by Robert Duggan We Americans like to take care of things neatly and efficiently, preferably from a prepackaged solution that can get quick results with a minimum of hassle. Our cultural bias towards action and our get-the-job-done outlook impacts our approach to spiritual formation as much as it does a variety of other areas of life. Communities or individuals who […]

by Ann Siddall It is early morning at Stillpoint Spirituality Centre in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. A cool breeze stirs the gum trees, the kookaburras are laughing joyously, and the earth is fragrant after the first soaking rain for three months. As I set up for a small retreat, check the diary, and respond to e-mails, a […]

by Martha Campbell I awakened from sleep early this morning with a deep awareness: I am immersed in a world, a culture, a life situation in the throes of change. Claiming the anxiety I feel as my truth, I open to prayer. I acknowledge that, everywhere I turn, I see a dying process at work. Structures that I thought […]

by Greg Cochran Although not nearly as dramatic as Jesus being whisked away to the pinnacle of the temple or to the top of a very high mountain where temptation was waiting, in my recent imagination, I have been taken back to the Southwest high desert—in particular to a natural formation called Shiprock. And more specifically to the natural […]

by Bill Dietrich “It is not you who shapes God, it is God who shapes you. If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the artist Who does all things in due season. Offer God your heart, soft and tractable, And keep the form in which the artist has fashioned you. Let your clay […]

By Shannon Howard After working at Shalem for the past year, I took the opportunity to reflect on what Shalem has come to mean to me and why I feel that nurturing contemplative living and leadership is so important in our world at this time. I have lived in several countries and have worked with organizations doing international work […]

by Amy Cole On October 21 of last year, I sat down to write a check to a charity that I have followed but never supported financially. In the weeks prior to this, the rumors of financial institutions’ collapse had continued to escalate. I live in Charlotte, NC, which is a financial hub—home to the headquarters of Bank of […]

by Gigi Ross When I was eight years old, my favorite amusement park ride was the roller coaster. I would laugh nonstop as the cars plunged down the steep slope; I could fall with them again and again. By the time I was eighteen, that same descent made my heart and stomach stay at the top of the slope, […]

I believe in all that has never yet been spoken. I want to free what waits within me so that what no one has dared to wish for may for once spring clear without my contriving. If this is arrogant, God, forgive me, but this is what I need to say. May what I do […]

Pulse aquí para leer la monografía de nuestro personal “¿Qué es la espiritualidad contemplativa?” en español. 여기를 누르시면 샬렘 선임연구원들의 논문 “관상적 영성이란 무엇인가?”를 한글로 읽으실 수 있습니다. Printable PDF “What is Contemplative Spirituality?” A generation ago, most people were uncomfortable talking about their personal spirituality. Now, however, people speak of it so freely that […]