We feel we are far away from what we hold Sacred. We must strain to catch the slightest glimpse, the smallest echo. The Sacred is far above us and we struggle to capture a taste of it, to find its aroma. Is the Sacred Even There? There are days when we wonder whether there is anything Sacred anywhere at all. The experience of Sacredness can feel so distant from our everyday lives. We are constantly on the move, filling our time with... Read more

Hiding and Seeking The games we play as children shape our expectations and understanding later in life. I remember playing unforgettable marathon games of hide and seek. You have not really learned the lessons of hide and seek until you play at night in a dark church. Hide and seek taught me about when to hide and how to seek. We believe, deep within ourselves, in the power of hiding. It is as if it were possible for us to camouflage... Read more

  How nutritious are your spiritual eating habits? Do you eat in a healthy way? Eating Lessons I learned how to eat first by being fed and then by watching people feed themselves. The lessons my family taught me still affect how I eat today. The earliest eating lessons I remember taught me meals were inconvenient pauses in life. Eating was uncomfortable because you had to be quiet, sit still, be polite, and try everything. I learned when people said, “Try... Read more

Hope for Lent My church is a liturgical church, and is in a liturgical season called Lent. This year Lent began on Ash Wednesday, March 1, and will continue until Easter next month. Some people choose to either give something up or begin a new discipline during Lent in preparation for Easter. One year I gave up fear for Lent. Lent is an opportunity for me to begin behaving in ways which have changed the rest of my life. This year I am... Read more

Why Follow a Spiritual Practice? There are groups who follow spiritual practices together. Some people practice disciplines they have followed all their lives, but do not know why. There are people who follow practices because “that is how we have always done it.” Some people were brought up with particular traditions and continue following them. They persist in practices their parents taught them even when they have little spiritual power for them. Other people explore new practices because they think... Read more

Hope is not a mere feeling or attitude. Hope, like gratitude or curiosity, is a way of life. Developing our Hope Muscles Hope is not being unrealistic. It is deeper than knowing “things will work out well.” Our hope depends not on being disconnected from real life, but on experiencing life as it really is. Not all of us were born with the gift to be hopeful. Fortunately we can develop and strengthen our ability to hope. Hoping is a set... Read more

Making a Real Difference There is deep spiritual power in knowing we are making a real difference. We want to know we will be remembered for our positive contributions. People struggle within themselves, desperately seeking the path for their lives. We desire assurance, certainty we help make the world a better place. Some of us who have been very successful at one thing refocus our efforts on solving problems. Each of us sees the most pressing, most significant challenges in our... Read more