Below are five books your pastor should be reading with your church community. I don’t mean to say these are the only ones – but they are a small selection of vital ones. And if your pastor won’t or can’t, I invite you to think of it as your opportunity and responsibility to launch a small group or two. I guarantee that even if you don’t resonate with all five, there will be one or two that will bring new... Read more
Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start with our inner work. We’ve each got a lot going on: work, errands, kids – the good ole fashioned chaos of life. If you’re feeling a bit strapped for time, here are two quick throughout-the-day practices you can engage in with the power to make a huge impact in your life. They are both super simple, but do require some intention and attention, so it might be helpful to carry... Read more
When people first encounter the phrases “embodied spirituality” or “contemplative practices,” there are usually questions. These are terms foreign to many of us who grew up in the Global North, approaches to spirituality not often emphasized in our local churches and parishes. And yet, here I am rooting most of my life in these teachings and experiences. So, what are contemplative practices? At their core, I believe contemplative practices are rooted in the experience of the world being infused with... Read more
Over the past ten years, I’ve tried to meditate about a billion times. Every time I start, I love it. And then I leave it. But there’s one method for meditation that has continuously been a source of refuge for me: Centering Prayer. It’s simple to understand, quick to internalize, and while the process of meditation itself is a challenge (like anything that shifts our mindsets), Centering Prayer is the most potent method I’ve ever found to slip into the... Read more
The 2023 Centering Prayer Summit is coming up! Register before December 10th and receive a gift registration for a family member or friend! Learn from some of our deepest of wisdom teachers: Cynthia Bourgeault, Phileena Nikole, Adam Bucko, Carl McColman, and more! Check it out by clicking here. I remember the first moment it all clicked for me. I was sitting in a small chapel, the lights down low, and the soft candlelight flickering against the walls.... Read more
A few years ago, I sat in a packed auditorium surrounded by hundreds of others listening intently to a disheveled looking man speaking on the stage. His hair unkempt and his body bent as if permanently in the middle of a grateful bow, he sat on a wooden chair behind a small table with a singing bowl resting atop it. A clinical psychologist and former monk, James Finley speaks with a natural authority given him not just by training but... Read more
“Wow, there’s beauty here.” It’s a simple phrase, but it’s led to a massive shift in my life. As a person with a deep love for dark humor, it’s not difficult for me to flirt with some seriously curmudgeonly energy. I often respond to life’s seeming chaos with a deadpan look and a happily dread-filled “nothing matters,” “this sucks,” or a good, solid “whatever.” But it’s never my actual attitude toward pretty much anything. And that’s because I also have... Read more
I sat in the front row of my childhood church in what I knew to be my family’s final service with the community I had grown up with. Now at 18, I had spent more than ten years here and many of my formative memories had taken place within these walls. As community members wished us well and shared stories from eleven years of friendship and connection, I felt increasingly overwhelmed by the transition that was taking place. One church... Read more
I wasn’t “called” to be a high school teacher. In my experience, every time that word has been used that way – someone “having a calling” – it has implied a god-figure somewhere “out there” drawing the person to it through their profession. It has implied the person was “called” toward the correct option, the righteous option, the holy option – what they were “supposed to” or “meant” to do. It implies a clear path forward. That hasn’t been my... Read more
Here’s a simple method for questioning your inner critic. In education, there is a process called the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). We use it to help students and teachers brainstorm and develop high-quality questions. And as it turns out – it works great in the context of inner work! Identify one statement your inner critic often says within you. This might be “I’m not good enough” or “I’m not lovable” or something else entirely. Write that statement at the top... Read more
Becoming Faithful Questioners and Social Poets
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