"How Meditation May Change the Brain," an article published in the New York Times last Friday has remained one of their most emailed articles throughout this week of insane news. Despite the craziness of winter weather across the country and the intensity of the Egyptian riots, people have been drawn to an article about how meditation may actually make our brains look different. Here’s the gist of Sindya N. Bhanoo's article: “…those who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks … [Read more...]

Making the shift from normal life into a Benedictine monastery is shocking. It’s frightening. It stuns. I’d driven four and half hours from my parent’s home to get to the monastery last week, music on, a couple of sermons talking at me. And then I pushed through those thick wooden doors. I’d expected the quiet; I’d even longed for it. But the shock of monastic life is exactly that. Its reality is scary in the way that being thrown into another culture is scary. It felt like everyone … [Read more...]