Thomas Keating and Centering Prayer
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen I’m not sure when I began reading books by Thomas Merton. Probably late high school or early college. I’m also not sure how I discovered them. Though I was naturally drawn to contemplative prayer, the word was unfamiliar to me until Merton’s writings provided it. “Contemplative” was not […]
Making More Space
Today’s post is by Jeff Nelson A few years ago, our trusted MacBook of a couple years finally refused to turn on again. At that time we didn’t immediately have the resources available to purchase another one, but each of us—my wife and I—needed a working computer to get our work done. So we settled […]
A Place Where Grace Flows
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen Have you read something that stays with you, popping into mind out of nowhere, bringing insight to the moment? Recently, I read Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax by Michael N. McGregor. Lax was a great American poet and close friend of Thomas Merton. I took heart […]
Uselessness and Benefitting Others
Today’s post is by Shirin McArthur I recently read a Buddhist story, shared by Andō, a Zen poet I follow online, about The Useless Tree. In a nutshell (!), the story is that an oak tree grew so twisted and gnarly that its wood was not considered useful, so it was not disturbed. The point […]
Responsibility and Bliss
Today’s post is by Savannah Kate Coffey Years ago, when my son was an infant, the nights often felt endless. One night it was just the two of us in the house and on that particular night I traipsed repeatedly between the rocker in the nursery and my empty bed. I distinctly remember the conflict […]
The Practical Mysticism of Evelyn Underhill
Today’s post is by Dana Greene Evelyn Underhill, the Anglican religious writer, had a leading role in the first half of the twentieth century in reviving interest in mysticism and translating the insights of the great mystics for the ordinary person. Her life’s work and achievement were confirmed by her friend T. S. Eliot who […]
Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Grace
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen Sometimes an ordinary event becomes an extraordinary grace. That happened to me recently, and I’m grateful. Horrible headlines, day after day, overwhelm. I couldn’t finish reading an article about the violence and abuse that drove Honduran families to risk everything and take a chance on making it to […]
Gifts on the Way
Today’s post is by Kimberly Borin, Ed.D. The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James, is an ancient pilgrimage, started in the ninth century and traveled by millions of people from all over the world. The Camino begins in France, Spain, or Portugal and all roads lead to the final destination […]
Mr. Rogers: Restoring the World to Wholeness One Neighbor at a Time
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen When my oldest child was three, friends with a son about the same age asked how I liked Sesame Street. I admitted that neither I nor my daughter had seen it. We rarely turned on the television, but after hearing other young parents extolling the show’s merits, I […]
Open-Hearted in the Darkness
Today’s post is by Sarah-Kate Fishback In both joy and pain, love is boundless. Love is open, allowing our hearts to be touched and moved by what exists. Love is honest, willing to be present to life just as it is, in all its beauty and ugliness. True love is not blind at all; it […]