Good morning... Yesterday was a historic day. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, sending the authority to regulate abortions back to the states. Regardless of our position on these important issues, might we still our souls in the quietness of this moment? The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says to the [...]
Good morning... Even with all of the doors to our home closed and locked tight, I heard the birds bickering boldly in the middle of the night. Loud. Relentless. These unseen creatures were having a heated discussion. "If I open the door, trying to catch a glimpse, I might scare them away," I thought to myself, so I [...]
Good morning... Wrapped beneath a cozy blanket, I nestle alone on the outdoor couch below our back porch. With my ear to my phone, I savor the four familiar voices on our monthly call. After the silence of our opening prayer, one friend reads aloud a poem. What a quietly transformational place to begin. ****** Hide and Seek [...]
Good morning... Our soul stirs, soothes, speaks, as we walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently at the base of a tree, and fade into our surroundings like Parker Palmer recommends in A Hidden Wholeness. "You will likely be surprised at what your soul wants to say to God," concludes Ruth Haley Barton. As we unpack authentic intimacy [...]
Good morning... We discussed chapter two in our book for the semester, Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton. Solitude. Creating Space for God. For me, this felt like an inviting chapter title. As always, we began our prayer time with several moments of silence to listen more keenly to the birds, our [...]
Good morning... Slowly, prayerfully, she served up a heaping bowl of wisdom from over the phone. Then I asked her to text me the sacred reading from miles away. Now we all dive into the delicious feast together. Foreign-to-me words now become for us a meaningful meal. "Epiphany, with a capital "E", what might this mean?" [...]
Good morning... Which of these quiet quotes most attracts your soul's attention? “Alone, without distractions, we put ourselves in a place where God can reveal things to us that we might not notice in the normal preoccupations of life," encourages Adele Calhoun. "Solitude opens up a space where we can bring our empty and compulsive selves to God. [...]
Good morning... "I found it uncanny...after reading your devotional, this article was in the N.Y. Times..." she wrote after yesterday's post, My Prayers For The Church. "So obviously God is in tune with these thoughts and quietly teaching all of us... enjoy!" ****** Eriks Esenvalds: ‘Earth Teach Me Quiet’ Earlier this year, when singing together became just about [...]
Good morning... I didn't expect to cry when it was my turn to share. The four of us have connected over the phone for two hours every month since finishing our spiritual direction training program in August of 2017. We live in different towns, in different states, but at 9:00 am on the third Monday of each month, [...]
Good morning... "Had you on my mind this morning," she texted, "and wanted to share this lovely poem that reminds me of you." In stillness we sense the movement of God, gentle, steady, expansive. Carried on the inner voice of Love, we travel a terrific distance. Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers [...]
