Contemplative Photography in Spiritual Companioning


Image from: https://www.lifegate.com/app/uploads/kintsugi21.jpg

I am part of a 40-minute lunch time “Connect and Reflect” Contemplative Dialogue circle that meets each Thursday lunch time at Pitt St Uniting Church, an inner-city church in Sydney. 
We commence with 10 minutes meditation.  Then each person introduces themselves and answers an opening question, on this occasion “where have you recently seen beauty?”
Then I placed a photo on the centre table., an example of the Japanese art of Kintsugi whereby a broken piece of pottery is repaired with gold.
I posed a series of questions, each person invited to share their response.  No discussion, just intentional, attentive listening and pausing.
1. As you gaze upon the picture what do you notice?
2. What is evoked within you?
3. How does it connect with what is going on in your life at present?
4. We then paused, honouring what has been shared and noticed, what has shifted for us in our time together. Participants were then invited to share their noticings.
5. Following a brief time of silence gratitude is named.
I was overwhelmed by the insights shared and the wisdom revealed. What a graced experience!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yes, Prime Minister, I Too Believe in Miracles

Image
Granddaughter Matilda less than 24 hours old, now 21 months.  A miracle! Since I last wrote on this blog Australia has seen a 6 week election campaign and the surprise re-election of a Liberal National Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.  As a woman of faith, hope and love I sent him the following email yesterday, less than 48 hours after his "miraculous" win. Dear Mr Morrison I too believe in miracles.   Congratulations on leading the Liberal and National Parties to a new term of government here in Australia. You said in your victory speech on Saturday night, that “Tonight is not about me or it’s not about the Liberal Party.   Tonight is about every single Australian who depends on this government to put them first.”   I urge you, and the Australian Parliament, to live that miraculous vision. It will be a miracle when our Government enables us as a nation to put first all Australians depending on t...
Read more

Week 8: Prayer Out the Window

Image
I woke this morning with the sudden realisation that I can’t pray.   For the past eight weeks during this sabbatical time I have been unable to pray.   Not in the traditional way of saying prayers.   But I abandoned that notion of prayer many decades ago.   For I no longer believed in a God that pulls puppet strings to bring rain for the farmers and sunshine for the holiday makers, that decides who is killed in a car crash and who will survivie,   Or even a God that sent his son to die for our sins that we may live.   None of that made sense to this feminist scientist of the 1980’s. But I have not even been able to follow my spiritual routine for recent years.   A time of quiet upon waking each morning, gratitude journaling, contemplating scripture , reflecting on the content of daily devotionals, followed by a short period of silent meditation interrupted by the gymnastics of my monkey mind.   A routine practice that has grounded my ens...
Read more

Preparation well underway!

Image
After an incredibly life-giving and privileged 3 years as Pastoral Care Officer at Matthew Talbot Hostel, a large men's homeless hostel in Sydney and for 4 years, as Chaplain at MRRC, Silverwater, a remand jail for 1000 men awaiting trial or sentencing, I am taking a 4 month sabbatical for rest, renewal and reorientation. After taking a few days for final preparations, the Sabatical commences with the AECSD Conference in Canberra- Spirutal DIrection in the Borderlands before heading to the USA and the UK during which time I will visit examples of spiritual accompaniment in the margins, explore some labyrinths, indulge in some creative pursuits and connect with family, friends and women of The Grail.
Read more