April 18, 2024
At our recent two-part workshop Experiential Enneagram and Levels of Consciousness , participants were invited to engage in a variety of experiences designed to look at some of the most powerful and interconnected frameworks for psychological-spiritual growth. During session one, Dr. Patrick Bishop used body movement, a word game, and another game to evoke feelings […]
February 20, 2024
Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, Always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now, Maybe he’ll turn around and […]
February 14, 2024
From Ashes to Reflection to Conversion of Heart... Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are loved by a merciful God. It reminds us to love our neighbors and all Creation. The entire Lenten Season is the story of the power of love to change our hearts. Christ’s life, death and resurrection give us Hope and […]
January 16, 2024
“… A compassionate heart beats freely, supple enough to take in another’s pain, be moved, and respond with acts of kindness, goodwill, healing and justice,” wrote Frank Rogers in Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus. (1) Compassion is expressed when people feel the suffering of others and long to alleviate that suffering. But how […]
December 21, 2023
King David wanted to make a house for God. In 2 Samuel 7, we hear him, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!" It was an overflow of his love and gratitude for calling, blessing, and establishing the Israelites and his kingdom. Naturally, he […]
December 7, 2023
Last Saturday, a group gathered to “Embody Advent” at Dominican Center Marywood. Rev. Debbie Eisenbise led participants through prayer practices that use our bodies as a way to prepare the way for the Lord to dwell within us this season. We prayed with arms out and up, heads rising and lowering, standing and kneeling. We […]
November 27, 2023
When I ask what hope is, usually the answers revolve around two things: belief and the future. We locate it in the realm of the mind and spirit and, of course, in the not yet of the future. But it is something we experience now. When we pay attention to it, we realize it resides […]
July 11, 2023
In the fullness of life, there is no shortage of retreat opportunities; we attend professional, marriage, writing and silent retreats. While retreats differ in purpose and practices, participants are generally expected to intentionally step away from life’s regular rhythms for 1-7 days and immerse in a particularly focused topic or activity. Last fall, desiring a […]
June 29, 2023
Fifteen retreatants recently attended a 5-day silent retreat at the St. Augustine Center in Conway, Michigan. The retreat was completely silent, except for time spent with one’s spiritual director each day. Each retreatant was free to decide the shape of silence: some took long solitary walks on nature trails or the beach; some took their […]
June 12, 2023
The word “solstice” ultimately derives from the Latin solstitium, which comes from the parts sol “sun,” and sistere, “to stand still.” During the June solstice the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky, and for a brief period of time the Sun’s path does not change. The summer solstice is the astronomical beginning of […]