Grounding Your Daily Work In Spirit – Transcript

Jim Latimer: Welcome to Coaching for Interims. We are about empowerment for interim ministers: best practices and quick help from interims for interims – wisdom from the field. Today, I have the joy of welcoming Reverend Henry Schoenfield. Henry is an experienced interim minister in New England and maybe other places too, and he’s also a spiritual director and a professional certified coach. I want to speak today about his interim experience. Henry, what piece of wisdom or best practice, would you like to share with us right now?

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): Thank you Jim. I want to talk about grounding interim work in a sense of Spirit, particularly in this sort of contemplative
practice. Because the thing about interim work is that, while there are some frameworks for looking at it – there are some kind of ways that it usually goes – but there’s also a lot of it for which there is no roadmap, especially in these times that we don’t really know what’s going to happen. Because of that, I find that it’s really helpful to be able to ground myself into contemplative space, and in Spirit, so that I can begin to sense into things.

Honestly grounding ourselves in prayer is something that hopefully ministers are doing anyway, but in this way of grounding ourselves in Spirit or in a contemplative understanding of God, to be able to really sense, from step to step, what the right step is. Because again, especially right now in the middle of the pandemic, there are no maps. We have a general understanding where we should be going, but really, the wisdom that we need for this, as in many things, is is inside. So it’s a matter of being able to set ourselves up to access that wisdom.

Jim Latimer: And how do you do that?

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): The practice that I use most is centering prayer. I think centering prayer is particularly useful in this way, because it’s a practice of letting go. It is a practice of seeing what comes up and letting go of it, seeing what comes up and letting go of it. I structure my days around a centering prayer practice. The first half hour or so of my day is spent in centering prayer meditation. I also have a group that I practice with. It was one of the blessings of the pandemic that we can gather in our own spaces. Weaving that throughout the day – this sort of intentional silence and returning to the silence – really gives structure to the days.

Jim Latimer: Wow. Like you, I’m ordained minister and an active interim minister, and things get really busy. I get caught up in things and before I know it, I mean, I get up in the morning and I have to have that cup of coffee. Just sitting and meditating doesn’t wake me up. I got to have something, right?
And then, if I remember to, I’ll meditate a little bit. But I often forget. What would you say to our colleagues who have a difficult time remembering to do that? Or maybe they’re really extroverted and they need that external stimulation. What would you say to them?

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): I recognize that prayer in spiritual practice takes different forms for different people. So one thing is to pay attention to the spiritual practice that works well for you. The other thing that I would say is about the big rocks – the big rocks of our lives, of our days. If we schedule all of everything else, and then look and see, okay, so where is prayer and meditation going to fit? Then we’re going to end up with maybe five minutes at the end of the day, right? But prayer really is the central part of ministry. Setting it up as the cornerstone of our days, we can look at the Gospels for an example. This is what Jesus did. He spent time in prayer, then went back into ministry, then back to prayer. So I would encourage folks to set it up as much as they can from the very beginning, so that everything else fits around the time of prayer.

Jim Latimer: As you’re speaking Henry, I’m reminded of a what a mentor told me early in my ministry, that how, as ministers, our bodies and our beings are our main tools, so to speak. So keeping them sharp, alert, well fed, and rested – this “being” we have, including our physical bodies and minds. I try to remember that. At times I don’t.

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): Yes. In the sense of accessing wisdom, everything we need is here (has his hand over
his heart), and when we can care for this instrument, and tune it through our healthy practices, whether it’s diet, exercise, spiritual practice, or mental stimulation, all of these ways help to tune this instrument to be able to get into spirit, or to have a sense of how God is speaking to us, because it’s really through the body.

Jim Latimer: Yes, that’s beautiful. And the one thing I’m taking away from this is what you said was that prayer or meditation is the cornerstone. As ministers, it’s the cornerstone of our days – not just a stone, it’s the cornerstone and foundational. That’s a good reminder for me. Thank you, Henry. Is there anything else you want to add before we wrap up the segment here?

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): The only thing I would add to it, is to be open to surprise. The practice of centering prayer and constantly surrendering what’s going on our in our minds leaves us open to surprise. Because, as we know, our ways are not God’s ways, and just when we think we have everything figured out then God takes a good laugh. If we can remain open to surprise and to wonder, we never know where God’s gonna show up, or how God’s going to use us.

Jim Latimer: That’s beautiful that you said that, because for this to work for me, I need to schedule times of prayer, say, 15 minutes in the morning, and then midday. Otherwise it won’t happen in that way. It’s almost like I’m scheduling myself to be surprised by God! What a paradox, but I love it!

Henry, thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your wisdom and wonderful spirit.

Henry Schoenfield (he/him): You’re welcome. Thank you.

More Bits Of Wisdom from Rev. Henry Schoenfield
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