What does practical spirituality
look like? How can something be practical and spiritual at the same time?
Actually, every step we take, which is guided by God's Spirit, is practical and
spiritual and so very effective and efficient.
Let me give you a practical
example. We went grocery shopping for the quarter - God's Spirit already led us
years ago to do this and to precook our food ASAP and freeze it in order to
preserve its freshness and to simplify our meal planning and preparation in the
midst of our busy schedule.
So today God's Spirit led me to
fill my stainless pot with filtered water and to boil it - adding nine washed eggs
to hard-boil for future lunches.
While this was happening, He led
me to clean and dice potatoes for the Shepherd's pie, which He led me to make
for my husband's supper that night - one of his favorites.
I removed the eggs with a slotted
spoon and refrigerated them right away in a bowl filled with cold, filtered
water to make them easier to peel. Then He led me to put the diced potatoes into
this same boiling water in my stainless pot.
As they bubbled away, He led me
to rinse and chop cauliflower into chucks. When the diced potatoes were tender,
I drained them into a colander and placed them into the bowl from my mixer along
with Parmesan cheese, dairy products and spices.
I used a bottle brush to remove
all potato residue (I am allergic to potatoes and the cauliflower was
for me to eat) from this same, hot stainless pot and I added fresh filtered water to
steam the cauliflower chunks.
I blended the
potatoes and spooned them on top of the thawed, browned
ground beef that I browned and froze when we shopped last quarter.
Once the cauliflower steamed, I
put it in the blender full of filtered water and "riced" it, draining
it into a strainer. As they drained, He led me to mince fresh garlic to add to
the spices for the cauliflower.
I baked the Shepherd's pie and grated
cheese from a block to add in the last few moments of baking. Then God's Spirit
led me to put the riced cauliflower in the rinsed mixing bowl from the potatoes
and add the ingredients to make seaweed-cauliflower "crackers" for my
future meals.
As the cracker mixture took time
to "rise", I added cheese to the Shepherd's Pie and melted it in the
oven. At this time, He reminded me to grease the cookie sheets to bake the
"crackers".
While I served the Shepherd's Pie
to my husband for his supper, I baked the "crackers" and then the Spirit led
me to make some organic marinara sauce for dipping my "crackers". I
froze the extra sauce and "crackers" for future use.
Eating my supper of Asian
Cabbage-Seaweed slaw, which I made at the beginning of the week, along with a
few of my fresh cauliflower-seaweed "crackers", I took the time to
praise God for the clock-work, which His Spirit choreographed in order for me
to accomplish all of that cooking in just a little over an hour of time. That is what I mean about practical spirituality.
Since I used only a few pots and bowls
during all that meal preparation, I cleaned the kitchen in just a few moments
and had plenty of evening time to write this post and read myself to sleep.
Thought for the Day:
It really pays to follow God's
Spirit through every moment of the day, especially in the practical areas of life.
