Spiritual Practices

I know people who give up the Internet for Lent. People disappear from social media, take a “Facebook fast,” or limit their online presence. They see social media, websites, and email as distractions from their deeper lives. Things are different for me. Life online is a network of connections and relationships that would not exist without […]

We are told we need to push ourselves to become our best. Making a difference in the world means pushing in the right direction. It feels like there are times when we need to be a little pushy to get any attention at all. Important things happen when push comes to shove. We are told we should not let anyone push

I belong to a liturgical church. We divide our years into liturgical season. A new season, Lent, began about a week and a half ago. Lent is about assessing and making changes to find balance in our lives. Many people choose something they would like to give up or do without during Lent. Some years

I belong to a liturgical church. We divide our years into liturgical seasons. A new season, Lent, began this week on Ash Wednesday. People who do not know much about Lent think it is a time to feel bad about yourself. They believe Lent is all about being sad and sorry for who you are every

We hear people say spiritual life is all about love. We believe it, but it is easy to forget. We are taught to think of love as a way we feel. Your love may make you feel warm and tingly, or deeply satisfied. It is an amazing feeling, a strong feeling, but it fades as we start

There are times when we become disconnected and alone. Even in a group of people, or in front of a group of people, we feel separate and removed. We continue to function, to meet responsibilities and meet expectations. We keep taking steps, doing what we do. We have become distant, apart, different. It is easy for us to neglect our need

We are skillful at hiding from ourselves. We sail along, riding across the surface of everyday life. We want to move fast, keep going, go faster. We have places to be, things to do, people to see. We do not want to fall behind. We do not want to slow down to go deeper or

For a long time, years and years, I was asleep to myself. I did what people expected me to do, told me to do. I thought spiritual life was about finding the right answers, and that I had found them. I was sleeping. The life I thought I had was a dream. While our dreams

There are people who believe that spiritual life is about having good intentions. I know other people who understand spiritual life as focused on what they know. Others feel that spiritual life is in their hearts. For some, spiritual life is essentially letting go of everything else. Some people believe spiritual life happens in special places