Contemplative Spirituality

  • 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?
  • Welcoming Resistance

    No matter what I want to build into my life—a workout regime, a writing habit, a parenting shift, marital intimacy—I have to face resistance if I want to embrace that lifestyle or task. But there’s something in me that resists… Continue reading

    Welcoming Resistance
  • Rewilding Motherhood

    I felt my deep longings were seen and voiced by Evans. Also, the limitations of this season of life and our place in the world as women. It was a book that didn’t ask me to do or accomplish anything… Continue reading

    Rewilding Motherhood
  • An Afternoon Hike: Lessons in Being Present to What is Already There

    Every time I’d seen this sign for a hike at this campground on previous trips, I’d outright ignored it. Yeah right, I thought. That’ll be a joke. But this time I didn’t go for the view. I was just desperate… Continue reading

    An Afternoon Hike: Lessons in Being Present to What is Already There
  • Who My Five-Year-Old Wants to Vote For

    Our family was sitting around the dinner table and my five-year-old daughter said, “What’s voting?” Commence civic education lesson one. Continue reading

    Who My Five-Year-Old Wants to Vote For
  • Moving Beyond Political Bifurcation Towards the “Law of Three”

    I have a news flash for you. God doesn’t take sides. He’s not a Democrat, and he’s not a Republican. He’s not even an American. To view God as such is incredibly small-minded. Continue reading

    Moving Beyond Political Bifurcation Towards the “Law of Three”
  • Emotional Overwhelm and the Welcoming Prayer

    Subtitle: What “Surrender” Doesn’t Mean. I’m struggling so much this week with internal drama. There are external pressures and relationships in my life right now that are creating a pressure-cooker of dissatisfaction and anger in my being. I’ve been angry… Continue reading

    Emotional Overwhelm and the Welcoming Prayer
  • Spacious Lament

    I had to leave church in order to grieve and be a mess because my grief and mess seemed to make others uncomfortable. They didn’t know what to do with me. Some sadness might be allowed, but then it needed… Continue reading

    Spacious Lament
  • Prayer as a Way of Being in the World

    In The Awakened Heart, Gerald G. May writes, “I think most people have trouble with prayer because prayer is really an act of love, and therefore demands vulnerability. As with the love, the more we try to control prayer, the… Continue reading

    Prayer as a Way of Being in the World
  • The Transformative Power of Doubt

    Doubt is not a sign of weakness or something to be ashamed of. It’s not an omen of the death of your faith. It’s an invitation to open and trust. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge that you are part of… Continue reading

    The Transformative Power of Doubt