What Is a Strategic Monk? People ask me quite a few questions about the name Strategic Monk. Where did I get the name? What kind of a name is it, and what does it mean? Many of the questions are about the monk part. People want to know whether I am a real monk, and what my connection is to monks. A few people ask about the strategic part. Strategic Monk is the story of my life. I was raised to... Read more
Getting Out of Our Own Way Listening to sacred stillness is more than just being calm and sitting still. It is all about getting out of our own way. We can get stuck in our image of sitting quietly. The challenge becones meeting our goal of five minutes or twenty minutes of stillness. The truly important part is our openness, our willingness to listen. This is not a test or competition or anything else we can measure. The question is not... Read more
Where Do We Go When We Need Worship? Most of us do not think we need worship much these days. We are busy getting things done, talking to people, living our lives. There is barely enough time for us to think, much less spend time worshipping. Those of us who do think we need it probably see it as part of our job. We usually spend more time thinking about it than actually worshipping. If we ever do think we... Read more
Wishing You a Contemplative Earth Week How are we recognizing Earth Week this year? A US Senator from my home state of Wisconsin organized the first Earth Day, in April, 1970. Rallies took place across the country to raise awareness about environmental issues. The US government had established the Environmental Protection Agency by the end of that year. The efforts and concerns which sparked the first Earth Day spread around the world. Volunteer and organizing opportunities grew to encompass the... Read more
April Morning Stillness I walk out the door just before dawn breaks in on April morning stillness. It is a fresh spring morning, and the day stretches before me full of potential adventures. There are a few tasks I hope to complete this morning, and I am taking some time for walking and reflecting. My practice of walking around the neighborhood, on its best days, is a contemplative way to pay unfocused attention. The sidewalks are not empty this morning.... Read more
Easter Reveals Itself to Us It might be obscured by many distractions, but this week Easter reveals itself to us. When I was growing up Easter came obscured behind new clothes and candy and, often, new squirt guns. It was obscured by our focus on the earliest days of spring and bunnies and looking for hidden eggs. It took years for me to realize Easter was as hidden as the eggs for which we searched. For many of us, Easter... Read more
Hope on a Morning Late in March The sun dawns a little earlier each morning late in March. Every day of spring brings a little more light and a little more warmth. We fold up winter and put it away for a few months. While winter mornings are a struggle and a challenge, a morning late in March can be a revelation. The dark, grey world in which we thought we slept is, in fact, a celebration of colors. We... Read more
When Time Stands Still There are moments when time stands still. They may be captured in a photograph, or a scene from a movie, or in a book or a song. We may remember when all the pieces of life seemed to fall into place and time stood still for us. I remember the time I met her, or saw that film for the first time. Some of us remember feelings or thoughts or where we were. Somehow, out of... Read more
Spiritual Spring Cleaning We tend to accumulate stuff. There are seasonally-specific things we only use once a year. When we realize we want to use something we need to remember where we put it a year ago. Sometimes we need to do some spring cleaning. Organized people tell us it can be helpful to clear out everything at least once a year. They suggest we remove the stuff from all our cupboards and closets. Do we really want to keep this? Is... Read more
What Do Spiritual Directors Actually Do? It is not unusual, when some asks me what I do, for their next question to be What is a spiritual director? or What do spiritual directors do? Not many kids say they want to be a spiritual director when they grow up. Most of us have never heard of someone being a spiritual director. We do not really know what it means. When I explain spiritual direction to people it tends to spark... Read more
Strategic Monk
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