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August 2016

August 27, 2016

Practicing Our Future

There are people who believe our behavior is shaped primarily by our past. These people see...

August 23, 2016

Monastic Space

Monastic space is not about distance or topography, neither personal space nor outer space. I...

August 20, 2016

Practicing Complexity

Life is indescribably complex. Still, many of us look to spiritual life for comfort and...

August 16, 2016

Monastic Narrative

I know some monks who are excellent storytellers. They tend not to tell stories like...

August 10, 2016

Practicing Hope

There are people who believe hope is unrealistic, maybe even the opposite of realistic. Some...

August 06, 2016

Practicing Imperfection

There are people who seem to believe spiritual life is about being perfect. Some people work...

August 02, 2016

Monastic Freedom

There are people who see monastic life as being all about following rules. The thing...

July 2016

July 30, 2016

Practicing Compassion

It is difficult for some of us to remember to practice compassion. Some of us...

July 26, 2016

Monastic Persistence

It can be easy to lose track of the difference between being persistent and being stubborn. There...

July 23, 2016

Practicing Stillness

Stillness seems to be one of the most challenging, and one of the last, things...

July 19, 2016

Monastic Engagement

There are people who see monastic life as escaping, as running away from real life....

July 16, 2016

Practicing Spiritual Restlessness

People like to think spiritual life is a source of security, a place to go...

July 12, 2016

Monastic Ownership

We live in a society where we are defined by what we own. The automobiles...

July 09, 2016

Humor as a Spiritual Practice

There are people who believe spiritual practices are serious business. They see them as spiritual...

July 05, 2016

Monastic Life in the World

There are people who believe monks are running away, trying to escape from the real...

July 02, 2016

Celebrating Who We Are Becoming

Some people believe this weekend is about celebrating the past. Some of us will spend...

June 2016

June 28, 2016

Monastic Recruiting

Our understanding of recruiting tends to be based in giving people something they want. We...

June 25, 2016

Do Spiritual Practices Make Us Perfect?

I have been practicing for almost as long as I can remember. My parents believed practicing...

June 23, 2016

Book Review: Craft Brewed Jesus

Gary asked me, "Do you know about Michael Camp? You might like his book." This...

June 21, 2016

Monastic Hospitality

In his Rule, Benedict sets a challenging standard for monastic hospitality. Chapter 53, on the...

June 18, 2016

Exploring Strange New Worlds

I have been captivated by heavenly lights in the night sky for as long as...

June 14, 2016

Monastic Listening

We hear a lot these days about being good listeners. Listening is often identified as...

June 11, 2016

The Practice of Not Knowing

I can remember, not so long ago, when my spiritual life was focused on knowing....

June 09, 2016

Book Review: Broken Hallelujahs

Beth Allen Slevcove is a spiritual director who lives with her family in San Diego,...

June 07, 2016

Monastic Community

We strive to build organizations that will last longer than we do. We try to...

June 04, 2016

Prayerful Politics

There are people who are passionate about politics. These people connect strongly to candidates and policies...

May 2016

May 31, 2016

Monastic Obedience

Obedience is not generally one of my greatest strengths. I do not expect other people...

May 28, 2016

Intentional Remembering

We tend to forget. Things happen we think we will remember for the rest of...

May 24, 2016

Monastic Goals and Planning

We like to think we can plan our way through difficulties. We believe we can...

May 14, 2016

Listening to Silence

We live in a time when there is nearly always someone or something shouting at us....