Contemplative Spirituality

  • Thin Places: Death and Life Intermingled

    Birth is a type of death and death is a type of birth. We tend to think of a life on a linear timeline, birth at one end and death as far from it as possible on the other. But… Continue reading

    Thin Places: Death and Life Intermingled
  • Crabapples

    Preparing these crabapples for edibility is not the most efficient or classically productive use of my time, yet there is also something about it that feels satisfying. Embodied. It forces me to slow down, inviting me to be fully present… Continue reading

    Crabapples
  • The Intimate Expression of One’s Own Being

    We are inextricably linked and interconnected with everyone around us. Most of us live oblivious to it, our ego teaching us to think in an individualized way. But if we are all made in the image of the Divine, if… Continue reading

    The Intimate Expression of One’s Own Being
  • The Streams of My Mother’s Love

    Considering God as Father is not wrong or incorrect. But it’s only one view. And there are so many others. I’m not going to argue that God should be translated as “she” with a capital “S” either, as if flipping… Continue reading

    The Streams of My Mother’s Love
  • The Kingdom of Heaven: It’s Not What You Think

    “The Kingdom of Heaven is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness; it is not a place you go to, but a place you come from. It is a whole new way of looking at the world, a transformed… Continue reading

    The Kingdom of Heaven: It’s Not What You Think
  • My Most Generous Interpretation

    What if I set aside instinctual judgments and assumptions about my relationships, choosing instead my most generous interpretation of what is going on? Continue reading

    My Most Generous Interpretation
  • No One Else Can Grow Me Up but Me

    How many times during a day or a week do you expect someone else to solve your problem? Or to put it another way: how many times do you feel internally upset or dysregulated and your automatic response is to… Continue reading

    No One Else Can Grow Me Up but Me
  • Scarcity versus Abundance

    The stress was overwhelming. But then, for a moment, I remembered to breathe. Abundance. Breathe it in. It’s right there, waiting for me to claim. So do it. Breathe it in. Divine Essence, all around me. Believe. Slow. Move my… Continue reading

    Scarcity versus Abundance
  • Transitions, Grief, and the Illusion of “Ownership”

    We usually can’t move to a new thing without leaving something (or many things) behind. Whether it is a physical move of location; changing jobs or vocation; or welcoming or losing a member into a family or community through birth,… Continue reading

    Transitions, Grief, and the Illusion of “Ownership”
  • Who and What are the Mystics?

    Maybe I’m strange, but my first inclination when I heard the word was something to do with magic. Mystical. Magical. The words seemed similar enough. While my initial reaction wasn’t one of fear, I also internally thought, nah. That’s fine… Continue reading

    Who and What are the Mystics?