Good morning... 7:53 am. The sun will rise at 7:53 am on the sacred grounds of the Ignatius House Retreat Center. Fifteen courageous women, who are recovering from homelessness and addiction, will awaken on spiritual retreat in their own private rooms. What an incredible gift, the gift of alone time with God. My prayers are with these precious [...]
Good morning... "As I sit doing my quiet time I look to the door and this is what I see ❤️🙏😇," she texted. As we see God in the quiet, might we begin to notice God in life's noise? God, the great God, the Lord, is speaking. He is calling everybody on the earth, from where the sun [...]
Good morning... "When you read the four biographies of Jesus in the New Testament, one thing is painfully clear: Jesus' life template was based on a rhythm of retreat and return, like breathing in and out," writes John Mark Comer on page 57 of Practicing the Way. "Jesus would retreat: He would slip away from the noise and [...]
Good morning... "Here is our poem for this morning," I texted her before our monthly spiritual direction phone call. This poem, shared by a friend, has helped me through a tumultuous week. I hoped it might center her too. Now, I pray that these calming words might also envelop you. ****** Find Your Quiet in the Storm by [...]
Good morning... For many people, today is a day off. In local school districts, it is fall break. For others, it is the Canadian Thanksgiving. For still others, today is called "Indigenous Peoples' Day." "Indigenous Peoples' Day is a holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors Indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures," explains [...]
Good morning... On the seventh day—with the canvas of the cosmos completed—God paused from His labor and rested (Genesis 2:2, VOICE). Created in the image of God, might we reflect the same restorative rhythm? Come. Pause. Rest. There still remains a place of rest, a true Sabbath, for the people of God because those who enter into salvation’s [...]
Good morning... Sarah Otto, the Retreat and Program Director at Ignatius House Retreat Center, reached out to me on Tuesday morning. "I realize I didn't text you about an upcoming ISP retreat!" she wrote. (Remember, ISP stands for Ignatian Spirituality Project, a program which offers quarterly spiritual retreats for people recovering from homelessness and addiction in our community). [...]
Good morning... I wake in the middle of this night with one word on my mind: retreat. As I am drawn to explore the word on Dictionary.com, I notice that, as a noun, retreat means "a place of refuge, seclusion, privacy." I see that as a verb, retreat means "the act of withdrawing, as into safety, privacy, seclusion." [...]
Good morning... I slowly walked in silence on a damp, dreary day. Mysteriously mirroring the wider world, everything around felt muddy, muted, mournful. As I continued my silent stroll, I noticed a unique, yellow tree. Amid the gray decay, it felt like my burning bush. Much like Moses, [...]
Good morning... "For today, and all days needed," she texted me this poem. ****** LET YOURSELF REST If you’re exhausted, rest. If you don’t feel like starting a new project, don’t. If you don’t feel the urge to make something new, just rest in the beauty of the old, the familiar, the known. If you don’t feel like [...]
