Posts from:

Stephen Copeland

Stephen Copeland is a storyteller and an Indiana native who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. His new book, "In the House of Rising Sounds," explores the spiritual dimensions of music and thin places. He is an editor with Franciscan Media.

When Prayer Feels Empty

Stephen Copeland October 30, 2024

Father Murray Bodo, OFM, addresses the very real experience of the emptiness we sometimes encounter in prayer.

Meet Me Where I Am

Stephen Copeland October 22, 2024

When we have encountered great loss or trauma, sometimes it can feel like the world moves on while our hearts continue to ache.

Study & Theology: For Space Travelers in Search of the Heart

Stephen Copeland October 18, 2024

My wife and I have a tradition of getting each other a Christmas ornament each year. One of the first she got for me was a space shuttle since she sometimes called me “spaceman.” She had already realized that I would often blast off toward the planets of my mind before I had a chance at coming home again—to my heart.

A basilica in Assisi, Italy, at night with stars

Assisi Nights

Stephen Copeland October 6, 2024

I thought my pilgrimage to Assisi would be aimed toward solitude, silence, and stillness. But I was surprised to find that the healing and peace I found came through people and conversations

Childlike Lectio

Stephen Copeland September 24, 2024

Children have the unique ability to read “energy” and the present moment in a way that we as adults sometimes miss out on because we are stuck in our heads or agendas.

Replacing Moral Outrage with Curiosity and Wonder

Stephen Copeland September 24, 2024

It would be wise in our age to return to the wisdom that arose from Vatican II around the notion of inculturation—the idea that diversity within differing cultures contributes to a “deeper humanity” and a “better plan for the universe.”