This is an Ignatian practice to help you position your heart as a listener (shema) in prayer. The example below takes about 10-12 minutes, but you can adapt it to be a longer time of reflection or a shorter one (I’ve often done the Examen in 5 minutes.) I suggest you do this at night before you go to sleep, if it works with you. Of course, you can do it at any other time of the day as well. Follow these steps: Begin by taking a couple of deep breaths and asking the Holy Spiri

What else is here? This is the question I’ve been asking as a spiritual practice during a very trying time. It’s a simple one, with transformational implications. I’ve been living under plenty of stress during the last few weeks. Life has felt hard: Pain, sadness, loss, grief, regret, and fear, for starters. My face has carved a couple of new ridges and my body has felt heavy. The choice has been to sink into despair or to believe that God is with me. If God is truly with me,

It happened to me a few weeks ago while staying with my aunt when I visited Miami. She lives in an apartment complex on the third floor. On one particular morning, I felt the need to move my body and stepped outside for a quick walk. At first I didn’t notice much, but then these two school aged girls caught my eye. They wore oversized backpacks and were dressed in blue school uniforms; they looked adorable with their big hair bows on their neatly braided hair. Mom came out

“Composting teaches us that nothing is truly wasted. Even what seems lifeless and discarded, given time and care, becomes the soil that nurtures new life. In

God is always doing something. How can my heart respond to this?

A stranger hands me a note at the end of my flight