Practices From the Inside Out: Paying Attention and Reflecting

Last updated on: February 3, 2018 at 8:26 pm By Greg Richardson

Paying Attention and Reflecting What spiritual disciplines do we practice? Which of the ways we behave are spiritual practices and which are not? People ask me quite a few questions about practicing spiritual disciplines. Some people want to know about traditional, classic, established practices. Other people have particular questions about the practices of specific religious traditions. There are also people who would like to create and practice their own disciplines. Which practices are most important, most essential, most basic? Where... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: Living Everyday Spiritual Life

Last updated on: January 27, 2018 at 8:33 pm By Greg Richardson

Living Everyday Spiritual Life It is easy for us to assume spiritual life is for special people to practice at special times in special places. We lose sight of everyday spiritual life. Some of us travel great distances to visit places we think have spiritual significance. We may believe spiritual life is all about extraordinary things happening to extraordinary people. It can be a challenge to see what spiritual life has to do with people like us. We may think... Read more

Leading Like a Monk: Carrying the Weight of Responsibility

Last updated on: February 1, 2018 at 11:44 am By Greg Richardson

Carrying the Weight of Responsibility Leaders have a lot of responsibilities. We may not want to be viewed as leaders because we do not want the responsibility. There are people in leadership positions who seem to want to make sure everyone knows the burdens they carry. Their responsibilities apparently weigh heavily on them. We may know leaders who act as if we are intentionally trying to make their lives harder. They interpret any mistake or any question as intentionally adding to the weight of... Read more

Listening to Sacred Stillness: Why is Stillness So Sacred?

Last updated on: January 23, 2018 at 5:33 pm By Greg Richardson

Why is Stillness So Sacred? My experience teaches me there is a deep and powerful sacredness in stillness. Many of us take time each day to listen to stillness and find the sacred in it. We pause the whirling tumult of thoughts and feelings, memories and fantasies in our minds. Taking an opportunity to listen to what stillness offers us allows us to catch our breath. Listening to stillness is healthy and helps us clear our minds. We welcome the... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: What Are We Trying to Find?

Last updated on: January 22, 2018 at 3:02 pm By Greg Richardson

What Are We Trying to Find? The reasons people become interested in spiritual life are as different as they are. We may get started in spiritual life because we want to know our beginnings. Some of us are intrigued by what motivates and inspires us. Other people get captivated by spiritual life because they are searching for where we are going. Our interest may spring from desires deep within us from before we can remember. Others have fallen into spiritual life seemingly by accident. Some of... Read more

Leading Like a Monk: What We Gain When We Lose

Last updated on: January 25, 2018 at 1:01 pm By Greg Richardson

What We Gain When We Lose Is it even possible? How can we gain when we lose? The idea of gaining when we experience loss is foreign to what I learned as a child. I was raised in a place where a famous football coach said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Who wants to lose? The idea was we would gain by winning, not losing. That is why we became so focused on winning. Losing was a bad thing, not a... Read more

Listening to Sacred Stillness: Hearing the Voices in the Silence

Last updated on: January 16, 2018 at 12:09 pm By Greg Richardson

Hearing the Voices in the Silence It is easy for us to become entangled in all the things going on all around us. We would like to see the most interesting new movies and read the best new books. The news demands our attention all day every day. The demands of work and family, friends and neighbors surround us. There is no time for getting enough sleep, much less for listening to voices in the silence. Any voices in the silence which we might hear... Read more

Practices From the Inside Out: How Will We Worship Today?

Last updated on: January 13, 2018 at 8:08 pm By Greg Richardson

Will We Worship Today? Most of us do not think we spend much time worshipping 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 about worship may see it as part of our job. We probably spend more time thinking about it than actually worshipping. When we do think about worshipping we believe it happens at... Read more

Leading Like a Monk: Embracing Our Own Imperfection

Last updated on: January 18, 2018 at 2:02 pm By Greg Richardson

Embracing Our Own Imperfection Andrea Sanchez’s hourlong #DareToBe conversation on Tuesday got me thinking. Our conversation this week centered on imperfection. We talked about whether, and how, leaders can encourage people to make mistakes. One of our ideas was we could become “imperfectionists” and lead by example. We can share the stories of our own mistakes and encourage other people to share theirs. The conversation sparked deep reflection in me. The next day I drove from Los Angeles to San Diego and back... Read more