Articles on Prayer

  • How Good to Center Down!

    How Good to Center Down!

    Today’s post is from the writings of Howard Thurman How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by! The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences, While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the…

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  • Setting the Stage for a Contemplative New Year

    Setting the Stage for a Contemplative New Year

    Article by Winston Charles (January 2018 eNews) One sage piece of advice given to me was, “Don’t join a fitness center in January. It will be packed with well-intentioned people who have made New Year’s resolutions to finally do something about getting fit and healthy. Wait until February when yet another gaggle of New Year’s…

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  • Iona: A Pilgrimage in Image and Word

    Photo blog by Susan Etherton 1) Everywhere you go there is a secret room. To discover it, you must knock on walls… and listen for the echo that portends the secret passage. Everywhere has a secret room. You must find your own, in a small chapel, a tiny café, a quiet park, the pew where…

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  • Glimpsing God in the Dark Night

    Glimpsing God in the Dark Night

    Article by Margaret Benefiel (December 2017 eNews) When 20 young contemplative leaders gathered at the beautiful St. Benedict’s Monastery nestled in the mountains of Snowmass, Colorado with Tilden Edwards, Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, and Laurence Freeman for five days in August, one of the first themes that surfaced was societal impasse. In the midst of…

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  • Spiritual Companions across the Centuries

    Spiritual Companions across the Centuries

    Today’s post is by Margaret Benefiel “Rebuild my church.” God used these words from Francis of Assisi’s story to speak to me as I sat in prayer with two spiritual companions in Greensboro, North Carolina, after a heartbreaking disillusionment. I had left a job that I had thought was my dream job, my dream shattered.…

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  • Listen to the Mockingbird

    Listen to the Mockingbird

    Today’s post is by Rose Mary Dougherty Recently, I have been struck by the song of the mockingbird. I have one (the same one every day, I think) that sits in a tree in my backyard, picking up the song of other birds and singing all evening long. I noticed that even when my neighbor…

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Mission

Our mission is to nurture contemplative living and leadership.

Vision

In 2025, Shalem will be a dynamic and inclusive community, empowered by the Spirit, where seekers engage in transformation of themselves, their communities, and the world through spiritual growth, deep connection, and courageous action.

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