GO FURTHER…

Have you been to Ireland? Were you able to experience much of the island’s spiritual history while there?

Celtic Spirituality: An Interview with Tom Cashman

Before I attended The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, I had never heard of “Celtic Spirituality.” When I heard the term “Celtic” I thought of knots, music, and dancing, and to be honest, I never was a huge fan of any of it. But it was through my time at The Seattle School, and specifically in the Celtic Spirituality class, that I realized how life-giving Celtic Spirituality could be for my own faith and spiritual practices.

As I learned more about the way Celtic Christians viewed and interacted with God in the world – within our being, our surroundings, as well as beyond space and time – it was as if  a long awaited gust of wind was finally filling the sails of my sailboat, initiating a new and enriching journey. Celtic Spirituality’s emphasis on the image of God within us, as well as its holistic engagement of the Trinity and its recognition of the feminine aspects of God, awakened me to not only seeing the sacred in text or in times of worship, but also in the everyday, and most especially within my own questions, longing, and way of being. 

Awakening to the sacred that surrounds and is within is essential to the pilgrim’s journey, and the spirituality of the Christian Celts can serve as the pilgrim’s compass. To introduce you to Celtic Spirituality, I decided to go straight to the person who introduced it to me: spiritual director, teacher of spiritual formation, and pilgrimage guide, Tom Cashman. Below is a brief introductory interview with him about Celtic Spirituality, and I’ve also included resources from his class which I found helpful in my own discovery and application.

Next week my continued interview with Tom Cashman takes us to our first pilgrimage site, which just so happens to be a place of Celtic Pilgrimage: the Isle of Iona in Scotland. -Lacy

celtic-spirituality
What is Celtic Spirituality?

Celtic Spirituality is a strand of our Christian heritage that refers to a group of 4-11th CE churches that existed in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Isle of Man, and Galicia. Their somewhat alternative Christianity developed geographically and culturally separate from the church of Rome and thrived on a world-view and constellation of values that were somewhat different from that of the Roman church. The role of women in the church, our connection with the natural world, servant leadership, and mysticism are a few of those values that received more emphasis in the Celtic worldview than did their counterparts on the Continent.

Something I distinctly remember  from your class is the difference between the Celtic way of evangelism and the Roman way of evangelism. Could you describe some of the differences in the styles of evangelism and how those differences also reflected the differences between both groups’ approach to faith?

The Celtic monks brought the Gospel to other lands quite differently from the Roman tradition of evangelism. The monks believed that the Holy Spirit was already at work there ahead of them. They came in a non-confrontational way, inviting the non-believers to enter their small community, partaking of their hospitality, food, medicine and farming methods, and immersing them in the ethos of Christian Community. Only when they asked to join did the monks then baptize and teach. They reversed the Roman process which admitted persons to community only after they had already committed to Christ and were baptized.

What is the significance of Celtic Spirituality for Christians today?

The significance of Celtic Spirituality for today is much more than one of curiosity, historicity, or archeology.  The current ground-swell of interest is nothing less, I believe, than a move of the Holy Spirit that is bringing back this worldview and these values for a church that is in significant transition. The Celtic perspective is a profound gift for this transitional church that gropes its way blindly toward and through emergent communities that intuitively seem to think and act in Celtic Christian ways.

I also remember from the class that the Holy Spirit is really significant to Celtic Spirituality, and is often referred to as the “wild goose.” Tell me a bit about that, as well as how a Celtic perspective of the Holy Spirit can impact our experience of the Trinity today.

The origin of the Wild Goose as icon of the Holy Spirit is lost in the mists of time. But it conveys a sense of unpredictability, wildness and faithfulness. Their sense that the Holy Spirit also was the feminine aspect of God brings a certain balance to the Trinity and a corrective to our male-dominated Church which projects male domination even onto the Trinity itself. (Read more about the Wild Goose here.)

Obviously Celtic Spirituality is of great importance to you. When did you first discover Celtic Spirituality? How has it impacted and informed your faith?

