Why Are We Still Climbing? There are days when we are not sure why we are still climbing. Spiritual life can feel like a long, slow climb up a vertical wall of rock covered in ice. Some days feel more slippery or treacherous than others. There are times when we get to a place where we do not believe we can take another step. Some of us are climbing because we enjoy it. We feel alive as we work our... Read more
Our Summer Reading Lists Do you have a summer reading list of books you hope to read this summer? When I was growing up the public library had a reading program each summer. I read a lot. Now my summer reading list is a combination of books I have recently discovered and some I have been hoping to read for some time. What books have you discovered recently? Which books have you been hoping to read for a long time?... Read more
When Stillness Embraces Us Most of us feel nervous, or at least a little uncomfortable, about listening to sacred stillness. Stillness is rare in our world. We say to ourselves, “You want me to listen to something I cannot hear for 20 minutes? What if I do not hear anything? What does stillness sound like?” Many of us tentatively dip our toe into the edge of the ocean of stillness. We are not certain how wet we want to get and... Read more
Are We Good Neighbors? For many of us there are specific practices which are basic to spiritual life. We ask ourselves how we can recognize spiritual life in anyone who does not follow this practice or that. Some of us expect to see spiritual life in practices with which we grew up. Others of us look for practices we have discovered as indicators of spiritual life. We might see spiritual life in how people pray or how they read or... Read more
Stillness on Sleepless Nights There are nights when sleep is particularly elusive. I lie there as quietly as I can with my eyes closed, working hard to think about nothing. Taking deep breaths I try to expel everything keeping me awake and inhale stillness. Even as I stay as still as I can, sleep hides from me in the darkness. Some nights it is anxiety which keeps me awake. All those things I wish I had done during the day... Read more
A Series of Small Steps Fifty years ago today two astronauts took small steps which signified a giant leap for humankind. People walking on the surface of the moon was not the result of a single leap of faith. A long series of interconnected small steps fit together to give them an opportunity to change history. Speaking to a joint session of Congress in 1961, President Kennedy set a goal for the United States of landing someone on the moon... Read more
What We See in Our Own Reflection We live in a world which discourages us from spending time in reflection. Many of us are asked to think about something again and again each day. We focus on calculating, analyzing, arguing and convincing, solving problems. Our society values people who can find solutions, put together a workable plan, and put that plan into action. Our view of reflection is something more like daydreaming than like practical thinking. We assume people who... Read more
Sacred Stillness is Like the Ocean Oceans make a deep impression on us. I grew up surrounded by fields of productive farmland, as far as your eyes could see, with only occasional buildings. The woods and the lakes were great, and cities were amazing, but there was no ocean. The first time I ever saw an ocean was from an airplane. I became more familiar with the Atlantic, and have visited the Gulf of Mexico. Now I live within easy... Read more
Hearing What Spiritual Life Says Some of us find it difficult to hear what spiritual life says. We may have sincere, serious questions and and we desperately want to hearing some answers. Others of us have learned the answers we want to hear and are waiting for those answers to be confirmed. Some of us are skeptical we will ever hear what spiritual life says, or whether it can speak to us at all. It is a challenge for us... Read more
Speaking Truth in the Face of Power Everyone I know wants to speak truth, but speaking truth can be a challenge. We are not trying to lie or obscure the truths we know. None of us want to be confusing or hide our truth behind layers of deception. It is a challenge, though, for us to recognize the truth and put it into words. Many of us seek the truth and become trapped in its layers of meaning. Just when... Read more
Strategic Monk
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