Weekly Practice 1/5/26

After doing this week’s practice, try to share your experience with a friend.

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Scripture

John 15:1-8 NRSV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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Practice

Rethinking our relationship with the Bible

This week, watch or listen to this episode from Practicing the Way’s “Rule of Life” podcast: Scripture 01: Rethinking our relationship with the Bible. Then, reflect on the following questions:

• How do you read the Bible? As an instruction manual? As a source of inspiration? In some other way?

• How does the concept of the Bible being “human and divine literature” sit with you? Is this a new idea? Is it challenging? Uncomfortable? Encouraging?

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Try some other translations

As you reread (yes, try to read it more than once) and meditate on John 15:1-8, check out some other Bible translations. The one above is the New Revised Standard Version. Your own Bible is likely something different. Reading different translations gets us out of overfamiliarity with the Scriptures, can give us new insight into a passage, and reminds us to approach the Bible with humility and curiosity. Here are a few recommendations:

New American Standard Bible

English Standard Version

New Living Translation

New International Reader’s Version

The Message

Weekly Practice 12/30/25

After doing this week’s practice, try to share your experience with a friend.

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Scripture

Psalm 131 NASB

Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes arrogant;

Nor do I involve myself in great matters,

Or in things too difficult for me.

I have certainly soothed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child resting against his mother,

My soul within me is like a weaned child.

Israel, wait for the Lord

From this time on and forever.

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Practice

Silence & Solitude

Another Christmas, come and gone. Some of us may still be buzzing from the noise and busyness of last week. Some of us may be exhausted. Others may be eager and ready for the new year to begin. Now is a great time to press pause and recenter on what God is doing in us. 

This week, carve out some time (shoot for an hour) to be alone. Go for a walk, to a coffeeshop, the library, your closet. Somewhere quiet and alone. And in this silence and solitude, prayerfully consider the following:

• How is my soul? If you can’t tell, or your mind won’t settle, ask God to calm you and to place his finger on anything he wants you to pay attention to.

• If you need to, talk with God about what comes to your mind. Or, just remain silent and attentive to his presence.

• When you’re done, write down whatever seems important. 

• Over the next week, keep coming back to what God has shown you. Keep talking about it with him. Or, keep finding moments to be alone and hold it before him in silent attentiveness.

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Worship for the New Year

If you’re like me, you may want something fresh to listen to as we enter 2026. This Josh Garrels album of familiar worship tunes done new is pretty sweet.

Weekly Practice 12/22/25

After doing this week’s practice, try to share your experience with a friend.

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Scripture

Luke 2:36-38 NLT

Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

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Practice

Christmas week is upon us. For all the warmth and delight it brings, it may also be filled with travel, preparations, obligations, last minute shopping, awkward family interactions, sleeping on uncomfortable guest beds, or boxing up the decorations (unless you’re one of those weirdos who leaves your tree up until February). It’s going to be busy for a lot of us, with probably too much already crammed in. 

This week, instead of a new practice, consider going back to one you may have missed or want to revisit. A poem a day can be a lot to keep up with. Maybe you haven’t tried visio divina yet. 

And there’s no hurry. In liturgical church calendars, the Christmas season begins on Christmas day and runs into the new year. Though “the big dance” will come and go by this Friday, we don’t have to rush on. It may be good for us to linger a while longer, like Anna in the Temple. She stuck around, and she saw the Messiah. It might even be a little easier to hear or see what God has for us as the season winds and quiets down.

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One last Christmas banger

Tony Anderson is one of my faves, and this piece is 14+ minutes of atmospheric bliss.

Weekly Practice 12/15/25

After doing this week’s practice, try to share your experience with a friend.

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Scripture

Psalm 16 NLT

Keep me safe, O God,

    for I have come to you for refuge.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Master!

    Every good thing I have comes from you.”

The godly people in the land

    are my true heroes!

    I take pleasure in them!

Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.

    I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood

    or even speak the names of their gods.

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

    You guard all that is mine.

The land you have given me is a pleasant land.

    What a wonderful inheritance!

I will bless the Lord who guides me;

    even at night my heart instructs me.

I know the Lord is always with me.

    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.

    My body rests in safety.

For you will not leave my soul among the dead

    or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.

You will show me the way of life,

    granting me the joy of your presence

    and the pleasures of living with you forever.

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Practice

Enjoy, With God

This week, simply do some of the things you enjoy. Climb a mountain. Watch the game. Listen to an audiobook. Play a board game. Hang out with your favorite people. Spend some time alone. Crochet a scarf, sing a song, walk around the block, ride a unicycle. Whatever floats your boat. And, invite God into it. Ask him to help you notice His presence with you as you enjoy the things you like. Jesus says our heavenly Father likes to give us good gifts. He wants us to enjoy things, even as we stay rooted in him. If you have trouble imagining God with you in whatever you enjoy, maybe that’s something you can talk to him about.

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Christmas music extraordinaire

If you’re tired of the usual Yuletide fare, this album by composer Anne Dudley is just the ticket. It’s one of the few I keep in rotation past the holiday season.

O Antiphons

Poet Malcolm Guite has written seven sonnets based on the O Antiphons, a sequence of Advent prayers dating back to the sixth century. They are meant to be read beginning on December 17 and culminating on Christmas Eve. I’ll be sharing the poems, one per day, starting this Wednesday, but you can also check them out here.