[midnightmonster]

As soon as I get up, put in airpods and listen to Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours: Morning Prayer and Office of Readings (Scripture-based prayers on a 4-week cycle, Scripture and spiritual reading on a 1-year cycle). That continues while I stretch/move/do a tiny workout, pause for shower, turn it back on while shaving and making coffee.

Then, ideally, I spend 30-60 minutes in personal prayer, usually in the form of journaling, and sometimes study of scripture and/or spiritual books. I have given this short/no shrift most days the last couple weeks and I’m missing the intimacy with God that I have when I do it more consistently. It’s like when my wife and I get over-busy with work: we still see each other, exchange enough words to coordinate schedules and household matters, still love each other of course, but we’re not as close and I miss her. Same with Jesus right now. He’s still caring for me and I’m still trying to follow him, but I’m missing out on that warm connection.

Five minutes before the hour every waking hour, a notification pops up on my watch with a prayer to draw closer and dedicate the next hour to God. I change the text of it periodically to reflect what God is teaching me currently and to keep it from becoming too routine for me.

Whenever I’m stuck or frustrated or sad, I try to (1) notice it and (2) talk about it with Jesus. There’s not a scheduled time for this, but it probably comes up at least daily.

Wherever I am, whomever I’m with, the closer I am with God, the more automatically I notice how beautiful the sky is, or how lovely it is that people have developed the craft of making a beautiful tabletop like the one I’m typing on, or how happy it is that other people are happy. E.g., I find noise very unpleasant, but the other day a very loud car with temporary tags drove by, and I gladly shifted from annoyance to being happy that the driver was able to afford transportation (if the engine noise was incidental) or that the driver got to enjoy their very impressively loud engine (if the noise was something they had sought on purpose). Then the noticing and the joy bring me back to gratitude to God, which draws me closer to God and reinforces the joy, etc..

So the joy God has in creation becomes, in tiny part, my joy, and the love of Jesus begins to become love I have for others. I’ve been a practicing Christian my whole life, and generally tried to do what I thought I ought to, but this growing intimacy with God is a new development for me since August this year. I find myself approaching interactions with others not to get them over as quickly as possible or say the appropriate things or to demonstrate my cleverness but with love for the person, gladness that they exist, and curiosity how I might be able to bring them some bit of love/happiness/blessing in the conversation.

[PTOB]

I remember this. I lost it ... No, I put it away in a thousand small abandonments. Reading this woke me up to the sheer extent of what I've lost. I was once a kinder, happier man.

Thank you.

Don't lose this.

[prometheus76]

This is a beautiful response to the question and has given me some new layers to add to my own practice. I, like you, have found that focusing on seeing beautiful things, recognizing their beauty, and saying prayers of gratitude for being able to see beauty has really opened up some new doors in my relationship with God.

Thank you for your thoughtful and beautiful response to the original question.