How Are We Called to Live? Many of us struggle with discerning how we are called to live. We live in a world where it is challenging to grasp what being called even means. Some of us grew up choosing between vocational classes and academic classes in school. We may have needed to decide whether to attend a vocational school or a professional school. Most of us have a vague sense of our calling. In everyday life our vocation is... Read more
A Spiritual Practice of Reading A healthy spiritual practice of reading is more than simply loving to read. Why are some books more enjoyable than others? Reading books teaches us about the magic and power of words. Developing contemplative practices strengthens our love for reading and reflection. It is ironic how appreciating contemplation and stillness feeds the ways we value words. Our practice of reading and reflection combines the words and the space between them. Some books I enjoy are... Read more
Taking a Deep Breath This seems like an excellent opportunity for many of us to practice taking a deep breath. We have struggled through challenging months trying to sustain ourselves long enough to survive. Some of us were reaching toward the beginning of spring, or a new beginning. We believed we had almost made it when we started to realize we were still not safe. Some of us are having a hard time catching our breath. Many of us feel... Read more
Listening to Our Own Rhythms One of the things I like most about my life is believing every day is different. I appreciate and celebrate the promise and potential of each day. When we get tired or discouraged we can take comfort from listening to our own rhythms. The creativity and variety of each day takes place within the rhythm of our lives. My rhythm allows for a good deal of flexibility. Other people have their days tightly wrapped in more... Read more
Seeking Peace When There is No Peace We live in a world where seeking peace can be a difficult challenge. Our world is one of conflict and aggression, full of wars and rumors of wars. We hear news several times each day about how someone is pushing someone else around. Even when we get together and try to work things out, our efforts often end in pain and grievance and frustration. It feels like those of us who are seeking... Read more
How Are We Practicing Community? We all thirst for community, yet we are each practicing community in our own ways. There have been times in my experience when I sought community based on shared interests. I learned community is more than just being interested in the same things. Even when our opinions or habits or ideas bring us together, we might not be practicing community. Some people would like to define community based on our family background. They try to... Read more
A Matter of Life and Death We know something is important when it is a matter of life and death. Death makes us afraid. Many of us fear our own deaths as well as the deaths of people we love. Death is so complete, so unchangeable, so overwhelming, so final. We struggle to avoid death, even if only for a short time. Death seems like a defeat, a surrender, the loss of everything which is familiar to us. Surprisingly, many... Read more
Some of us appreciate a clearly marked path. I am one of those people who takes comfort in knowing not only where we are trying to go, but what we hope the next steps on our path will be. It can be helpful to have a clear plan. I decided I was going to be a lawyer when I grew up by the time I was in third grade. My understanding grew over time and shaped my expectations, but my... Read more
A Free Weekend One practice I am working to develop this year is taking a regular free weekend. A Sabbath is time set aside for rest and worship. Much of how we understand our practice of Sabbath comes from Jewish traditions. The word comes from the Hebrew word for “seventh” and the Jewish Sabbath is on the seventh day of the week. Some of us understand a Sabbath not only in terms of worship. We may think of taking a... Read more
There is Always More We stand on a beach looking out over the expanse of an ocean. No matter how much water we can actually see, there is always more. Watching wave after wave reach the shore we know there is always more to come. We look up at the night sky knowing no matter how much we can see, there is more. Stars beyond our ability to count and keep track, and there are always more beyond them. It... Read more
Strategic Monk
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