After reading the whole of “Sacred Pathways” I have identified my preferred approach to connect with God as “Naturalist”. Being outdoors takes me away from the reality of life and everything that is going on and allows me to more clearly focus on God and allow him to strip away the stress. Not only are the distractions gone but I feel closer to God surrounded in what he made. Even if I’m just looking up to the sky – I’m amazed by how big he is. Or When I see the birds, I’m reminded of his care and love for me as he cares for them.
My Experience with Naturalist Approach
On one experience using this approach I took my bible, put on my gum boots and went for a walk on our farm. On the way I talked to God about desperately wanting to be closer to him but not knowing how. I walked down to the small stream that runs through our property and I sat on the bridge which I would call my “Gethsemane”. There I was reading my bible and in it God showed me there were idols in my life that needed to be removed. After receiving this revalation I laid down, gazing up to the sky as I
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Another thing I see as a weakness is that it’s not appealing to go outside when the weather isn't good and in Winter that is most days which makes this approach difficult to implement all year round.
The strengths of this approach is that you are surrounded by what God created, which helps you to see God and not feel like he’s distant. You can see his beauty and power in all that he created. Being outside is good place to find rest in the simplicity of nature. We can see Scriptual truths come alive and God can speak to us through his creation, like in my experince, this couldn’t have happened inside my
It looks as if this spiritual relationship intends to be more complete and sacred; aspiring to an awakening, and cooperation of one’s heavenly, higher self. One’s union with the Divine comes forth as an earthly reality; illuminating a freedom, and calmness within one’s spirit.
Have you noticed that we feel a powerful desire to connect with nature during difficult times? Whether we are injured, depressed or sad our inclination towards nature increases. Patients in hospitals recover faster if they are in a room with a nice view. Why? Because nature is so pure and powerful that can restore our spirits and heal our bodies and minds. The beauty of nature has been praised in art, poetry, writings and films. Naturalists, poets and writers have documented the many benefits of spending time in nature. "Calypso Borealis" by Muir and "I wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by Wordsworth are two great pieces of literature where our hearts are filled with an indescribable emotion. John Muir and William Wordsworth express their relationship
God uses Jesus to help the population in all different ways. Jesus helps the blind see, he clothes the poor, and overall, can cure anyone who is worthy. God shows his presence through Jesus so the people of earth have someone to follow. Even today we see God work his wonders even without the presence of Jesus. God shows miracles which no one would believe if they were not reality. God’s presence in the world is mediated through nature and reality as seen in the readings of The Gospel of Matthew and The Book of Exodus.
Nature can keep its blissful purity untroubled in the moment, not convicted by what all society has brought into this world. Furthermore, many find nature as their safe place, the one place they can go too, and no one can interfere with their happiness. John Muir and William Wordsworth noticed the peaceful nature brought to their soul when traveling on their journey. Do not let your hands be weak, for you shall be rewarded.” – 2 Chronicles 15:7 John Muir and William Wordsworth both faced challenges to get to where they were going.
The extra theistic landscape includes stories from the participants that include beliefs that transcend the mundane, but are not related to the belief in God. The third path of spirituality described by Ammerman is ethical spirituality. This is essentially the common ground between the theistic and extra theistic landscapes; ethical spirituality “is that real spirituality is about living a virtuous life, one characterized by helping others, transcending one’s own selfish interests to seek what is right” (45). Ammerman has found that most of the participants consider themselves spiritual and religious, the minority consider themselves spiritual but not religious, these participants included those from the unaffiliated and the non-attenders. This is the fourth and final path Ammerman outlines in chapter 2 of her book. As Ammerman continues, she describes activities of the theistic and extra theistic such as, praying, reading scripture, meditating, and using music as a way to show
Moved by faith in God, we commit ourselves to promote the healing that rises at one as well as the other private and environmental levels from integrated lives dedicated to serving God and humanity. Works Cited Keepers of the garden: Christians and the environment. by John T. Baldwin, Retrieved October 12, 2011. King James Bible, Retrieved, October, 13, 2011. www.mightystudents.com/essay/specific.actions.Christian..
I Another significant arrow happened years later. When I was a young adult, I partook in an unhealthy relationship with a non-Christian woman. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but worse than my actions with her was the fact that I was a terrible representation of Christ, for she knew of
The wilderness allows people to escape the crazy hectic lives they live daily and just unwind. Chris McCandless was “ unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart,” throughout his soul-searching journey in the wilderness (Krakauer 31). Many people like Chris will experience different sensations in the serene wilderness, however it calls
There is a famous quote by writer Joseph Campbell that says, “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again”. That says, everyone has a sacred space. For some that is their bedroom, for others it is a religious or spiritual place. No matter what, however, everyone gets the same feeling, the same release from their sacred place, but some people must go further, or make a pilgrimage to get to their sacred space or spaces. I will be addressing the sacred places of pilgrimage in Buddhism.
...ng in pure nature the flame of spirituality is re-ignited. The person is in a virtual Eden.
The enlightenment is like no other. Calmly seated under the Bodhi tree, Gautama Buddha realized that the right way to achieve the ultimate goal is the middle path, not the two extremes of either extreme sensual indulgence, or extreme self-torment. In order to realize this path, it took the Buddha a long 35 years. For the first 29 years of his life, he indulged in sensual pleasures as a prince, and then for 6 years after leaving his palace in search for the answered to his questions about the meaning of life, he tormented his body to the extremes.
The focus shifts from primarily being on the self, to being on God, Scripture and the self. This practice is also known as contemplative prayer and has been around for over 2000 years with a variety of definitions and strategies all focusing on God and the Scripture as well as the self to examine experiences. In practicing Christian Devotional Meditation instead of Mindfulness, the client can gain a deeper relationship with the Lord and others and “cultivate spiritual growth or emotional healing”. Christian Devotional Meditation takes mindfulness a step further in incorporating faith with the practices of a secular
The encounter of the two main protagonist in the story in one way or another affirms to the discourse on the Encounter with the Sacred. The idea of applying the theme of encounter with sacred to movie occurred to me when I made a comment to the scene where the female protagonist suddenly cut herself while she was with the male protagonist. I made a comment on the scene by jokingly saying; “Woman, you are too much in a rush to meet with the Lord.”. It was later in the day that another thought grew from me making that comment, “Is the reason why some suicides fail, because the person who attempted suicide still wasn’t prepared to encounter God in death and is that why when there are those who succeed in their attempt comes so much of a surprise
The spiritual quest starts with the individual saying to themself, “I am ready.” And forming an intention to work on their own spiritual development. However, soon after this statement of intent, there emerge problems. To whom should one turn? Who is reliable?
I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this cave of what I feel is best labeled “Christian ignorance”. In the process though, I have had to come to terms with letting go of the things that brought me comfort and provided me with what I thought it took to have a close relationship with God. Some of those things were tangible. Most were not. The things that were the least tangible actually ended up being the hardest to let go of.