Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5.17
…pray continually…

Reflection: Spiritual Practice as EDC
By John Tillman

The acronym EDC stands for Every Day Carry. It is a term many men and women use to discuss the items they carry with them on a regular basis. These items may include a wallet, nail clippers, a watch, a fitness tracker—anything that a person carries day-in and day-out.

EDCs are usually items of multi-functional, utilitarian simplicity, but can also include personal touchstones, such as a necklace or a pocket knife passed down from a dear relative.

The lack of these items for any reason can make us feel off kilter if we reach for them and they are not there. EDC items become part of our identity. Each one is a window into a part of us. They represent what we do, where we go, what we expect, what we prepare for. They remind us of who we are and picking them up each day and putting them down each night helps make up the rhythm of our lives.

Some EDC items may rarely be used but are rewarding when they are. When someone needs a handkerchief, or a nail clipper, and you quickly pull one out for them, both you and the person needing the item benefit from your carrying that item each day so that it would be there in an unexpected circumstance.

Spiritual practices can take on this same kind of rhythmic, identity reinforcing strength and provide blessings to us and to those around us. Instead of a pocket knife to sharpen a pencil or cut open an enthusiastically taped up package, we may carry ready-made prayers and blessings as memorized Psalms that we can recite in prayer to sharpen our focus on God or to bless someone with comfort beyond our own wisdom.

The daily practices of prayer, reading the scriptures, meditation are tools that can connect us powerfully to the Holy Spirit, help us define who and whose we are, and allow us to walk with the confidence of our secure identity in Christ.

Spiritual practices can be as tangible a part of our day as items we carry or wear to work everyday. Intentional spiritual practice is not always exciting and revelatory. But you’ll never have a revelatory experience with God without it.

The Request for Presence
Our God will come and will not keep silence; before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm. — Psalm 50.3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
Job 15 (Listen – 3:23)
1 Corinthians 3 (Listen – 3:05)

This Weekend’s Readings
Job 16-17 (Listen – 3:40) 1 Corinthians 4 (Listen – 3:15)
Job 18 (Listen – 1:54) 1 Corinthians 5 (Listen – 1:58)