About Daniel J. Miller

Dan Miller is the founder of thesacredbraid.com

The Two Great Spiritual Practices

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

The two great spiritual practices are receiving love (that is, open-heartedly being the beloved of God) and incarnating love. Everything else that is good, true, just, beautiful, excellent, and worthy of praise shoots and flowers forth from this anomalistic Read more [...]

The Saga of the Shopping Cart ~ Life-Line

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

Today's Life-Line is: There’s something about taking the cart back instead of leaving it in the parking lot…It’s significant…Because somebody has to take them in…And if you know that, and you do it for that one guy, you do something else. Read more [...]

Willingness to Be Attentive

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

This Mary Oliver poem always reminds me of the first reading from today's Sunday liturgy (posted below) about Abraham and Sarah welcoming the three strangers. MOCKINGBIRDS This morning two mockingbirds in the green field were spinning Read more [...]

I Was a Stranger and You Wel–?

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

When an alien resides with you in your land, do not mistreat such a one. ~ Leviticus 19: 33 Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels. ~ Hebrews 13: 2 Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886 - 1968) was one of Read more [...]

The Aah of Awe

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

ARTWORK: Content by Kathy Conzelman. Used with the artist's permission. See Kathy's work here. Read more [...]

It Is So Embarrassing to Live

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

~ continued from the previous two posts "To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. Read more [...]

Prayer – Regaining a Sense of the Mystery

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

Today's Life-Line is: "I'm a soul in wonder." ~ Van Morrison Here are some comments on yesterday's quote by Abraham Heschel. If you haven't read the previous post or quote, I recommend you do so before reading today's reflection. Just click "Previous" Read more [...]

Only One Response Can Maintain Us

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

Years ago the magazine Christian Century used to a have a one page feature that I enjoyed. For each issue an invited theologian was asked to choose a favorite poem which was displayed followed by a statement of maybe a hundred or hundred-fifty words Read more [...]

Love is . . . (a fragment for lectio)

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

Love is a climate small things find safe to grow in ... ~ Amy Clampitt Source: "The Smaller Orchid" Artwork: Kathy Conzelman, White Bloom. Used with the artisti's permission. Kathy's photos can be found here Read more [...]

Carl Sandburg Poem ~ A Life-Line

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Daniel J. Miller

Today's Life-Line is: A Fence Now the stone house on the lake front is finished and the workmen are beginning the fence. The palings are made of iron bars with steel points that can stab the life out of any man who falls on them. As a fence, Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

Author Archives: Daniel J. Miller