Back to School Pocket Prayers
Reflecting on the summer and blessing our new beginnings
I’m Debbie, and ‘a host of soul spaces’ is an invitation to pause and savour our days with ponderings, prompting questions and practices.
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Over the past few years I have found some peace through different approaches to contemplative prayer. These have enabled me to lean in to a simple connection with the Divine when matters of belief have felt complicated. I am always on the look out for practices which help to ground my faith, and that I can share with my children to help make the abstract more tangible. I wanted to share a few practices that I’ve been playing with this week as schools have started back.
A Blessing for the New School Year
I had a delightful retreat at The Bield at the weekend, where I accidentally stole their copy of Joyce Rupp’s Out of the Ordinary; Prayers, Poems, and Reflections for Every Season. I was inspired by her ‘Blessing of the Body’ to write my own blessing for my family as they return to school. Yesterday we gathered around Paul as he returned for his first in-service day, today it was the turn of the big boys starting back at school, and soon we’ll pray it for the twins starting nursery. The kids enjoyed circling around whoever we were praying for and pointing to their head, ears, feet etc.
End of Summer Prayer of Examen
I have shared an End of Summer version of the Prayer of Examen in a few settings recently and wanted to offer it here too. This is a chance to reflect back on the summer, savour some of the joyful moments that whizzed by us and name some of the challenges too. Find yourself some quiet and listen below to reflect and pray.
A Few More Thoughts
Our main family tradition for this time of year is that we go out for ice cream at the end of the summer holidays, this has so far been simple enough to be sustainable! At home I’m trying out a home altar, which sounds much grander than this humble collection suggests. On top of an Ikea Kallax unit we’ve gathered a gallery of objects that remind us of times in the summer we’re grateful for, alongside a coaster I was recently given. My hope is that we can update it with the seasons, as a reminder of the Sacred in the everyday and the simple beauty of nature. But I know that Autumn Debbie doesn’t have the same capacity as Summer Debbie so I’m holding my plans loosely.
Finally, I found words for my own mothering thoughts and feelings in Kayla Craig’s Prayer for the First Day of School from her book To Light the Way1.
Thanks for reading. Do you have any seasonal traditions or practices? I’d love to hear. Whether your life turns by the school year or not, I hope you find a chance to pause and savour your summer.
With love,
Debbie
She’s also found at Liturgies for Parents on Substack - and her new book Every Season Sacred looks delightful.