Book Review: Answering the Contemplative Call: First Steps on the Mystical Path, by Carl McColman

Book Review: Answering the Contemplative Call: First Steps on the Mystical Path, by Carl McColman. Hampton Roads Publishing, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-57174-677-1 “One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he was finished, his disciples asked him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples how… Read More »Book Review: Answering the Contemplative Call: First Steps on the Mystical Path, by Carl McColman

Dance with Me?

It’s early morning. I sit at my computer with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. From the vantage point of my study, I see flowers in bloom, watch the leaves on the tree as they rustle in the breeze, hear the chirps of young birds, and spy an occasional visit… Read More »Dance with Me?

The Wedding

It’s been about a dozen years since I officiated at a wedding. That’s quite a long time for a minister who has served as a local church pastor to go without performing a wedding ceremony. But that was my decision. Let me explain. Shortly after serving as the officiant for… Read More »The Wedding

One Year Later

After providing care for her in our home for five years, my mother passed from this life on May 19, 2012. On the first anniversary of her passing, I am aware that my journey of grief has passed through many different experiences, memories, and sensations. The feelings of sadness for… Read More »One Year Later

Holding Onto Life

The emotions caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting them, particularly during a meditation class. I had no realization this was something about which I felt so deeply. I sat with forty or fifty others in the Buddhist meditation hall. The leader guided us in meditation to consider the ways… Read More »Holding Onto Life

Caring Too Much?

It’s called compassion fatigue. It’s a condition involving physical, psychological, and spiritual symptoms. It’s sometimes described as a gradual lessening of compassion. It happens to care givers, both those in the helping professions as well as those who have a primary role caring for loved ones. It happens when an… Read More »Caring Too Much?