These days, there is an abundance of junk-food for our souls. Information is coming at us so quickly that we are disoriented. It is like we are drinking water from a fire hose. There are a lot of harsh words in the atmosphere and the way conversations are being had leaves us feeling discouraged. Even our closest relationships seem more fraught and tense as we collectively adopt a posture of defensiveness, always at the ready for fight or flight. All of this together, has left some feeling what I call “spiritually untethered” – tossed to and fro on the anxious waves of a stormy sea. If this sounds familiar to you, then I invite you to consider starting a words-diet.
You see, words matter. They have the power to create, to heal, to wound, and even to destroy. Cut back on your consumption of urgent, inflammatory, and contentious words. Simultaneously, beef up your consumption of soul-nourishing, contemplative, and gentle words. Cut back on the surface noise and instead go deep. Take in more words that tend and nourish your spirit – that draw you further toward beauty, honesty, gentleness, and the sacred.
Here are some things I do when I am in need of a words-diet, and, here are my go-to sources of soul-nourishing words:
-I created a “soul songs” playlist with a wide variety of artists. (If you are not acquainted with Carrie Newcomer, her latest album The Beautiful Not Yet is definitely worth a listen.) I listen to it to start my day instead of the newscast.
-I have changed my social media settings and habits. (This is worthy of a separate post!) In a nutshell, I have created some “groups” to help me both stay connected with folks but also limiting those I see in my “newsfeed” to those with soul-friendly posts.
-I am practicing mindfulness. I pay attention to when words start making me feel anxious and reactive and when that happens, I stop and take a few deep breaths and get quiet. Sounds so simple, but it really does help me keep from getting trampled under an avalanche of harmful words.
-I increase my reading of the authors who speak to my soul. For this, I share my bookshelf with you.*
On this shelf are some authors who I know I can count on to speak with wisdom and care; there are books of poetry, daily readings, and prayers; there are books of spiritual reflection and that elevate the conversation to the deeper questions; and there are books that inspire and encourage those committed to Christ’s way of peace, justice, and mercy. I keep these close at hand and return to many of them over, and over again. Also included are books that speak directly to the heart of some of today’s most important, yet often divisive, topics (care of the earth, racial reconciliation, the worth of all people).
I hope that hearing some of my own strategies for tending my spirit, and that some of these resources, might be helpful to you. Really though, I trust that you know what you most need and I encourage you to be intentional in honoring your own wisdom. So take a deep breath and before you get swept up in another day of the cacophony, take some time to be intentional with your word-consumption.
*Books on the shelf:
Collected Poems by Jane Kenyon
Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver
Wild Things by Roberta Bondi
A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry
Lumen Christi…Holy Wisdom by Nan Merril
Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner
The Dance of Life by Henri Nouwen
Praying the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
Psalms for Praying by Nan Merril
Celtic Prayers from Iona by J. Philip Newell
Between the Dark and Daylight by Joan Chittister
Things Seen and Unseen by Nora Gallagher
Secrets in the Dark by Frederick Buechner
The Monastery of the Heart by Joan Chittister
Following the Path by Joan Chittister
Called to Question by Joan Chittister
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
The Places that Scare You by Barbara Brown Taylor
The Places that Scare You by Pema Chodron
The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron
Making All Things Well by Isobel De Grucy
A New Harmony by J. Philip Newell
The Luminous Web by Barbara Brown Taylor
Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer
If God is Love by Phillip Gulley
Do Not Live Afraid by John Indermark
The Ride by MacQuarrie
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Women Pray
Praying with the Earth by J. Phillip Newell
Parenting for Peace and Justice by McGinnis