My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
The truth is that we can venture into meditation only in our willingness to be, at times, perplexed. What is more, we must be willing to befriend our perplexity as a way of dying to our futile efforts to grasp the ungraspable depths that meditation invites us to discover.
James Finley
I’m heading out meet my daughter at a Greek restaurant and I’m assuming to over eat, again. Also, expecting rain later this afternoon. Let it begin.
Most of the things that we notice, we notice in passing, on our way to something else; then, every so often, something gives us reason to pause. Something catches our eye or draws our attention, and we’re drawn for a moment to ponder or to reflect on that which awakened us in this way.
James Finley
It’s a cool morning, a feeling of fall. The leaves are changing colors and the trees are releasing these leaves to move onto their next stage of life. You can’t help but notice and pause as the changes take place. As a dude with a camera I’m not sure I always pause to ponder and reflect but gravitate to checking out the light and composition. 😊 However, I like to think that’s changing.
A contemplative practice is any act, habitually entered into with your whole heart, as a way of awakening, deepening, and sustaining a contemplative experience of the inherent holiness of the present moment.
James Finley
His quote opens up a lot of possibilities in living a spiritual journey but also apply to photography. I have a daily contemplative practice of prayer and meditation. When I skip them, cut them short, my day is off. I miss things, out of sorts, quick to anger, restless, wandering in my thoughts, judgemental and more. My daily contemplative practice keeps me centered in living life, what I call the present moment.
In my photography his definition of a contemplative practice does two things for me. One is that I gain experience in my craft, where practice helps me become more adept at using my gear. Secondly, it provides me the opportunity to be in the present moment where I’m able to see the dragonfly, or the baby cottontail hiding under a bush, or hear the chickadee sing, or notice the light beam striking a rose or the orange sunset beaming light over the Front Range. I believe a contemplative practice allows me to receive the gifts of nature for my photography as well as in my spiritual journey. I like being in the holiness of the present moment. Now coffee!
“All that we can do with any spiritual discipline is produce within ourselves something of the silence, the humility, the detachment, the purity of heart and the indifference which are required if the inner self is to make some shy, unpredictable manifestation of his presence.” James Finley
Here is a link to an interesting article by William Neil.