成人快手

From Dave Tomlinson,听writer and vicar at large:

听I was amused recently when a woman told me, 鈥業 don鈥檛 go to church, but I do walk my dog.鈥� I understood exactly what she meant; I often referred to our last dog Woody as my spiritual guide. And certainly, walking him in the woods was where some of my best prayers were uttered 鈥� without the use of a single word!

听To be frank, despite being a priest, I鈥檇 say the majority of my most satisfying spiritual moments have not occurred in church.

听Laying on the grass, gazing at the milky way on a dark night in the Yorkshire Dales is certainly one of them. Watching my wife give birth to our kids, another. Praying with a dying friend in hospital is right up there; plus a thousand mundane occurrences when I simply feel glad to be alive (and manage to pause long enough to notice it). Oh, and a Moby gig at the Roundhouse which practically sent me into orbit 鈥� that was a spiritual moment too.

听Some people may say that these are the kind of ordinary experiences everyone has. Which is precisely my point. I think spiritual moments are as democratic as anything I can imagine. I reckon everyone does experience them; we just name them in different ways. I certainly don鈥檛 believe that any religious body has a copyright on spirituality or prayer and how they should be understood or expressed.

听The 17th century Carmelite monk Brother Lawrence left behind a collection of writings describing what he called 鈥榯he practice of the presence of God.鈥� His constant theme is the presence of the divine in every part of life. For him God was everywhere, and everything could be an act of prayer.

听Brother Lawrence actually confessed to being pretty rubbish at set prayers. It was in the ordinary everyday tasks that he said he encountered God 鈥� baking pancakes for his brothers, serving them wine, mending their shoes鈥�.I bet they loved him!

听And I reckon he had it right: in the end, it鈥檚 not doing religious things that matters, but doing ordinary things with love, openness and gratitude 鈥� even walking the dog!