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Parenting as a Spiritual Practice
Sunday, January 21 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
“If you want to change the world, become an activist. If your goal is inner peace, become a monk. If you wish to know yourself, become a parent.” We often think about meditation, religious rituals, or pilgrimages as spiritual practices. Yet the journey of parenting also offers us opportunities to grow spiritually as we embrace change every day. Rev. Dr. María Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa will be preaching.
How to Attend
We encourage masks in all buildings. Read more about our In Person Guidelines here.
• To virtually attend, please Zoom in using room number 989 3107 9078, passcode: chalice.
• To phone into the service, call 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 989 3107 9078.
For those joining, please mute as soon as you enter the room, so everyone can hear. Please note, the services will be recorded, but at this time, there are no plans to share the recording.
More Information
Religious Education for children and youth happens during worship on Sundays. Children and youth arrive in the Sanctuary for the just a little bit and welcome in Sunday with a story and song. Then, they attend their own programs in the Education building. Learn more here!
If you don’t have a chalice, but want to light one, check out our Making a Chalice at Home page.
In person services are followed by coffee hour.
Children’s Story
Sermon Audio
Parenting as a Spiritual Practice
Sermon Text
by Caroline Haessly
A few years into motherhood, I discovered the book The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. The renowned Zenmaster teaches that peace of mind is available in every moment with every breath. Back then, it seemed unattainable to me. There were messes to clean up, chores to do, meals to prepare. Kids that only wanted Goldfish crackers to eat. Forms to fill out, toddlers refusing to be strapped into carseats. Dishes, laundry, shoes too small. Birthday cakes. Endless Juggling.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s essay on washing the dishes opened my eyes to the universality of mundane tasks. Dishwashing could actually become a less daunting practice of staying in the moment and feeling compassion for others.
“Wait”, you say, “who has time to slow down and only focus on one thing? We non-monks spend decades multitasking and getting stuff done faster and faster.”
Mindfulness is about being fully aware and awake without judgment. So I tried it: doing the dishes without ruminating about the past or planning the future. Would I ever embrace mindful kitchen work as a cleansing ritual worthy of my full attention? One day in a waiting room, I noticed that I could just, for a few moments, be still. I started to associate small opportunities, like waiting with little glimpses of the balance and peace that were a bit more reachable. More and more I used those small moments of quiet as reminders to be here now, instead of struggling with my thoughts of hurrying. How restorative it could be to take a break from myself, my rushing, my worrying.
In the book, Thich Nhat Hanh beautifully describes how to eat the segments of a tangerine: don’t just grab each piece and mechanically aim it at your mouth while you haven’t yet chewed and savored the piece before. If your mind is distracted by plans for later and getting things done, you miss tasting the tangerine.
You don’t need to sit and meditate on a cushion for a glimpse of clear insight. Just pause and notice the miracle of breathing. Breathing is so ordinary and yet such a miracle. Doing dishes and waiting are also ordinary. When I am fully awake, these are opportunities to savor being alive!
Imagine if everyone in your family and community practiced being awake: people might beg to wash the dishes.
