Gratitude leads to a transformed lifestyle. In gratitude for this good Earth, we are challenged to be stewards of our blessings. Thanksgiving inspires care for the Earth and reverence for its manifold diversity. It also inspires appreciation for our human companions. The Christian scriptures counsel, “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). Ceaseless gratitude brings forth light in you and in all creation.
Read MoreThanksgiving is at the heart of the spiritual journey, whether you are a monk or a parent. Thanksgiving roots us in the graceful interdependence of life and reminds us that none of us ever makes it through life on our own. As a child, I learned the “A-C-T-S” formula for prayer—adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. As an adult, I seek to cultivate the spirit of gratitude essential to my own well-being and to the well-being of my relationships with family members, congregants, colleagues, students, friends, and God.
Read MoreA few years back, I penned a blog on the spirituality of Facebook. At the time I believed that peoples’ posts represented their recognition that everyday events matter and that God is present in our day to day adventures. I affirmed that Facebook could be an opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives if we saw it as a way of making each day a holy adventure and every encounter an opportunity for blessing.
Read MoreToday, many people are rediscovering the spiritual wisdom of the Celtic spiritual tradition. Pushed to the sidelines of Christian faith by the gatekeepers of “orthodoxy,” and often seen as an heretical movement deviating from the sin-redemption theology of Augustine and the Roman church, Celtic Christianity has emerged as an earth-affirming, body-celebrating, and creation-honoring, ecumenical vision for today’s pilgrims and seekers.
Read MoreA Navajo blessing petitions, “In beauty may I walk” and with “Beauty all around me, may I walk.” Life is beautiful in its amazing variety and wild abundance, and spirituality involves amazement at fierce landscapes and constantly changing seascapes.
Read MoreIn a well-known gospel story, a woman with a flow of blood comes to Jesus, speaking an affirmation “if I but touch him, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:21-34) For at least twelve years, she had suffered from what was likely a gynecological ailment that not only made her life miserable, but led to her being judged as a social outcast, religiously unclean, and likely responsible for her health situation.
Read MoreThe words “interspiritual” or “interspirituality” have become popular among certain commentators on contemporary spiritual movements. Reflective of today’s spiritual pluralism, the terms reflect the practices of persons who are rooted in a particular religious tradition, and whose spiritual lives are also enriched by practices from other faith traditions.
Read MoreFor several weeks I saw him in the distance as I took my sunrise walk on the Cape Cod beach I frequent. He resolutely walked the beach with metal detector in hand. I often wondered why he bothered. It was October, tourist season was over, and he couldn't retrieve more than a handful of coins or maybe an occasionally a lost watch or cheap piece of costume jewelry in the course of his hunting. Yet, he came back day after day, just as I came back daily for my contemplative prayer walk.
Read More"The worship of God is not a rule of safety—it is an adventure of the spirit,” so wrote British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. The same applies to the spiritual journey—it is an adventure of the spirit, beckoning us beyond our known worlds to the Deep Mystery we call God...
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