How to Engage this Daily Devotional

As we move toward Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, I’d like to share a few things that one may find helpful in engaging in this daily retreat. First, don’t hurry. Take your time each day to engage with God through the Psalms and through the reflections, questions, and prayers. Second, be curious about all you are noticing … with God. Let curiosity be a prayer. Third, be where you are and let God be the One who moves you forward. It can be a temptation to try to make things happen. Perhaps, not desiring to be in a season of disorientation, you may find yourself trying to race ahead to what it next. Be patient as God graciously leads you day by day. As you pray the Psalms of reorientation, you may be engaging in pure faith, not knowing how or when these things will unfold. The invitation is to stay with God in it.

Each week, find a time to read/listen through all fifteen of the Psalms of Ascent. You may imagine that you are walking with those earliest pilgrims to the house of the Lord. Each week, you are also being invited to walk as a spiritual practice. You may decide to listen as you walk. It takes about 15 minutes to read through these psalms if you take your time.

Listen to a curated playlist of the Psalms of Ascent or come up with your own playlist. See link for playlist on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/psalms-of-ascent/pl.u-vxy6kjMCaW51Y Again, you might decide to pair this with a practice of walking. 

Each week, you will receive a devotional reflection on the Psalms of Ascent on Monday through Friday. 

On Saturdays, you will be encouraged to engage in a weekly examen – using three questions that arise from these psalms. In addition, you are encouraged to create something that expresses where you are on this pilgrimage of the heart. It may be a poem, a haiku, a drawing, a painting, gardening, or some other creative expression. 

On Sundays, you are encouraged to connect with someone and share what you have been experiencing with God. And, take a walk with God. Why a walk? When we pair movement with prayer, it allows our desire for God to become embodied and more settled into all of our being.