What Nourishes You Spiritually?

            We of the ACTS Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program have completed registration for for this summer’s residency. The most “popular” course this summer, registration-wise, deals with the spirituality of the preacher. As I edit this set of “Preaching Helps,” it is Wednesday in Holy Week—sorry, the clock just chimed midnight, bringing Maundy Thursday morning. I spent wonderful periods in Lent working through the readings for Holy Week with preachers in California and Pennsylvania, as well as Chicago. More important than filling their heads with insights and ideas for preaching—which the preachers graciously told me I did—our time together around the word nourished our spirits. For many preachers, the spirituality of the preacher—coming to the task spiritually nourished and refreshed—is an essential yet elusive ingredient in preaching.

            What nourishes you spiritually? I am spiritually nourished by having a method of preaching, a daily and weekly routine that I follow in the same way I follow Weight Watchers (Okay, I follow my preaching routine better that I follow Weight Watchers, but I’ve returned to WW with renewed vigor). You can read my method, which is also the method I teach, by visiting my website (http://craigasatterlee.com), clicking the Preaching tab, and then clicking “Homiletic Method.”  A method, a step-by-step process, guarantees some result. More important, the Holy Spirit works through a method; Lutherans call it “means.” By following a method, we put ourselves in a place where the Spirit can catch us. If you are feeling spiritually depleted, take a look at your method. All preachers have one, whether they know it or not. Is yours spiritually nourishing?

            Hearing sermons spiritually nourishes me. I hear as many as forty sermons some weeks; some of the best preaching I hear comes from senior seminarians. I know preachers that sneak into worship in churches other than their own, have favorite preachers on YouTube, and exchange sermons with trusted colleagues, all in order to be preached to themselves. If you are feeling spiritually depleted, go someplace where you know the preacher will serve up the gospel and get preached to.

            Preaching nourishes me spiritually. As I say, it is Holy Week as I write this, and I find myself chatting with preaching colleagues, bishops and synod staff members, and other pastors not serving congregations. It’s Holy Week and we all want to be parish pastors so that we can preach. I confess that, in the past, I have been so caught up in preaching week-to-week that I lost track of what a privilege it is to stand in the pulpit. Now, for the fist time in years, I don’t have a pulpit to call home, and I miss it. I realize how essential standing at ambo and table is for me spiritually. If you are feeling spiritually depleted, sit back, take a breath, and ponder that preaching and presiding are a privilege, an invitation, and not a right. Preaching and presiding are a grace extended and not a privilege earned or deserved.

            Prayer also spiritually nourishes me. I do my best praying at my espresso bar. Grinding, tapping, and pulling shots while talking to God and beholding icons of St. Ambrose is its own kind of “great thanksgiving.” I had a student once who needed to cook to get spiritually nourished to preach; that’s how she prayed. Her family asked me to assign her more sermons, because they ate better the weeks she had a sermon due. If you are feeling spiritually depleted, try praying in a new way, at a new time, in a new place. Or, return to the prayer life that nourished you in the past.

            Of course, we have the sacraments. In this season of my life, I hunger for daily Eucharist. I make greater use of confession and forgiveness. I find value in penance. Since my first years at Notre Dame, lighting candles and oil lamps has become “sacramental” for me—a prayerful action when words fail or escape me.

            And having someone who will both receive my spiritual struggles and explore with me my questions of faith, while still holding me accountable, is spiritually nourishing. Every preacher needs a pastor, confessor, spiritual director, and/or therapist. Many of us have a team! If you are feeling spiritually depleted, seeks someone out and make an appointment.

            Spiritual recipes and formulas are not as important as intentionally attending to our spiritual lives. I am mindful that, as I use this brief column to reflect on my spiritual life during Holy Week, what I am about spiritually may very well have changed by the time you read these words.  Yet, God willing, my intentionality will not. Answering the question, “What nourishes you spiritually?” has been helpful to me. Perhaps spending an hour writing such an essay might help you as well.

            Peace,