Since starting this course, a lot of things have been happening around me, and I think I need to take a look at them more closely. It seems fitting, since we are in the season of Lent, a time traditionally devoted to reflect on our faith and meditating on what that means.
The first was that I walked into my church to practice my horn, and saw this funky table-like thing at the entrance to the sanctuary. It had a sign on it, and once I got the lights turned on, I saw that it was an altar, made by a local artist. The art gallery, which is one of the church's ministries, currently has a show called "Ashes and Altars," altars and cremation urns, among other sacred relics created by David Orth. You can see information here.
I've said it before, but I really have never though about altars. I only remember the whole do-not-worship-idols thing, and I think I always associated objects on an altar being idol-worshiping. Thinking about it more now, and having read the course's suggestions on altar-building, I do not believe that. I like the thought that I can have objects on my altar that represent different ways I feel close to God. I plan on going to the art show when it is open on Sunday, and taking a look at these altars and relics, and consider them in a different light than I would have before this course.
I picked up a packet about the art gallery, and discovered they are also having an altar-creation class on March 17. "Having a sacred space in the home can aid greatly in ones spiritual journey. In this workshop, you will learn about home altars, their history and uses in various cultures, ways in which a home altar can nurture your spiritual life, along with what to include on your altar." YAY! Consider me workshop-bound. I've been meditating, and considering what items to put on my altar, and will probably put them on there before the workshop, but it will be interesting to see what I come up with, and what the workshop talks about.
Another series of events hosted by the gallery will be multiple days of Centering Prayer: "Lent is a time for reflection, introspection on the meaning of our faith, and what it means to be a disciple of Christ... to take up our own cross and follow him. The mystics have long embraced centering prayer as a non-verbal discipline to become aware, alert, and present to the workings of the spirit as it moves through us." There are multiple 30-minute sessions on Saturday mornings, and I'm planning on attending at least one session. 9 am is a bit early for me, so I have to work myself into getting up that early. If I went tomorrow morning, I'd just fall asleep. However, I'm hoping that the few sessions I may be able to make will help me with my meditating issues.
Speaking of meditating... I came across 2 CDs of music that I got during a class on Gandharva meditation (I believe that's what it was called) that I did during my undergrad. I was told it would help immensely with my music studies, but either I didn't practice it enough, or I just wasn't ready for that kind of centering yet. Either way, I uploaded the discs to iTunes, and used the evening version for my meditation today. I immediately noticed a difference: having noise-reducing ear buds in cut out a lot of the piano "music" coming from downstairs. My dad didn't come knock on my door immediately, like he did last time I tried to meditate. The music helped me to calm my mind, giving me something to hear while I did the breathing exercise. Once the music cut out for about a 15-minute meditation session, I was really into it, and didn't get distracted. I thought about what I would put on my altar, letting the thoughts settle into my heart, and weigh the choice. I think I'm pretty set, now. Once the music kicked back in to signal the end of the meditating session, I felt very good about the whole experience.
It doesn't surprise me that music seems to be the key to my ability to calm my mind. If I can't sleep because my mind is racing, I usually do a breathing exercise while listening to a song I discovered a few years ago, "Overboard" by the band Matthew. (#2 on the list) It always calmed my mind enough for me to fall asleep before the song was even over. Music is such a huge part of my being that I really should have thought of trying to use music during my meditation sooner. I found those CDs, and had one of those facepalm moments.
All in all, there's been a lot to take in lately. It's been good.
No comments:
Post a Comment