Scripture admonishes un in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Peter is inviting us to pay attention. Why? Because the devil, our enemy is walking around like a roaring lion looking for someone to pull apart. If the work of Jesus is the work of restoration and wholeness bringing the parts of us alienated by sin back together and back into a right relationship with God the work of the enemy is to pull those very things apart. The work of Jesus through the Gospel is a work of reintegration, a work of restored congruence between the parts of us, mind, soul, and body! When these parts of us are isolated from the presence of Christ and his body we become easy prey for the enemy!
The evil one is seeking to pull apart and destroy everything that God creatively put together and is redemptively putting back together as he accomplishes the renewal of all things. On our journey of transformation, it is vital that we attend to any disconnection that may exist between our minds and our bodies. Many of us, without even noticing, have allowed our minds to become alienated from the world around us and within us. Journaling our senses is a tool for beginning to learn to pay attention. Specifically paying attention to our five basic senses, and, in so doing, we become reacquainted with our body. Slowing down is the first step toward paying attention and paying attention leads us to humility and gratitude.
Our inability to pay attention often leaves us living in the past through nostalgia and/or regret or living in the future through idealism and/or fantasy. When we are living in the past or living in the future we can not be present with the real people and present for the real moments we are living. Paying attention invites us to come back to our bodies, and pay attention to what is happening around us and within us. As we do, I believe we’ll begin to grow awareness of how we are showing up in relationships and being received in relationships.
Five Senses Journaling
Each day said aside a few minutes to consider things you experienced in your body through your senses. As you go about your day, pay attention to things you heard, things you saw, things you smelled, things you tasted, and things you touched. This is something you can do as part of your daily time with Jesus as you pray, journal, and read your Bible according to whatever rhythms and practices you are already implementing to commune with Jesus. Additionally, I think this can be a fruitful practice anytime you find yourself fantasizing about an idealized version of the future, or living in the past as a way of escaping from the present moment. This is a tool that can help us come back to our bodies in the actual moments we are living. Eugene Peterson says it like this, “Pain isn’t the worst thing. Being hated isn’t the worst thing. Being separated from the one you love isn’t the worst thing. Death isn’t the worst thing. The worst thing is failing to deal with reality and becoming disconnected from what is actual.” This practice of paying attention will help us in reconnecting with what is actual, the real moments of and real people in our lives. This is where the presence of Christ meets us and accomplishes His purposes in us and through us.
Simply journal with as much brevity or as much detail as you would like about the things you're experiencing in your body through your senses as you go about your day. Consider the connection between the scriptures, God’s promises, and Christ’s presence with you through His Spirit that lives within you!
I Heard ·
I Saw ·
I Smelled ·
I Tasted ·
I Touched ·
MONTHLY SCRIPTURE READING PLAN
This Scripture reading Plan works alongside the Embodied Presence Practice. It includes passages selected to coincide with the Practices of each month and the discussions you’ll be having within your Community Group.
Each week we’ll look at scriptures that serve the end of paying attention. In some of them, you’ll see an obvious connection to our five senses. In others, you’ll see some agrarian and earthy themes that will help ground us in our humanity, and invite us to pay attention to our lives as humans lived in union with Christ.
October 31st - November 6th
November 7th - November 13th
November 14th - November 20th
November 21st - November 25th (Week of Thanksgiving)
WEEKLY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The hope is not that you answer every single question every single week. Some weeks you discuss some of the Scripture references from the week of the practice together and other weeks you may simply discuss the journey as a whole and the ways God is working within the participants of your Community Group through this Embodied Presence Practice. Some weeks you may use the discussion questions to help guide your conversations as you gather with your Community Group each week. You do not have to use the questions exactly how they are given or in the order, they are given. Select some for your discussions as you see fit and need. GROUPS EXAMPLE LITURGY
These questions could be used any week or every week. There are also some more targeted weekly discussion questions you are welcome and encouraged to use below as you see fit and need.
As you’ve been paying attention and journaling your senses what are you noticing within you and around you? Were these things you generally noticed without paying attention?
What are some things you heard, seen, touched, smelled, and tasted this week that reminded you of God’s presence with you and love for you?
November Weekly Discussion Questions:
October 31st - November 6th
How do you feel about your body? What purpose does your body serve?
In what ways have you experienced your body as a way of knowing, experiencing, and relating?
Do you feel “at home” in your body or do you often find your mind and body feel disconnected? Why do you think that could be?
November 7th - November 13th
In what ways has your body been a focus in your spiritual life? In what ways has your body been neglected in your spiritual life?
Is this idea of incorporating your body into your spiritual life uncomfortable for you? Why so?
Which of the five senses are you finding it difficult to recognize as you intentionally pay attention? Why do you think that could be?
November 14th - November 20th
In what ways have you experienced feeling disconnected from the present moment? What have you noticed about these experiences?
Do you typically find your mind gravitating toward the past through nostalgia (idealizing the past) or through regret, or towards the future through idealism? Why do you think this is?
How does this quote from Eugene Peterson land with you?
“Pain isn’t the worst thing. Being hated isn’t the worst thing. Being separated from the one you love isn’t the worst thing. Death isn’t the worst thing. The worst thing is failing to deal with reality and becoming disconnected from what is actual.”
November 21st - November 25th (Week of Thanksgiving)
How has paying attention made it easier for you to experience Joy for God’s presence in your life and express praise for His goodness in your life?
In what ways has slowing down and paying attention to your senses made you more aware of what’s happening around you and more present with the people you are with? How are you noticing this affecting your relationships?
Is paying attention through your senses and journaling something you’ll continue incorporating into your apprenticeship to Jesus? Why or why not? If so, how will you do so?