Minute Meditations

Transformation Is a Process

Change happens, but transformation is always a process of letting go, living in the confusing, shadowy space for a while, and eventually being spit up on a new and unexpected shore. You can see why Jonah in the belly of the whale is such an important symbol for many Jews and Christians. In moments of insecurity and crisis, shoulds and oughts don’t really help; they just increase the shame, guilt, pressure, and likelihood of backsliding. It’s the deep yeses that carry us through. It’s that deeper something we are strongly for that allows us to wait it out.

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Hope Is Participation in God's Life

Most of us are not free to say “yes” before we say “no.” Our first response is normally “no”: “I don’t trust that. I don’t like that. I don’t agree with that.” The word enthusiasm (en-theos in Greek) means “filled ...
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Tradition Is about Community

To live with healthy Tradition is not an individual experience—it is a communal one. Perhaps this is why Catholicism emphasizes liturgy so much. It is the one thing that pulls us into a communal space where we can ask different ...
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Live Outside the Systems of Power

Jesus does not directly take on social reform. Instead, he preaches a life of simplicity and nonviolence that is simply outside the system of power, money, and control. More than directly fighting the system, he ignores it and builds an ...
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A Sense of Community

The hunger for meaning and the need for hope in this deconstructed society cannot be satisfied by merely private choices. Corporate evil can only be overcome by corporate good. For this reason, and many others, I’m very happy to see ...
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Prayer for Presence

Let us be present to the now. It’s all we have and it’s where God will always speak to us. The now holds everything, rejects nothing and, therefore, can receive God too. Help us, God, to be present to the ...
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Compassion and Dialogue

Compassion and dialogue are essentially vulnerable positions. If we are into control and predictability, we will seldom descend into the weakness of listening or the scariness of dialogue. We will not only be incapable of hearing others, but will also ...
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Includes Saint of the Day, Minute Meditations, and Pause + Pray.