Weekly Practice 5/4/26
Make every effort to do or reflect upon this week’s practice with others.
Scriptures
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Psalm 48 NIV
Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
Beautiful in its loftiness,
the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,
the city of the Great King.
God is in her citadels;
he has shown himself to be her fortress.
When the kings joined forces,
when they advanced together,
they saw her and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
Trembling seized them there,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
shattered by an east wind.
As we have heard,
so we have seen
in the city of the Lord Almighty,
in the city of our God:
God makes her secure
forever.
Within your temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love.
Like your name, O God,
your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
your right hand is filled with righteousness.
Mount Zion rejoices,
the villages of Judah are glad
because of your judgments.
Walk about Zion, go around her,
count her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
to the next generation.
For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end.
Poem
“XLVIII Magnus Dominus” by Malcolm Guite
For heaven’s king has made the earth his home
Not just the hill of Sion, but the whole
Round world. Call him from anywhere, he’ll
Come to you and make his dwelling. Hail
Him in any language, he replies
In your own mother-tongue. For now your soul
Is his true Sion, and each day you rise
Already in the city of your God.
So mark the towers and temples, and apprise
Again the beauty of your new abode.
Your soul is greater than you ever knew:
Walk round its walls, then take the holy road
That winds towards its centre, where the new
Temple of his spirit shines and stands,
Where Christ himself is there to welcome you.
Practice
Examen
This is not a new practice for us, prayerfully going back a day, a week, or further, to notice where we sense ourselves moving towards and away from God’s love. But what if we examen with the mindset that we ourselves are God’s temple? You and me—and us together—we are the place God’s Spirit dwells.
This week, imagine yourself “walking around” your soul and your story, seeing yourself as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Begin by asking God to fill you with a greater awareness of his presence within you. Allow him to guide your mind, and pay particular attention to moments when you have experienced his love. Talk with him about what you notice. Then end by entrusting yourself—your living, breathing Zion-self—back into his care.
Accompanying soundtrack
Like a match made in heaven.
