A day in the life of an interfaith minister...
Interfaith ministry isn't just about about being a celebrant. These posts aim to paint a picture of how my ministry permeates all of my life...
Today started with the disappointment of no hairdressers appointment again! My hair has taken on a life of its own... May it'll even have its own ministry soon
After a busy few days at work... Fridays often start with catching up on all that I've laid down to focus on work and family...
A few years ago in a co-coaching session my coach helped me to see how many people I touch in a week... how many messages I send... clients I see... times I sit down with my family to eat, to talk, to play games... people I meditate with... friends I meet for walks... swims... moments I pause to light a candle or add something to my altar to 'be with' someone... I now see all of this as ministry too... all ways of walking alongside people.
This afternoon I joined a Movement Medicine class. In the second year of my interfaith ministry training my self directed project became about embodiment and I started several new practices to help me get more into my body, this was one of them (alongside regular massage, Havening, walking more and riding a bike again!). Movement Medicine is now a weekly practice for me. It's an hour and a half of music, poetry and dance which I usually do with the curtains closed in the lounge (although today I must've felt daring as I left them open!). My practice is simply to return my awareness to my body when I'm off in my head... which is often! At times (when I'm in my head) I find dancing excruciating (or being observed dancing via zoom)... and at other times (when I'm in my body) I find it delicious! I love how we're invited during the class... to awaken the dancer... to dance with different energies, elements, seasons, moons, ancestors and my favourite... to open to the possibility of movement bringing pleasure... which can bring incredulity or relief depending on whether I'm in my head or body! The class is a piece of my meministry (ministering to myself!) and an embodiment of ministry for the interfaith minister who hosts it.
And so to tonight... I hosted a group meditation. This is something I started offering locally on Skye a few years ago which has in the last year moved from a physical space to zoom. It has attracted people of different faiths and has become a gorgeous interfaith space. Friday Night Meditation is different to the meditation practice I teach as I bring meditations inspired by different faith paths... including... Tibetan Gong, Sufi chanting, Christian Lectio Davina, Islamic Names of God, Jewish Shabbat, Buddhist Loving Kindness, Hindu Goddesses, Daoist readings and Earth based meditations.
Friday Night Meditation feels like both ministry and meministry. It not only feeds others but is part of my own practice. I get so much from our sharing and witnessing one another after the meditations. I love the different perspectives we share and also the (often startling) synchronicities which remind me that we see ourselves most clearly through our relationships with others.
Tonight's meditation was profound with spooky synchronicities... with mine and another's wilderness meditations mirroring one other! When we shared afterwards we discovered we'd been in the same landscape and each met a holy man atop a mountain! Mine featured 3 eagles and she had seen 3 eagles earlier today
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Thanks for reading... would love to hear any thoughts you have in the comments... Are these posts of interest? Do you have specific questions about what it means to be an interfaith minister? Questions about ministry?
♡ Jo
The photo was in our group meditation tonight... right before seeing a sadhu!
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