This week we focus on The Breath of God and Pentecost with a special guest meditation by Olly Ryder from Plymouth England. Olly is an Anglican priest and church planter, and runs a city centre resource church with his wife, Ali. Olly shared Christian meditation has helped him slow down and tap into more stillness, silence and solitude, experiencing the undercurrent of God's Spirit beneath all the surface noise. Here are some of Olly's tips: Practicing Silence & Solitude - Alongside my normal daily devotional practices such as 5 year journaling, bible reading and extempore prayer, I now incorporate a lot more silent prayer, biblical meditation and solitude including: 1 - Timer - As part of my morning prayers I now set a timer on my phone for 5/10 or 15 minutes, open with a short prayer and then sit in silence in God's presence. When the timer finishes I have a gentle alarm to end the time - and sometimes treat myself to another session! Initially 5 minutes felt a long time, now it feels as if I'm just getting going. The Daily Still has been a great spring board in cultivating silence and tuning into God's voice and continues to be a great help. 2 - Meditation - I've been memorizing and using different set prayers and verses of scripture, particularly the Psalms, as a tool for prayer. During the night if I wake and start worrying about something I'll try and replace my worries by reciting a Psalm in my mind or even just a word or phrase such as 'the Lord is my shepherd', or 'good Shepherd', or 'Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy' or one word such as 'Peace'. 3 - Nature - I've also been finding deliberately noticing nature so helpful and soul filling. My phone camera roll is now filled with photographs of flowers and trees! I've also got some binoculars to spot birds. Often on a Saturday morning as a family we will go for a walk with some hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows and spend time in God's creation just slowing down and cutting out some of the distractions. 4 - Exercise - Exercise continues to be key in maintaining soul peace. I enjoy walking, running and wild swimming. 5 - Reading - It's been so helpful over this year in particular to read some books that fill my soul. I've been enjoying some of Eugene Peterson's books, he's got a very contemplative pace. Olly Ryder Vicar // St Matthias Plymouth stmplymouth.org.uk