Listening to Sacred Stillness: Stillness Teaches Us Patience

Last updated on: March 2, 2021 at 4:49 am By Greg Richardson

Stillness Teaches Us Patience When we practice listening to sacred stillness, the stillness teaches us patience. Many of us do not particularly appreciate the opportunities waiting gives us. We often think of patience as more of a weakness than a strength. Our culture tells us it is reasonable to expect immediate gratification. We surround ourselves with increasingly complex technology and become impatient when it does not work perfectly. More and more our lives are built around the idea of getting... Read more

Book Review: Sabbath Economics

Last updated on: February 25, 2021 at 4:52 am By Greg Richardson

Sabbath Economics Would we handle our finances differently if we understood the principles of Sabbath economics? How would Sabbath economics transform our everyday lives, our attitudes toward work and rest? For most of us, capitalist economics dominate our everyday lives. We are concerned with working and making a living, having enough money for food and shelter and health care. Some of us save for the day we retire or put money away to send our kids to school someday. We... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: Climbing Toward Hope

Last updated on: February 23, 2021 at 4:52 am By Greg Richardson

Climbing Toward Hope There are times when we find ourselves in a deep hole, like a well, where we need to be climbing toward hope. Many of us do not remember how we got into our holes or how we can get out. All we know to do is push off from the bottom and try climbing. We look over heads and, if we are fortunate, we can see the light of hope. Our struggle is not about being lost... Read more

Listening to Sacred Stillness: Wisdom Lives in Stillness

Last updated on: February 18, 2021 at 4:59 am By Greg Richardson

Wisdom Lives in Stillness What is wisdom and where do we go to find it? How do we search for it? It is true wisdom lives in stillness? We find looking for knowledge or information easier than for wisdom. Our culture seems to value being informed and knowing things more than becoming wise. Some of us assume we need to grow old in order to gain wisdom. We like to believe experience automatically helps us find wisdom. We might try... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: Are We Giving Up For Lent?

Last updated on: February 16, 2021 at 4:42 am By Greg Richardson

Are We Giving Up for Lent? I am ready to start giving up for Lent. Sometimes it feels we have spent our lives struggling and striving. We can remember back when we were in school, trying to understand subjects which mystified us. Some of us wrestled with math or writing or drawing. Others of us were working as hard as we could to learn how to play an instrument or how to play a sport. Many of us continued to... Read more

Monastic Strategies: Embracing Each New Morning

Last updated on: February 11, 2021 at 4:51 am By Greg Richardson

Embracing Each New Morning We wake up each new morning. Remembering who we are, we open our eyes and rise to embrace a new day. Some days it takes us a little longer to wake up, and others we would prefer to remain asleep. If we choose to stay in bed with the blankets over our heads we risk missing the gifts of that day. Light is growing in the east. People and experiences are waiting for us. We might... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: Is It Lent Again Already?

Last updated on: February 9, 2021 at 4:55 am By Greg Richardson

Is It Lent Again Already? It seems impossible we are preparing for the liturgical season of Lent again. This year the season seems almost unnecessary. We feel we have been giving things up and doing without since last year. For many of us the Lent we began last year did not actually end. Some of us simply stayed home making sacrifices and our year never progressed to Easter or beyond. The liturgical season begins again next week on Ash Wednesday.... Read more

Listening to Sacred Stillness: Watching and Waiting

Last updated on: February 4, 2021 at 4:31 am By Greg Richardson

Watching and Waiting Watching and waiting are not activities we particularly enjoy. Part of it is because we live in a culture addicted to instant gratification. The allure of getting what we want when we want it seduces me as much as anyone else. There is also an expectation we should be able to exert some control over our lives. We work hard to gain the money and the power which give us opportunities to make our own decisions. There... Read more

Monastic Strategies: In the Shade of Trees We Did Not Plant

Last updated on: February 2, 2021 at 4:49 am By Greg Richardson

In the Shade of Trees We Did Not Plant We live our lives walking in the shade of trees we did not plant. I remember walking on summer evenings in the Midwest past houses with porches and yards with trees. Particular walks in specific places; by myself and with all those people, sharing our thoughts or our stillness. Visiting New Camaldoli Hermitage reminds me my favorite walking companions are tall evergreen trees. Their straight, towering trunks reach up to the sky like... Read more

Listening to Sacred Stillness: Wrapping Ourselves in Stillness

Last updated on: January 28, 2021 at 4:48 am By Greg Richardson

Wrapping Ourselves in Stillness We sit still, breathe deeply, and listen, wrapping ourselves in stillness. Some of us have a set of rules or regulations for our contemplative practices. We may believe we are not following a practice well unless we keep all the framework and structure in mind. I know people who believe it is important to sit a certain way or put our feet and hands in particular places. Some of us pay attention to what time we... Read more