I was talking recently with someone about devotion. What are you devoted to? How do you practice your devotion? What daily devotional do you read or practice? As UUs, we have lots of values that we (like all others) are devoted to; justice, compassion, freedom, equality, etc. But how exactly do you practice your devotion to these values? Many religions have prayers or chants or malas or rosaries to say or sing regularly to devote themselves to a being or an ideal. I began thinking how I could make a daily devotion to something I care about. I can rattle off a dozen things I feel devoted to – but how do I embody that devotion?
I decided to choose just one ideal that I want to focus myself on for each week. Someone had given me a very small watercolor journal. So, I began by just painting color on the first page and on the facing page to write a “devotion” for myself for that week. It’s a practice that’s evolving, but so far has felt rewarding. I write the devotion, paint or draw or collage something small related to it and then look at that each day in the morning to remind myself and to firmly plant my intention. My plan is to create a new one each week. So stay tuned – and please let us all here know your thoughts about a daily devotional practice.
