Articles  
Reflections

Feeling everything deeply can feel like a burden—but Rainer Maria Rilke saw it as a gift. Here are 4 ways he embraced his sensitivity.

5 Lessons in Resistance from Mother Maria Skobtsova. There once was a nun who refused to be tamed.   She was a twice-divorced, twice...

Shunryu Suzuki’s Grounded, Practical Advice for Engaging with Suffering—Without Losing Yourself in It. If you’ve been paying attention to...

How do we find hope when facing suffering and injustice? Here are 4 ways Howard Thurman offers.

Caryll Houselander was a colorful, chain-smoking therapist who didn't fit in anywhere. Except for one place—right at the heart of divine Lov

I made it to the desert -- and I was shocked. I can’t believe I made it to New Mexico. After spending the majority of the last two years...

How I first met the Hindu Christ (and why we need this Benedictine monk to make the introduction)

How Henri Nouwen's Inner Voice of Love rescued me after I left the convent. As I reeled in my illness, Nouwen invited me to tenderness.

Imagine, if you will, two icons of peace perched on the precipice of change. One, a Buddhist monk in saffron robes, the other a Baptist...

When crisis strips away our normal roles - job, parent, spouse - what is left?

“Baloney!” were the first words Thomas Merton heard her say. The year was 1941 and Merton was teaching at St. Bonaventure University. The...

Julian of Norwich is becoming a wildly popular mystic. Yet she lived as a recluse in a forgotten corner of England in the 14th century....

Julian of Norwich’s popularity has skyrocketed over the past century. Yet she spent most of her life literally entombed in her...

Etty Hillesum doesn't fit in boxes. Which might be why I'm so magnetically drawn to her. People who defy categories intrigue me. Somehow...

An Open Letter on the Occasion of my Wedding I blinked at my latest text messages. Within the past 12 hours, I had received two more...

If you’re like me, you’re always hungry to grow. Whether that means devouring podcasts, discovering a new framework to use for my...

Elia had big desires. Like many of the people I walk with in spiritual direction, she was hungry to learn. She wanted homework. Book...

Lately I’ve discovered that I, and a number of my clients, have been struggling with existential FOMO. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is...

The Mystics' Secret to Bliss I can’t remember the first time it happened in prayer. But I remember the first conversation I tried to have...

Let’s be honest: meditation is not always sunshine and roses. If you’ve ever tried to sustain a spiritual practice, you’ve probably...