Hi friend,
We explored a variety of angles this month surrounding the soul work of “space,” didn’t we?
We tried to give space to those expanded places of unhurried rhythm so we could step back from the busyness of life and slow down.
We tried to welcome God’s presence into our in-between spaces of “stimulus” and “response.”
We tried to create opportunity for compassionate space within ourselves, our surroundings, and our everyday circumstances.
And we tried to interweave concepts like “joyful atmosphere” and “no home like place” into the lived experiences of our physical spaces.
As we teeter now on the cusp of a new month and a whole new soul work theme for June, may we take this final week of May to pause and invite you into one last intermission on space?
This time, however, instead of looking out, around, down, or within … we invite you to look up! – into the atmospheric space of the vast expanse.
As you use the following prompts to lean into the mystery and wonder of the great beyond, let yourself be wowed with awe and respect for that which stretches every aspect of human comprehension.
-With Joy
P.S. We’re curious what “space” meant or looked like for you this month. Would you take a moment to email and let us know? We’d love to hear from you!
P.S.S. Print off this month’s soul work illustration “space” for your personal times of quiet.
Pause for Thought
In 1995, for ten straight days, the Hubble space telescope stared at a tiny and nearly empty patch of sky near the Big Dipper. The telescope then gathered all the light it could, and slowly assembled a picture. What emerged is referred to as the Hubble Deep Field as the image revealed entire galaxies fainter than had ever been seen before. What appeared to be a seemingly empty region of space was actually full of activity.
Consider this: Sometimes we, too, need extended periods of time staring out into seeming emptiness in order to discover what has always been there, but out of sight.
Pause for Practice
For the following contemplative practice, we will use the Hubble Deep Fields image to contemplate the grandeur and vastness of space. This practice is an invitation to enter into the next few moments of silence with a heart and a mind fully awake and engaged.
To be a contemplative person means letting go of an agenda, and choosing instead to simply be with whatever surfaces as you gaze upon the below sacred image.
This practiced way of contemplation invites you into prayerful consideration of how God might be speaking, and in posturing yourself in this manner, you open yourself to God at work in and through the meaning of what He reveals.
- Step 1: Close your eyes. Inhale a few big breaths. Exhale deep and slow as you allow your body to relax into holy presence. Pause.
- Step 2: Glance briefly over the entire image. Take a few seconds to linger on the vastness, allowing your mind and heart to wander and land on whatever stands out. Pause.
- Step 3: Focus now on the tiny red dots scattered about. Pause.These dots are shapeless, galaxy building blocks whose light has been stretched by the expanding universe into an infrared glow. Contemplate this mystery as you focus on the red dots.
- Step 4: Notice now the other tiny dots of various colors clustered together. Pause.These clusters are numerous galaxy interactions and collisions coming together to merge and grow. Contemplate this phenomenon as your eyes wander from cluster to cluster.
- Step 5: Now notice the big, bright dots at the forefront of the image. Pause. These flashes of light are the stately galaxies we know today. As you glance from brightness to brightness, contemplate the names of these galaxies.
- Step 6: Now close your eyes, lean into listening, and with everything your eyes landed on and observed, invite God to speak meaning into this contemplative experience. Pause.
Source: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI).
Pause to Ponder
“I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, and moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, ‘Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?’ Yet, we’ve so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden’s dawn light. You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge, made us stewards of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, birds flying and fish swimming, and whales singing in the ocean deeps. God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world.”
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- Click here for previous month’s art offerings
With all the awe and wonder you’ve been sitting with today, may you also revel in the beauty, mystery and vast-fabulousness of YOU – like this little girl who is unapologetically owning it.
