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STORIED CHURCH SPIRITUAL PRACTICE FOR SABBATH SUNDAY | MAY 25, 2025

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A few times a year, we take a break from our usual routines to rest in different ways. Whether it’s gathering around the lunch table with friends, going for a hike, or spending time in solitude, take a moment to connect with yourself, the divine, and nature.

 

GROUNDING

To become more mindful of your surroundings, start by looking around and identifying five distinct objects or details you can see. Next, focus on the physical sensations you feel, such as the texture of your clothes, the surface of your chair, or the temperature of the room. After that, listen carefully for three sounds you can hear, like a computer humming, traffic outside, or a clock ticking. Then, take note of two smells around you, such as candles, coffee, or flowers. Finally, if possible, taste something, concentrating on its flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MINDFULNESS EXERCISE

//What emotions does this picture  evoke for you?

//What story or message do you think  the picture is trying to convey?

//What details in the image stand out to you the most, and why? //How does the setting or background influence the feeling of the picture?

//What do you think might be happening just outside of the frame?

 

SCRIPTURE READING

Luke 15:1-10

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

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8 “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

GRATITUDE PRACTICE

//What moments are brining you joy or comfort?

//Who were the people you shared the day with, either in person or in spirit?

//How did you experience God’s love through them?

 

Thank God for these gifts, naming them one by one.

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Draw us into your love, Christ Jesus : and deliver us from fear. Lord, make usan instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

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