Spiritual Survival Guide Practices: Practice #1: Learning How to Savor

One of my mom’s earliest memories is one in which she is sitting on the back step of her farmhouse in nothing but a towel. She is 5 years old and has just taken her weekly bath. Her mother, usually all about work, is humming a tune as she hangs her clothes out on the clothesline. All the other kids, there were 11 others, are off in the barn playing. And mom is especially relishing the attention of her mother. Her mother keeps looking up at her while she’s hanging the clothes...checking on her...and smiling. It’s summertime, and the prairie sky is blue as the ocean, and the wind is unusually gentle as it whispers through the prairie grass. It almost seems like the grass is waving to her! And the sun, the glorious sun, feels so warm on mom’s back that she gently drops her towel and lets her whole body savor every ray.

Mom didn’t know it, but she was involved in a spiritual practice many call: savoring. The practice of savoring involves consciously noticing, appreciating, and lingering over positive experiences, emotions, and memories to intensify enjoyment and foster a deeper sense of well-being. It is a form of active, mindful appreciation that extends positive moments by focusing on the beauty and goodness already present in life, such as the taste of food, the warmth of the sun, or cherished memories. Many believe this practice strengthens positive feelings, enhances resilience, and can shift focus away from negativity, ultimately contributing to improved mental and physical health.

But, let me tell you, this practice of savoring is no easy task in the world we now live in. I first started intentionally practicing this "savoring" about 15 years ago. I was backpacking in the Black Hills with a bunch of middle school youth, and we had just reached the summit of Harney Peak. We had just taken the celebration photo and I had snuck away from the group to be alone. I wanted a moment to savor this all on my own. I wanted to savor this incredible view and let it soak into my soul. And so, I sat down, turned west and was about to take in the sunset, when out of nowhere came a huge fly! I tried to shoo it away, but the blasted thing would not go away.  And so, I moved, and there it was again. Only now there were two! No matter where I went, there they were! I ended up putting up my tent and hiding inside for the rest of the evening!

Sometimes I feel like this is what has happened to us in these trying times. No matter where we go, there seems to be the “fly” of social media reminding us everywhere we are of just how bad this world has become. And so, we all just go into our “psychological tents” and try to ride it out! Only this blasted fly will never go away!

And the truth is it won’t go away...unless we learn to control it. Too many of us have our news channels on 24-7. Too many of us have incredible smart phones and watches that ping us every time there is a news change, or a stock market change, or a sports happening. Too many of us feel like we are “so behind the 8-ball”, so in the red as far as time, that we find even the thought of savoring something as some kind of joke. We laugh at it like it comes from a planet called “make believe.”  We all feel so out of control and buried by all these “flies” that we can’t fathom the thought that there is a different way to live our lives. That we don’t have to have our phones on. That we don’t have to be completely overwhelmed by this culture of scarcity and fear. It does not have to control us!

The first step in all of this has to do with the Jewish and Christian understanding of Sabbath. In the story of Genesis God worked for 6 days creating and on the seventh day God “rested”. For many years this "rested" has been interpreted by too many of us as “doing nothing,” including not having fun! But if you really read the story of creation, you will see that God did so much more on that day of sabbath. God didn’t just rest...God sat on a high mountain and savored all that had been created! On the day of sabbath God let the gift of creation sink into God’s being...God held it until it became gift!

What would happen if we didn’t just see the practice of sabbath as one day but instead as a myriad of moments in each day that we choose to savor? As you hug a loved one, could we linger just long enough to savor that embrace? As we eat supper together, could we turn off the phones and just savor the sounds, smells, and tastes of this gift together? (after all, isn’t that what a table grace is supposed to do...isn't that what prayer's function is in our lives?)  As we head into choir, could we just stop a moment and listen to the incredible harmonies we are making together, and listen to it just long enough to hear the sacred singing in-between us?

Step one...turn it off! Step two...pause...make room! Step three...savor it...let it marinade long enough to infuse “the good” inside of you! Step four...not just give thanks but “be” thank-filled.

Your friend and pastor, savoring the “holy pause” between my writing this and you reading it, and both of us placing it in our hearts, Brook