Lent: Making Room for . . .

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Daniel J. Miller

When I speak of the three time-honored spiritual practices of Lent – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – in terms of creating a vacancy, it is important to know that we do so not out of a spirit of sour-faced, self-deprivation, denigration, or punishment. Read more [...]

Lent: Season of Subtraction, Relinquishment, and Making Space

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Daniel J. Miller

As a tangible way of living out the call to conversion, the Christian community suggests three specific spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (sharing). As the image of the townspeople burning their gathered junk as part of spring cleaning Read more [...]

Thanksgiving Eve

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Daniel J. Miller

"Thanking is a true understanding of who we really are." ~ Julian of Norwich "It seems to me in the light of the Divine Goodness . . . that ingratitude is the most abominable of sins . . . . For it is a forgetting of the graces, benefits, and blessings Read more [...]

Prayer and Descent

Posted on January 19, 2010 by Daniel J. Miller

As we make the transition from practicing prayer to practicing descent, I wanted to reiterate something I said on Sunday about prayer that is kin to the journey downward, whether as intentional spiritual practice or as the unsolicited gravity of life. I Read more [...]

Simplicity: The Art and Practice of Making Room

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Daniel J. Miller

I have been thinking about this month’s theme – practicing silence and simplicity – in light of Advent. The silence that is necessary for a listening heart is what allowed Mary not only to hear but to embrace and hold dear the truth of the blessed Read more [...]

Silence: The Soil of the Soul

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Daniel J. Miller

It begins and ends in silence. It begins and ends in the silence of God. It begins in the dark silence of God moving over the dark face of the waters. It ends in the bright silence of the empty tomb and the bright face of the angelic gardener. Then it Read more [...]

Stillness: Where We Encounter God

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Daniel J. Miller

Spiritually speaking, stillness is the condition for deep prayer. Physically, being still is the embodiment of a person’s willingness or desire “just to be” and conveys one’s consent to God. As prayer, stillness is the intersection between our Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

Tag Archives: Prayer