Spiritual Practices

Over these past few years since I retired from full-time work in 2015, spirituality has become increasingly important to me as will be apparent from my posts. Some regular activities in my life have a spiritual flavour to them, so much so I refer to them as spiritual practices: 1) My regular early morning 2 hour bike ride which does wonders for me and I do it 3 times a week if at all possible. I am out in nature and not too many people about; I pray at a regular point on my journey; my head clears, I compose poems, posts and sermons and write some of it down when I get home, I pass a church on the route and if the bells ring I remember people who have died. 2) I love my fresh made bagels and if I get up early which I often do I might just make this, especially if we have visitors. You can't rush it; you have to wait for the dough to rise. Its timeless and nothing else to do. 3) I have been going to Death Cafe for over 7 years and it meets in one of my favourite cafes - T Hive - which is just round the corner from me. We say what we need to say without worrying. At the end of the gathering I leave always feeling uplifted. My physical life in this body is finite so I need to enjoy the moment(s) and to be thankful that I and you are here. 4) Singing in a community choir which is non religious but boy the music and lyrics are so so spiritual. And we rehearse in a church and I can feel the spiritual energies there. And we breathe in unison and our heart beats apparently start to synchronise. 5) And of course walking in the countryside seeing flowers, trees, clouds, sunshine, rain and rainbows. 6) Visiting holy places/places of worship that often have such amazing spiritual energies - York Minster, Glastonbury Tor, Lindisfarne, Avebury and plenty more. And the energies are subtly different on each visit. "May the long time sun shine on you And all love surround you And the pure light within you Guide your way home"