One of the goals set by the Climate Justice Ministries Task Force for this year is to encourage every church member of the the California-Nevada Annual Conference to spend 10 minutes outside each day.
We firmly believe that our actions –and our energy — for earth justice work must be
fed and empowered by nurturing our love for God’s creation, and this simple practice
is an important step in that direction.
Choosing a Location
You might choose the same place each time — a walking path, or your own backyard – so that you might get to know your “more than human” neighbors better with every
passing day. Or you might vary your routine and delight in the endless variety of gifts
God has placed all around you, and reflect on their interconnectedness.
Using your Senses
One way you might focus your 10-minute daily practice could be dedicating your
attention to just one of your senses, for example:
| “Seeing Sunday” | Notice the many colors and variations of patterns in your special place. |
| “Melodic Monday” | Pay attention to the sounds. Listen for the songs, harmony, symphony. |
| “Tasting Tuesday” | Are there (safely) edible things growing near you? Savor their taste. |
| “Weather Wednesday” | Enjoy the sun, wind, clouds. Notice the change in seasons. |
| “Thirsty Thursday” | Connect with the forms of water in your setting — a puddle, creek, pool, mist, rain, fog, dew, or the water in your own body. |
| “Feeling Friday” | Notice the temperature of the air, touch leaves or flower petals or tree bark. |
| “Smelling Saturday” | Inhale deeply, notice the scents, and allow yourself to be transported into memories. |
In the darkness of Winter
If you have not already cultivated a “10 minute a day” habit, why not begin this as an
Advent (or Lent) discipline? Don’t let the weather stop you; bundle up and get outside for a little while. It will do you a world of good.
In her lovely devotional book, All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New
Beginnings (beautifully illustrated by David G. Klein), author Gayle Boss shares
thoughtful observations concerning how animals prepare for the winter. She notes
that they do not seem to experience the anxiety that humans do at the prospect of
oncoming shortened days and cold weather. Instead, “animals unselfconsciously and
forthrightly offer unfearful responses …they adapt in many amazing and ingenious
ways. They shape themselves to life as it is given. All of them enact heart and soul
realities for us. Each in its way says: The dark is not an end, but a door. This is the
way a new beginning comes” (p. xv).
In the winter, as you spend time outdoors — perhaps in the same place every day —
notice how life adjusts to the changing of seasons. Which creatures are migrating?
Which are going into hibernation? How are the plants and the soil responding to rain?
Can you catch a glimpse of the complicated systems at work which capture moisture
and nutrients and share them? What lessons might you learn from your more-than human neighbors?