I had the bountiful blessing of making four very close friends this past week. It was not your typical friendship. Five individuals gathered together in faith, in silence, in prayer, and in profound empathy. The gathering was not by chance. No, something else, rather someone else, was at work — One I will call the Divine Wind. We sat down together by the river and we wept. We re-membered. Our harps hung on the willows nearby. Could we take our harps down and sing a new song? Well, that Divine Wind began a slow gesturing of holy orchestration and notes began to play. Notes of lament. Notes of ..read more

Create a password and bookmark this page for ease of accessing the material: https://shalem.org/socp1-learn/ Make sure you create a password here. (Use the same email address as when you registered for the course.)  NEED HELP? Here are FAQ’s if you are having trouble ..read more

As the celebration of Easter Day fades, and we journey into the Easter season, I find myself reflecting on what it means now to live into resurrection. I celebrated the glorious redemption of Jesus’ body—his wounds have been transformed, alleluia! And yet, there are many bodies around me that are still suffering, who’s wounds have not been healed and will likely not be in this lifetime. What does bodily redemption mean for them? When will these beloved members of our parishes, communities, and families say their alleluias? I think Saint Teresa of Avila—a doctor of the Church and trusted spiri ..read more

The Feast of the Annunciation in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar was delayed to April 8 this year since it fell on Monday of Holy Week, which takes precedence.  It is a sign of the importance of this feast that, instead of skipping it, the Church rescheduled it so that it gets the respect it deserves.  The whole gospel hinges on the moment we celebrate today.  Without the Annunciation – or rather – without Mary’s consent, there would have been no Jesus, no disciples, no miracles, or parables. No sermon on the mount or Palm Sunday, no Good Friday, or Easter. But, because ..read more

If, in moving through your life, you find yourself lost, go back to the last place where you knew who you were, and what you were doing, and start from there. -Bernice Johnson Reagon For decades now, I’ve felt I had a pretty clear understanding of my purpose in life thanks largely to two now deceased Dagara spiritual teachers, Malidoma Somé and Sobonfu Somé. They both shared many tools for naming your purpose well enough that you knew when you were off it. In terms of work, my anti-racism and DEI work with organizations appeared to be very “on purpose” for me. But by 2018, that had changed a ..read more

Jesus, a victim of scapegoating, understood all too well its origin and its outcome.  From the “Hosannas” of Palm Sunday to the “Crucify him!” of a few days later, Jesus witnessed the fears of the human heart and how easily those fears turn to blame.  Good Friday marks the ultimate scapegoating, the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. What is happening in the heart of the person who turns to scapegoating? It’s easy for us humans to believe that by hating a person, we separate ourselves from evil and differentiate ourselves as good. Yet the opposite is actually true. When we give in to ..read more

(Roy is co-leading the upcoming Holy Week Fast For Peace with Rev. Dr. Margaret Benefiel) Fasting used to be a common spiritual discipline dating back to Biblical times. The practice continued through the early church up to the Reformation. During the Middle Ages, however, fasting fell into disfavor as it became linked with excessive ascetical practices, involving rigid regulations and extreme self-mortification. Since the “Enlightenment,” reaction was severe to these excesses, and fasting became confused with mortification. In the last twenty years, however, there has been a renewed interest ..read more

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Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. -Leonard Cohen These words are the refrain from Leonard Cohen’s famous song Anthem, published in 1992. I may be one of few people in my age range who does not remember this song from the 90’s, but last Fall I could not get it out of my head. Most notably, these compelling words came with me on a personal retreat I took in October. I didn’t plan it that way, but Spirit doesn’t always follow my plans. I call that Sacred Serendipity. My retreat was at the Overlo ..read more