Spirituality is for Every Body: 8 Accessible Ways to Connect with the Divine When Living with a Disability By Allison V. Thompkins, Ph.D. Allison V. Thompkins, Ph.D., shares how spiritual practices have sustained her and how the Spirit has guided her to fulfill her purpose of advocating for the disabled. She illustrates each spiritual practice with a vignette from her journey. She also offers a practical guide for how to apply spiritual principles to disability-oriented issues and how to adapt spiritual practices for people with various disabilities. – Lydia Mercado, Shalem Contemplatives of ..read more

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle I’ve enjoyed reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth which clarifies very simply the development of consciousness in human evolution and the role of Ego in undermining higher consciousness. Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr is another book that addresses similar issues as A New Earth but from Rohr’s perspective on our True and False selves. Brace yourself — both books are humbling and have the ring of truth. – Susan Dillon How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away by Emily P. Freeman My life ha ..read more

When I was in college banners hung around campus with the phrase, “Respect the past, represent the future.”  This was a reference to a recently reorganized football program.  The university hoped that this reorganization – and marketing campaign – would lead to a better season.  It didn’t.  But the phrase has stayed with me over the years as I think about the challenges of leadership, particularly in spiritual and religious spaces that derive so much of their identity from tradition and shared history. Over the past year, we’ve honored Shalem’s fiftieth anniversary by look ..read more

In a marriage, a relationship or in one’s personal life, milestones are worth recognizing and celebrating. They are often times to pause, reflect and take stock – where have I been, where am I today, where am I going? What have I done, what is still mine to do? What do I love about where I am? What is it time to let go of? What would I love to embrace? If you Google, “what is life like after 50?”, you might get a suggested list like: It’s a time to celebrate the wisdom and resilience you’ve gained from life’s challenges. A time to reflect on your experiences and create new ones. A time to be ..read more

As a peer group leader with Shalem’s Transforming Community: Leading Contemplative Spiritual Groups and Retreats program, my focus was on helping our associates to be fully present in the Presence through the many prayer practices taught throughout the program. Silence is one practice that plays a vital role in helping us to be fully present and arrive in a state that Thich Naht Hanh described as “present moment, wonderful moment,” in his 1990 book of the same title. Many of us also find our deepest contemplative moments when, as Tilden Edwards states, there is “enough silence to give vivid r ..read more

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Do not forget that you serve a Mystery that neither you nor your father’s father nor your mother’s mother began. And the laughter and the tears that accompany your labor are not born of your cleverness or your holiness, but are reflections of the Mystery of God in the still waters of the eternal lake by moonlight… ~ William C. Martin The Art of Pastoring Nine years later, I still think about that lunch. I had joined a group of pastor friends at an Atlanta bistro for our monthly meet-up. We were part of a Lilly-funded clergy cohort that got together, ostensibly to discuss books but mostly to p ..read more

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

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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