Inner space

I live in a world different from the one I was born into, in a a vibrant, bursting-at-the-seams Asian megacity. On my way to work, I weave my way among buses and motorcycles in a cacophony of horns and pollution, or I negotiate a rickshaw fare and let someone else take me.

As fulfilling as life in an “adopted” world can be, it takes a lot of energy–especially for a strong introvert without a lot of energy to spare. As I’ve moved into this life, I’ve increasingly found the importance of building an inner scaffold, a connection with meaning, rest, and contemplation. In this post, I’m mentioning just a few of the tools I’ve found useful:

• The daily offices from The Trinity Mission offer a daily way to engage with the spiritual aspect of existence. I didn’t grow up in a liturgical tradition, but have found the offices to be deeply nourishing. I love the ancient hymns, the well-considered prayers, the Psalmic worship and the simple, matter-of-fact presentation of portions of Scriptural text. And even more, I love the sense of participation with a Church that transcends time and space. It’s also been interesting to find the beautiful Orthodox chanted settings of some of these hymns.
• It’s been occasional thus far, but engagement with the Ignatian spiritual practices has been quite enriching as well. Sacred Space is a lovely text-based guide through prayer and engagement with a Scriptural text; 3-Minute Retreats offers brief guided prayers around short excerpts of Scripture; Pray As You Go does the same in audio, with lovely contemplative music. Each of these comes in website or in app flavors. The Ignatian Examen is a practice I haven’t yet explored substantially, but one that looks valuable. (Note that for this non-Catholic, the occasional Marian-leaning meditation doesn’t do much for me, but they actually seem comparatively rare.) Pray As You Go also offers some audio retreats and archives on Soundcloud.
• In a more secular vein, the Headspace app offers an education in building inner quietness. Each guided meditation offers a short experience of quietness, while over time building the tools and reflexes to live from a position of cognitive and emotional calmness.