Greetings Beloved,

The intensity of the Advent/Christmas season has come and gone. We have journeyed through Epiphany and February is already upon us ... Groundhogs Day (6 more weeks of winter, apparently), Valentines Day (to remember our sacred belovedness), Black History Month (to remember our diverse belovedness), Mardis Gras (to feast on pancakes and paczkis), and Ash Wednesday (the day I change all of the exterior lights of our house to purple in recognition of the beginning of Lent!).

As we prepare for the liturgical season of Lent - 40 days (not including Sundays) that lead us toward Easter morning - I pray that you are able to winter with love and grace. Allow yourself to hibernate as needed and rest your weary soul. Even in these dark winter months, God's light shines within and around us all.

As you seek ways to let your light shine, check out some of these reflections & resources designed to help nurture that sacred light within...

• Spouting Off Blog - A Baleen Whale Prayer
• Lenten Advice from a Whale - March 4th morning retreat
• 3 day/3 night Spiritual Renewal Retreat -July 2023 (EARLY BIRD deadline-March 9)
• A Valentine's Day Poem

I am deeply grateful to share this journey of faith together with you. Thanks be to God!

With strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Sharon

Sharon Seyfarth Garner, Director

Belly of the Whale Ministries

sharon@bellyofthewhaleministries.net

SPOUTING OFF BLOG

A Baleen Whale Prayer

Whales are amazing! Of course, I may be a bit biased, but last November while whale watching of the coast of Monterey I was awe-struck by the grace, beauty and playfulness of the humpback whale. The more I learn, the more I realize just how much these fluked friends have to teach us. 

Recently I have been learning about how humpback whales feed using huge baleen filters in their mouths. The baleen filters (long strands that hang from the whale’s upper jaw) function a bit like a kitchen strainer. The whale opens its cavernous mouth (up to 10 feet wide!) and indiscriminately fills it with a huge quantity of water, krill, and anything else that happens to be in its path. The whale then pushes all that water back out through the baleen filters to strain out what is nourishing and what is not. The whale keeps what it needs for nourishment, swallows it down (up to 3,000 pounds of fish each day!), and then spits back out into the ocean what it doesn’t need. 

Similarly, we swim through our days taking in huge gulps of life – the good, the bad, the ugly and anything else that happens to be in our path. Some of what we encounter in a day is nourishing, but sadly much is not.  Unfortunately many of us (myself included!) often do the reverse of the humpback whale – we hold onto the negative and let the nourishing experiences slip away from us. 

What if we were to follow the filter feeding example of the baleen whales and only swallow what nourishes us? Maybe a prayer inspired by the baleen whale might look something like this…  

God, be my baleen today. 

Help me filter out that which harms me

and hold on to that which feeds me.

As you move through your day, I invite you to give this baleen prayer a try. Pray for God’s help to feed on the positive and filter out the negative. That inspiring song on the radio – swallow it down! Those precious moments of silence between activities – drink it in! However, that hurtful comment by your co-worker or those plaguing thoughts of self doubt – filter them out and release them right back into the ocean.

I pray that God might be your baleen filter today so that you can release the bitterness and drink in God's sweet love for you. Today and every day. Amen.

Photo Credit - https://scitechdaily.com/images/Humpback-Whale-Mouth-Open.jpg

The season of Lent is just a few weeks away! Treat your weary soul to a morning of rest & renewal as you begin your Lenten journey. You can join us live via Zoom or later via recording at your own convenience. Together we will learn a bit about our fluked friends and explore creative spiritual practices designed to help us...

breathe deeply

sing, twist and spout

connect with your pod

celebrate your unique fluke and

filter out what no longer feeds you

I am offering this online retreat on a "pay-what-you-can" basis so that all can participate. Any support you are able to give helps sustain Belly of the Whale Ministries and makes these soul-care opportunities available to all. Thank you in advance for your generosity and participation!

Register through Eventbrite via the link below in order to get the retreat materials, zoom link and post-event recording. I look forward to sharing this sacred, prayerful and playful space together with you.

This spiritual renewal retreat is one of the highlights of my year - abundant sacred silence guided by lessons and spiritual practices inspired by my buddy, the prophet Jonah!! If you are longing for some much-needed spiritual rest and renewal, won't you join me?!

Each morning and afternoon we gather for a short lesson and in the evenings we worship together. Between these gatherings, you are free to pray, sleep, read, walk, color, meet with a spiritual director or embrace the silence in whatever way feels most life giving to you.

Because there is time for both gathering in community and individual sacred silence, this retreat is perfect for those who are new to the experience of extended silence as well as for those who are already familiar with its blessings.

We will gather on the sacred ground of the Jesuit Retreat Center - a peace-filled, spiritual oasis just outside of Cleveland, Ohio - located less than 8 miles from the airport so it is easily accessible from anywhere in the world!

Listen prayerfully to discern if the Spirit is nudging you to join us this year. It would be a joy to share this sacred time and space together with you! Space is limited so you will want to register early.

A VALENTINE'S DAY POEM

A Valentine for Sharon (and you too!)

by Leonard Seyfarth