Grounding + Becoming
A Spacious Wisdom Cross-Pollination
Listen for what’s already in you, the seed within reaching toward sunlight. Stretch into what only you can become.
There is no limit to what Wisdom will shine through to reach us. Silence, nature, art, music, words, and connection are some of the prisms through which the invisible may become briefly visible to our subtle senses.
What we will need for the terrain ahead is mysteriously sprinkled around us days, weeks, months, or even years before we actually need it. There is a resonance we cannot quite explain—a knowing that doesn’t seem to conform to our linear timeline and context.
We recognize it.
Father Bruno Barnhart distills the essence of Wisdom:
“If we require a definition, let us call it knowing: a knowing that is personal, experiential, and tending toward union with that which is known.”
Wisdom cannot be known with the mind alone; it ripens in us, as us.
You are known, and you know.
Wisdom practices help us fine-tune our senses and cultivate inner stability to be present to reality, even when it is hard.
Follow the threads that draw you and listen for what is stirred within.
Make Way for a Breath of Fresh Air
Sometimes an image or phrase can help us gently help us excavate this wisdom (like an archaeologist, not a construction worker!). Here’s a practice to experiment with.
The Farm: An Evocative Short Film
This evocative short-film has been soul nourishment for me. What does it stir in you?
“For the first time I feel free”
If you’re missing hymns because you no longer find life in lyrics that once felt comforting, you might find joy in this offering.
You’re On Your Own, But Not Alone
Spirituality is not a side project. It’s about opening more deeply to our life (over time) and holding on for the ride.
Holy/Hurt with Dr. Hillary McBride
There’s spaciousness here when you’re ready. Dr. Hillary is a trustworthy guide in the podcast about spiritual trauma and healing.
Contemplative Curiosity: Praying Our Experiences
Praying our experiences means being open to seeing ourselves as we are. This requires an awareness and an honesty that will root us in our actual daily life.
Honest Offering: A Prayer and Guided Reflection
Prayer is fundamentally an offering of ourselves to God. It is not a matter of offering the pious thoughts of theologians or spiritual writers. Nor is it a matter of offering God only what we believe to be worthy.
Contemplative Curiosity: Mary Oliver on Praying
What does Mary Oliver’s instruction on prayer evoke in you? Here’s an invitation to engage with her words contemplatively.
Trauma-Supporting Spiritual Care
Have you noticed the concept of trauma coming up more frequently in the past few years? You are not alone; it is confusing. What do people mean when they use the word trauma in this rapidly-changing landscape?
It Can Renew Your Faith in the World
Sometimes an image or phrase can help us gently help us excavate this wisdom (like an archaeologist, not a construction worker!). Here’s a practice to experiment with.
Contemplative Curiosity: John O’Donohue on Beauty
“The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it out everywhere…”
Contemplative Curiosity: Dr. Gerald May on Making Friends with Mystery
When we were children, most of us were good friends with mystery. The world was full of it and we loved it. Then as we grew older, we slowly accepted the indoctrination that mystery exists only to be solved.
Everything is Going to Be Alright
What words shimmer for you in this poem by Derek Mahon? What arises in you as you hold those words?
Contemplative Curiosity: John O’Donohue on Awakening to Your Life
“…the most trustable form of soul balance is when you trust it to happen of itself.”
Living Centered at the Intersection of Trauma & Spirituality
“You’re able to begin to notice that God speaks to us, God comes to us in our experience, that God becomes known; God becomes flesh in our everyday experience.” - Jonathan Merritt
The Dark Night, Songs for Our Seasons of Obscurity
This playlist is not designed to tell you that your dark night of the soul is not so bad, nor is it an attempt to coax you out of your dark night.