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Don't be outside looking in, cross the threshold and enter in. "The only way to get rid of misconceptions about contemplation is to experience it." ~ Thomas Merton As meditation is spiritual practice, so contemplation is spiritual encounter. In meditation, we practice our spirit. In contemplation we encounter God, the Holy and transcendent. Contemplation is nonsense until we get our ego out of the way. Hard-driven people tend to read the Scriptures and live their lives like a

Sweeping The Threshold The Breath Prayer: Jesus Light a candle, play some soft music, say a meaningful prayer, a Psalm like the 23rd, or whatever helps you to let go and enter into the stillness of devotion. The monastics call this practice entering the cave of our heart. The Franciscans have a prayer tradition from the early church where they lower their head below their heart to remind themselves that it's our heart first in approaching God. A breath prayer is simply a way

Have you ever seen lovers gaze into each other's eyes, or sit silently, looking out over the ocean? No words are necessary. In fact, they just seem to get in the way. As love draws us deeper into the oneness of our hearts, our two hearts begin to beat as one as we breathe together. So it is with old friends. Just their mere presence means everything to us. Everything else is lost in the moment we're together. It's like this with silence. As we enter and dwell together with Go

Love is the thing, beyond us in every way, impossible to grasp, but known in the depths of our being, revealed in the ever-creating glory of God. A mystery we yearn to enter into becoming one in wholeness. "Abide in me and I in you for apart from me, you can do nothing." Abiding is the inward journey of being and becoming, of transforming, and manifesting. Love is not what we gain, but what we become. Love is who we are in Christ. Love is our name. Love expresses the creative

When I got cancer, it pushed me over the edge. Life is short and every moment counts. So every morning I face death, that this might be my last day. I start with the end in mind. Facing our mortality is the most clarifying spiritual practice we can do. It makes me realize love really counts, that what wakes me up and makes me alive, awakens my peace, and that I must choose to activate Joy every single morning. My desire is to be life-giving. And so I pray. Morning Prayer As t

Here's the Deal: What you do not savor, you will not retain. It's a neurological fact. Our brain immediately bonds with everything negative (it's how our survival brain works). It's why fear, anger, and depression can win so easily. Anything good and positive that we want to remember has to be savored. This brings our hearts into the equation. If you want to remember the feeling of any good thing: of love, joy, and peace... it has to be savored. So linger in the moment, allow

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” ~ Saint Teresa of Calcutta Putting Our Mind Into Our Heart All good spiritual disciplines show us how to move from our heads into our hearts. Probably a better way to put it is that we put our mind into our heart. We move from our default analytical mind, which is soul-centered, into our intuitive heart. The early monks called this

In this time of the Pandemic and uncertainty, our ego is screaming at us, trying to drown out all else. Yes, things like fear, loss, suffering, and grieving must be processed. But there's a deeper current running below the apparent chaos. A deeper grounding in the Eternal. An eternal base note. Can you hear it? Spirituality Is Simple Spirituality is really simple. We must die to our small selves so that we might live in God. We stand outside the faith we purport until we do t

When the east wind breathes into your soul, and the morning sun warms your face. Pause in the solitude. Sink into stillness, Expanding with every breath, Savouring, as things settle and clear. In still clarity, Perceive with childlike wonder, The breath of dawn, The light dancing in your heart, to heal you, to hold you, and to make you whole. ~ Bob Holmes #comeintothequiet Photo: Matt Gibson

Lent is about following Jesus through loss, and grief. Lent is about the process of Jesus being undone and unmade before our eyes. Deep grief never truly leaves us in this life. But once we are broken open, the light can get in. The miracle is that we can hold our temporal grief in one hand, and eternal joy in the other. Yes, for some of us, it's healthy to throw sand in the air, to wail, and lament. But even in our grief, suddenly the clouds may part for a moment, where we g