All In My Head For much of my life, I, like most humans, have lived in my mind. As I take a walk in the beauty of nature, my brain is daydreaming about that delicious meal I plan on cooking later on that day and inventorying the fridge. Shoot–we’re out of soy sauce. Is there […]
Breaking Up with Thinking: How to Enter the Peace of God Read More »
Walking the Walk The longer I have been on the contemplative path, the more I have been drawn to a life that is slower-paced and more connected to nature, other people, and, it goes without saying, the creator. Within a couple years of starting down this road, I naturally felt drawn to cultivate more compassionate
Why I’m (Sort of) Vegan Read More »
Field of Dreams is my husband’s favorite movie. Despite this, in thirteen years of marriage, we never once watched it together in its entirety. Instead, he would flip over to it after our boys went to bed whenever it was showing on one of the cable channels. Typically, we would catch only portions of the
Is This Heaven? Four Spiritual Lessons from Field of Dreams Read More »
Meditation…pure bliss or pure torture? Sitting in utter quiet for minutes on end focusing on your breath. Nowhere to go, no one to bother you, nothing to accomplish. People who meditate often look so serene and peaceful. They seem to be in some ethereal state that the common man feels is out of reach. However,
How to Meditate in 5 (Simple?) Steps Read More »
Monk: A person who dedicates his life to serving others and/or to a life of prayer and contemplation Mother: A person (usually a woman) who cares for children: nurturing, teaching, loving, and awakening goodness within them. Said person usually has little time for contemplation and is in great need of prayer. Is it possible to
Mommy Monk: How to Parent with Wisdom and Love Read More »
Growing up, I saw Jesus as a fully divine being walking the Earth in a physical body. He clearly had spiritual advantages that other humans did not. I figured it was something like a math PhD taking a fifth grade math quiz along with a bunch of first graders (the rest of us humans) and
Jesus in the Wilderness: What We Can Learn from The Temptation Read More »
Grief is different for everyone “Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice.” Roy Sullivan, who survived being struck 7 times in his lifetime, would probably have disagreed with that statement. Our family, like Roy, is no stranger to repeat tragedies–I’m not the first in the family to grieve the loss of a spouse relatively early
Leaning into Grief: How to Heal from Losing a Loved One Read More »
Daddy Cardinal Each morning, I enjoy a half-hour meditation in our family’s backyard. We claim ownership of the place, paying our mortgage, property taxes, and rather extensive HOA fees. I mow the lawn when the weeds begin to get knee high in our paltry backyard (most of the rest is moss and dirt) or just
“Mine” vs. “Ours”: Becoming Rich in the Things of God Read More »
Four Types of Love How do you quantify the value of a human life? Is it the number of non-traditional breakfast foods a man consumes, the number of Orioles games or Law and Order episodes watched, or how many times his one-of-a-kind humor makes us laugh? I can only speak to my own experience with
An Agape Marriage: A Eulogy for My Husband Read More »
The Prelude My cousin Katie and I grew up as next door neighbors on the remains of a several hundred acre plot of land that our great-grandparents owned. I was older by a little more than a year. This was such a bonus as a kid. I got to do everything first–school, dating, driving, college,
How to Be a Good Human in 3 Easy Steps Read More »
