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 [...]
Good morning... This week in our therapeutic community group at PAWkids, we were encouraged to pick a handful of cards, cards that somehow share our story. The five cards above are the cards I felt drawn to choose, arranging them just so. Take a moment. Really look. Now let's feel our way forward, down and out. Pondering the [...]
Good morning... Some darkness is so very dark, we are rendered speechless. A friend in our Friday group shared this Thomas Merton quote before terrorists slaughtered innocents in Israel. When I am liberated by silence, when I am no longer involved in the measurement of life, but in the living of it, I can discover a form of [...]
