For today’s Forward Friday, and to wrap up our two-week foray through Flora Slosson Wuellner’s Prayer and Our Bodies, I thought we’d conclude with another of her suggested guided meditations for daily living.

I have always been a big proponent of what I like to call “bathtub spirituality,” in which some of my closest and most profound encounters with God have come while I was in the bathtub.  Maybe I’ll write a whole post about it sometime, but for today, let’s experience prayer with our bodies through the daily act of…

Cleansing

How precious is thy steadfast love, O God!…They feast on the abundance of thy house, and thou givest them drink from the river of thy delights.  For with thee is the fountain of life. — Psalm 36:7-9

Thou visitest the earth and waterest it, thou greatly enrichest it. — Psalm 65:9

As you drink the morning’s first water, as your body cleanses itself inwardly through elimination , and as you wash your outer body, become appreciatively aware of this refreshing, pleasurable cleansing.  These are healthy, holy experiences and are meant (as with any act of holiness) to be enjoyed.  Water on the body is an ancient, sacramental symbol of God’s love and healing flowing out to human beings and to all living things.  Many people find that they pray best and most fully and can feel God’s response most clearly when in the shower!

Try this simple mediation next time you’re in the shower, and leave a comment in the box below to share how it went.  Blessings on your bathtub!