About Daniel J. Miller

Dan Miller is the founder of thesacredbraid.com

Making Room

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Daniel J. Miller

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he Read more [...]

How’s Your Love Life?

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Daniel J. Miller

Ash Wednesday Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God, For God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment Read more [...]

The Work of Christmas

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To Read more [...]

Be Here Now

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

Yesterday at H&H we gathered for a day of prayer and reflection using the Advent-Christmas narrative, in particular the journey of Mary and Joseph, to guide us in our ponderings and dialogue. Our five “stations” of reflection were: Sitting in Read more [...]

Gratefulness: Receiving Everything as Grace

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

No one comes out of their mother’s womb gratefully. Gratitude is something learned. Like all virtues and qualities that enhance wholehearted living, it is most effectively learned by consciously practicing it. The most profound wisdom learnings often Read more [...]

The Courage to Meet the Dragon

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

“The basic instruction is simple: Start taking off that armor.” ~ Pema Chödrön Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels Earlier I wrote about the late Catholic theologian John Dunne’s method of “passing over” as a form of religious thought Read more [...]

Passing Over, Coming Back Anew

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

Gus Zuehlke, a friend and former student of John S. Dunne, spent some time at Father Dunne’s hospital bedside and reported on his visit in a post to Notre Dame Magazine: “As I was silently praying in John’s room, a nurse walked in and said to me, Read more [...]

What Spelunking Might Mean for You

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

. . . continued from yesterday To cultivate and live a life of spiritual depth means consciously to become a spiritual spelunker. It involves, to borrow Henri Nouwen’s evocative term from the upwardly mobile 1980’s, taking the path of “downward Read more [...]

Spiritual Spelunking

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O God” ~ Ps. 130: 1 ~ The Way of Descent For as long as I can remember, I have been a lover of words. One of the words in my lexicon of favorites is the word spelunking. I like how it sounds and I like what it Read more [...]

Stillness: The Door to Divine Love

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Daniel J. Miller

"Consider all the innumerable things that can go wrong in our lives. Then reflect, what can undo these catastrophes? What can heal the inevitable wounds? In every case the answer is “the power of love”. Love it is that heals, that makes new, that Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

Author Archives: Daniel J. Miller