Daily Spiritual Practice

In the past, I was always dubious about a daily spiritual practice. It seemed, somehow, to indicate a level of spirituality I wasn't quite prepared to handle. After all, prior to becoming Pagan, the only extremely religious people I'd met had seemed ... well, odd. I think I feared that I, too, would somehow become odd if I allowed myself to become too serious about my spirituality. And, well, maybe I've become odd, but I've also grown enough that the possibility doesn't bother me anymore. After keeping a daily practice for a couple of months now, I've found that the advantages outweighed any perceived drawbacks.

I've always had a fascination with monks and nuns, even before I was religious. There is something achingly beautiful about the simplicity, devotion, and "other-worldlyness" of monasticism. But traditional monks and nuns aren't really practical in my variety of Paganism; after all, my practice is rooted in this world, rather than concentrating on the next world or seeing past the illusions of the world. And so, for me, Pagan nuns and monks aren't those who pull away from the world. They are, rather, those who immerse themselves in this world, carrying their spirituality with them. Perhaps it's really the same thing, but the surface certainly looks different.

Carrying spirituality into the world can be a difficult task, particularly when donning a new religion. At the beginning, it's easy enough - there is so much new information to read, absorb, and try, that while one's practice may not be daily, it is frequent enough and has enough enthusiasm behind it to suffice. But once the religion becomes comfortable, it's harder. While there is still as much to learn and absorb, often the freshness and enthusiasm has begun to fade. This is particularly difficult when the new religion isn't simply replacing older religious habits with new ones, but is an entirely new garment altogether.

Daily spiritual practice places religion at the same level of importance as eating is in most of our lives. It's immediate, it's concerned with the "here-and-now" instead of a heady ritual space, and it means it's important enough to be a daily task. After all, if religion is about seeing the Sacred in everything and learning about our place in the world, then we ought to expect to incorporate it into our daily, mundane, and sometimes busy lives. Religion isn't only about the big, unanswered questions in life, it's also concerned with the now -- how should I interact with my coworkers, my friends, my family, the world around me, and the Kindred? That's about as mundane as a lunch break. Religion can also be concerned with the mystery of life and the the largest questions imaginable to human minds. But that's a different side of religion. Sometimes religion is as mundane as a lunch break; sometimes it's as grand, fancy, and elegant as a feast. Lunch breaks have a different purpose, different manners, and different outcomes from feasts. But both are useful in their own contexts; that's why daily practice supplements religious holidays.

When I decided to do a daily practice, I found that I needed variety in my routine, much as I require variety in meals. Sometimes, I only had time in the morning or in the evening. Sometimes, I was able to do both. I often simply wanted to meditate and listen, but other times I wanted a structured ritual. Regardless, I found that on days where I managed to do a daily practice, I found that I was more centered. I found myself being more aware of my spirituality throughout the day, even when doing things that would appear to be completely unrelated to Paganism. Eventually, I ended up using Caitlin Matthew's Celtic Devotional: Daily Prayers and Blessings as a template for my most structured morning and evening devotions. This is sometimes replaced by straight meditation or saying my Circle of Stones.

The Celtic Devotional is used on days when I want a tangible reminder of those aspects of my religion that I hold most dear, in a format that can be shortened or lengthened to fit the time I had in the morning and evening. Interestingly, writing out my beliefs helped a great deal. I can see, now, that the structured devotion each morning and evening includes a recognition of the sacredness of all creatures, is structured to note seasonal patterns and has, itself, a weekly and monthly pattern that it follows, and honors my Gods and ancestors.

Interestingly, my daily practice has done a great deal in refining and shaping my theology. For example, I had always been dubious about praying for other people. While I considered prayer valuable, I tended to think of it mostly as a way to ask for finding within myself what I needed and as a way to have an interaction with the Kindreds. Praying for other people seemed awfully strange -- after all, I believe that the Gods rarely, if ever, interact with the world in material ways.

The Celtic Devotional has prayer included in each structured ritual, and I almost took them out. I temporarily left them in, though, deciding not to remove them on the basis of previous prejudices against prayer. I've since realized that I don't wish to remove them. I still don't know that they cause any sort of supernatural action in the lives of the people I'm praying for, but prayer is a way of bringing my attention to things. And, as Robert Fulgham says in his book, From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives,

To be human is to be religious.
To be religious is to be mindful.
To be mindful is to pay attention.
To pay attention is to sanctify existence.

Rituals are one way in which attention is paid.
. . .
Rituals transform the ordinary into the holy.

I still struggle to keep my daily practice daily. Although I try to follow the rule that if I have enough time to eat breakfast and shower, then I have enough time to do my devotion, it often doesn't work that way. It's definitely the case that I benefit from regular practice, even if it isn't done every day. For me, daily practice is a way to bring something that seems intellectual and unrelated to my everyday life to the level of importance of a daily meal.