“Whale Spout Journaling” is an original idea — a rare find in spirituality books these days — one of many unique spiritual practices in Sharon Seyfarth Garner’s Praying with Jonah. It is offered several times throughout what is an unfailingly interesting book, exploring the story of Jonah from the Bible, and includes instructions such as “May this practice help you surface for air. May you release what is old and receive what is new,” and “Exhale — Begin by letting the words you write whoosh out onto the page like a surfacing whale’s exhalation” and “Inhale — When you have released all your words, set your pen down. Pause and rest in the stillness and quiet. Invite God’s Presence to fill you.”
Garner is a United Methodist pastor and the founder of something called Belly of the Whale Ministries (in Cleveland, OH, with a website of that name plus .net) — an indication that spiritual lessons obtained from the biblical Book of Jonah have long been part of her vocation. This is a book from the Christian point of view of Jonah, which originated in the Hebrew scriptures, and there are portions that draw comparisons between Jonah and Jesus.
Garner has a knack for creative spiritual practices. For example, in the middle of this substantive work is a prayer practice she calls “Belly of the Whale Prayer Mandala”; it has prompts of “Cry Out,” “And Yet,” “Give Thanks,” and “Deliverance Happens” — all related to Jonah’s story — followed by a drawing of a mandala designed to be symbolic of the perspective from inside the belly of the whale that swallowed Jonah.
Other creative, original examples of spiritual practices include a “Belly of the Whale Finger Labyrinth” that follows the words of Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the whale as the path. And the book’s Conclusion is framed as “Live Contempl-actively,” plus there’s a prayer practice for creating your own “Contempl-action Plan.”
If you need to pump some “whoosh” into your own spiritual practice this would be a great place to turn.
