In midlife I am curious. I picked out a book to read by Roger Wayne Wosley, Discovering Fire: Spiritual Practices that Transform Lives this week. I think I connected because Wosley is Methodist and most of my education has been from a Wesleyan Holiness perspective. I am also interested in natural practices that heal life’s trauma. A book that researches spiritual practices to heal trauma is right up my alley and nourishes my curiosity to encounter God in dynamic spaces and places. As a pastor and spiritual guide I’m always looking for fresh ministry tools.
Discovering Fire was more than I was expecting. This book is a spiritual guidebook, or field guide, composed of Methodist theologian and founder John Wesley’s scripture, tradition, reason, and experience pattern, also known as the Wesleyan Quarilateral. This means each spiritual practice engages scripture, historical traditions of its use, scientific reasoning of its benefits, and the author’s experience using each particular spiritual practice.
The author researched familiar Abrahamic spiritual practices of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Then, Wosley led the reader further through the possibilities of integrating and adapting Eastern, Indigenous, and pagan spiritual practices to encounter the Divine. This movement of starting with familiar spiritual practices and moving into unfamiliar practices helped me build trust to consider creative possibilities that may not benefit everyone but be helpful to a segment of folks, especially those seeking relief from trauma. I appreciated his reframing, especially to understand the healing properties of psychedelics in spiritual practices. I am still not big on the idea but reading an account from the author’s experiences with psychedelics helps me understand their importance for trauma healing, just as using pharmaceuticals for trauma help. The author is honest in sharing that not all of these spiritual practices were helpful to him, but have possibilities for others.
While reading about this broader range of spiritual practices, I was intrigued by the intention to heal trauma in the body through encountering the Divine. While reading this book I was reminded that last year, I read The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D., who shares his history, scientific reasoning, and experiences with trauma survivors. I noticed similarities between Wosley’s spiritual practices and Van Der Kolk’s innovative treatments. Both books held hope to heal body trauma through yoga, meditation, grounded relationships, and creative expressions in the arts. People experience the pain of trauma and become desperate for healing; best practices recorded by both authors are bodily and spiritual to achieve relief.
This book is a treasure trove for pastors and churches. It helps us find meaning in spiritual practices by encountering the Divine to work through trauma together — even trauma the church has caused.
This past winter, I wondered how as a pastor I could lead my congregation in a new spiritual practice. I felt led to simply offer a healing spiritual practice new to the congregation by offering anointing oil and healing prayers to represent Divine presence and encounter healing without naming the personal matter. Since this was new to the congregation I did not expect much of a response from the congregation. That morning in response to the sermon to receive anointing oil and healing prayers, the sanctuary isles were filled with people in line to encounter with wonder and hunger, the divine presence for healing. Later, congregants began sharing their experiences of God’s healing from something as simple as receiving healing prayers and oil. We are changed.
What would it look like for you and your congregation to discover fire in spiritual practices to experience the Divine and transformed lives?
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Discovering Fire on Quoir
Roger Wolsey’s Website
Connect with Roger for spiritual direction or to speak at your gathering
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