In 1994 I went to Killarney, Ireland for an ITA conference. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision that turned out to be life-changing.  Celtic Spirituality was a strand of the conference which also included ecological and native wisdom themes. I “caught” the compelling mystique of another aspect of Christianity with those people and that place, and was asked repeatedly on my return to speak about this “Celtic Spirituality” people had been hearing of. Thus I became a student, teacher, writer, speaker and leader of workshops and retreats on this incredible subject.

This came during a great transition time in my life, and discovering our Celtic roots gave me a pathway back into finding my place within the Christian tradition. It also gave me a mission, and a method. I found that emulating the lives of the Celtic saints and rediscovering their worldview and values was transformative. And that is still so in my life today.

What does Celtic Spirituality have to do with pilgrimage, both personally and generally?

Unwittingly and in retrospect, I discovered that the 1994 ITA experience was in fact a pilgrimage. Without knowing it I was in search of the sacred as I traveled to Ireland.

A few years later I went on a pilgrimage led by Sr. Cintra Pemberton to Ireland along with 32 other pilgrims.  Meanwhile study showed me that pilgrimage was one of the great exploratory, spiritual growth – and sometimes penitential – experiences that Celtic Christians undertook as part of their spiritual practice. A variety of destinations and routes took on the cachet of sacred ritual.  Major destinations like Rome, Jerusalem, and a bit later Santiago de Compostela, Spain the site associated with St. James.  Lesser treks were to Lindisfarne (from Durham Cathedral) and to other monastic communities of Ireland and Scotland.

Pilgrimage became a way of life for many monastic evangelists who became the peregrini Christi, Wanderers for Christ, allowing a combination of intent and natural forces of tide, wind and weather to determine their ultimate destinations, allowing them to find “the place of my resurrection” the phrase used as they spoke and wrote of the place their pilgrimage would take them, ending in death.

The obvious metaphor/connection for all Christians is the pilgrimage of life, each of us traveling perhaps only a few miles, but through a variety of experiences, people met and connections made that shape our journey. Living with a pilgrim’s perspective changes, well, everything. It opens us to a wider range of spirituality, and enables us to move from day to day and week to week with expectation.

RESOURCES

The following are some resources from Tom’s Celtic Spirituality Class at The Seattle School:

  • Soulfaring by Cintra Pemberton
  • Celtic Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community
  • The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter, III
  • Listening to the Heartbeat of God by J. Philip Newell

GO FURTHER…

Is Celtic spirituality new to you? What of Tom’s description of Celtic spirituality resonated with you?

ABOUT TOM

An Episcopal layman, Tom has been a spiritual director for over 25 years. Trained in the Jubilee Spiritual Direction program (Vancouver School of Theology 1986) he works primarily with clergy and those in the ordination path.   He has been a teacher and clergy coach since retiring in 2003 from a technology company in the “Silicon Rainforest” of Redmond WA.  Tom also has a degree in Applied Behavioral Science from LIOS (Leadership Institute of Seattle) 1994 specializing in consulting and leadership.

In the academic world, Tom has been on staff and an adjunct for the Pastoral Leadership Program at Seattle University (2003-08).  He retired in 2012 after 9 years as adjunct professor at The Seattle School for Theology & Psychology (formerly Mars Hill Graduate School) in Seattle’s Belltown since 2003, teaching Spiritual Formation and Celtic Spirituality.  He also taught at the School of Theology of the Episcopal Diocese in their College for Congregational Development (2009-2012) and serves on the Congregational Consulting Services team.

His passionate commitment to revisiting and reclaiming the values of Celtic Christian Spirituality is lived out by teaching, writing, speaking, and leading retreats and workshops in the Northwest, and pilgrimages in Ireland and the UK. Tom is married to Lin who also is a spiritual director and healer-practitioner of both Reiki and therapeutic touch.  He has three grown children, four grandchildren, and refreshes himself with fly-fishing, music and cooking.

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Hi! I’m Lacy—your guide here at A Sacred Journey and a lover of food, books, spirituality, growing and making things, far-off places and lovely spaces. More »

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