Spiritual Wellness with Rev. Canon Susanna Gunner

The Sunday, May 5, RISE! to Wellness Dean’s Forum examined Spiritual Wellness. Dean Kate’s guest was the Rev. Canon Susanna Gunner, Hon. Canon of Norwich Cathedral (Norwich), and Chaplain to the King. Canon Susanna shared profound insights that resonate deeply with our spiritual well-being.

One of the central themes that emerged from Canon Susanna’s discussion was the idea that our spiritual life is not a linear progression but rather a wandering path marked by “peaks and troughs.” She encouraged us to embrace this meandering nature and not to expect a straightforward trajectory in our spiritual growth.

A key takeaway was Canon Susanna’s emphasis on the importance of paying attention and being open to God. She highlighted how this practice of mindfulness and receptiveness can enrich our spiritual experiences and deepen our connection with the divine. She gave a lovely example of how this can happen anywhere, even when walking within the city surrounded by concrete and parking lots, you might spy a sparrow in a hedge as she did on her walk from the Hyatt to St. John’s that morning.

In acknowledging the inevitable challenges and brokenness we encounter in life, Canon Susanna offered a powerful perspective. She likened these trials to a chrysalis stage for a butterfly, where difficulties can serve as a transformative launchpad. Emerging from these experiences can imbue us with a “new flutter in our wings.”

Silence is another essential component of spiritual wellness. Despite the hectic nature of modern life, Canon Susanna encouraged us to cultivate moments of silence, envisioning it as the center of a wheel. In contrast, life’s activities revolve around it like spokes. This intentional practice of silence, even amidst our busy schedules, can nurture a deeper spiritual awareness.

As she and Dean Kate discussed how to pray for others, Canon Susanna shared a beautiful metaphorical prayer technique. She invited us to envision ourselves as the ones lowering a friend from the roof to be in front of Jesus, mirroring a biblical story of a paralyzed man’s friends lowering him so that he could be healed. Placing ourselves in this story as we pray for others was a beautiful example of how prayer allows us to care for one another. It illustrated the essence of spiritual care and empathy.

You can listen to the entire Dean’s Forum conversation here. The conversation was published as an episode of the podcast Find It with Kate. To subscribe to this podcast, paste the following URL into your podcast reader: https://www.finditwithkate.com/find-it.xml.

~Nancy Purcell, director of marketing and communications