By Jane Nickodem

I have always struggled with consistency, and the same is true in maintaining the daily rhythms of my spiritual practice.   I am consistent in always hoping to practice with more fidelity, but I so often fall short. 

Upon rising early, I oftentimes greet the day by opening the blinds of the only east-facing window in my apartment.  If I time it just right, and if the conditions align, a sunrise is the first thing I see, and I sing a short anthem, entitled Morning Prayer*, that I learned from Anna Fritz, from her CD On a High Hill* .

            “Good morning, earth and sky,

             Wind and rain and sun.

             Thank you for this life–

             A new day just begun.”

Then, as a number of Milwaukee Friends do, I read the daily message from The Center for Action and Contemplation.  Franciscan Father Richard Rohr often writes the message. There is a diverse multi-cultural group of theologians who also contribute. The theme for this year is “Nothing Stands Alone.”  Weekly themes with daily messages begin on Sunday.  Saturday’s email is a short review of the week’s messages. 

I either reflect on the message, meditate, or write in my journal.  This step is where I struggle to stay with the reading.  Being a morning person, my impulse is to get out into the world without delay to attend to what can only be described as “busy-ness.”  I am a hopeless thrifter and my car often drives me to Goodwill on Palmer or Oakland as soon as they open.

The early afternoon finds me with flagging energy and in the need of quiet alone-time.  I’ll usually read anything from poetry (Mary Oliver) to non-fiction (Thich Nhat Hanh) to children’s picture books.  Sometimes I will catch up on snail mail correspondence.

As I turn in for the night, my thoughts turn to what transpired during the day and I express gratitude for blessings bestowed.  Here I must admit that my concept of The Divine Mystery is a personal one so I whisper anything that I wish to say in a conversational way. 

Sometimes, parts of Saturday are spent apart from the fray, and I try for less technology and more simple living.  Happening upon Wayne Muller’s Sabbath at The Little Read Book on State Street in Wauwatosa a decade ago was an important event in my life–reading it encouraged me to find little Sabbaths in my daily life.

*  Music shared with the permission of Anna Fritz, the music author.