To Be or Not to Be—in Awe

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Daniel J. Miller

When before the beauty of a sunset or a mountain, you pause and exclaim, "Ah," you are participating in divinity. ~ Joseph Campbell "The sense of wonder, that is our sixth sense. And it is the natural religious sense." ~ D. H. Lawrence A moment Read more [...]

Cummings Continued

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Daniel J. Miller

Following the previous post of E.E. Cummings' poem-prayer "i thank You God for most," I thought I'd post another poem I mentioned there. I do so in the spirit of Dostoevsky's Prince Myshkin's by-now famous statement, "I believe the world will be saved Read more [...]

Lectio Poetica No. 12 i thank You God for most

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Daniel J. Miller

I first encountered E.E. Cummings' poetry during my freshman or sophomore year in college. I must have been exposed to Cummings in high school though I have no recollection of it. One of the few books I have on my shelf from back in the Paleolithic Read more [...]

To Be Moved or Not to Be Moved

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Daniel J. Miller

Wonder or radical amazement is the chief characteristic of the religious person's attitude toward history and nature. ~ Abraham Heschel My original passion for the writings (not to mention the life) of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel on whose works I wrote Read more [...]

We Are Tethered / Spirit is Free / What Spirit Is / We Can Be

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

One of the best pieces of advice that I can give to preachers is to preach as if YOU were sitting in the front pew. That simple counsel is meant to prevent preaching from getting preachy. It reminds the homilist that he or she is not up there preaching Read more [...]

When the Heart Breaks

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

There are three kinds of heartbreak. The first is when the heart is broken open by the enchantment, grandeur, and mystery of all reality. The second is when the heart is broken open by the unjust, tragic, or unbearably sorrowful experiences of living; Read more [...]

THE DREAM TEAM: My Starting Five ~ 5. Joy

Posted on June 26, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

Suppose your spiritual life was a basketball team. Who would be your starting five? CLICK on any of the five below. 1. LOVE 2. WONDER 3. GRATEFULNESS 4. COMPASSION 5. JOY There is only one real blasphemy: the refusal of joy. ~ Paul Rudnick Your Read more [...]

Speaking of Wonder & Awe

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

A moment of awe is a moment of self-consecration. They who sense the wonder share in the wonder. They who keep holy the things that are holy shall themselves become holy. ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel PHOTO: Kathy Conzelman. Used with permission. Read more [...]

THE DREAM TEAM: My Starting Five ~ 2. Wonder

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

Suppose your spiritual life was a basketball team. Who would be your starting five? I think us here to wonder, myself. . . The more I wonder. . . the more I love. ~ Shug in The Color Purple, Alice Walker There are only two ways to live . . . one Read more [...]

The Deepest Bow to God is Awe

Posted on May 20, 2022 by Daniel J. Miller

Religion begins with the sense of the ineffable, with the awareness of a reality that discredits our wisdom, that shatters our concepts. It is the ineffable with which we must begin. ~ Abraham Heschel One reason I was drawn to Rabbi Abraham Heschel's Read more [...]

The Sacred Braid

Helping Persons and Communities Weave Lives of Spiritual Depth.

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