by Mary Gardner | Mar 28, 2024 | Liturgical Seasons
In this “Space for God: Lent” devotional, Rev. Mary Gardner (Coracle Spiritual Director) guides us into a practice of Visio Divina, or “holy seeing,” focused on the events of Holy Week. She invites us to attend to diverse artistic depictions...
by Coracle | Feb 29, 2024 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty” devotional, art historian Jan Haugen invites us to reflect upon a particular work of art: The Railway by Edouard Manet (1873). Through this work, Jan unfolds some of the distinctive elements of impressionist art and helps us to become...
by Coracle | Dec 14, 2023 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
In this “Space for God: Advent” devotional, Debra Donnelly-Barton (Coracle Spiritual Director) guides us into a Visio Divina drawing on the story of the Annunciation. She utilizes a modern icon from a Ukranian artist to help us encounter this familiar story afresh...
by Scott Buresh | Oct 23, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty” devotional, Scott Buresh (Coracle Community Minister) guides us in a visio divina exercise on Psalm 23 using “The Good Shepherd,” a painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner. He also offers us a short introduction to...
by Coracle | Oct 15, 2023 | Church Unity, Contemplative Life, For the World, Justice and Mercy, Peacemaking, Vocation
Soundings Seminars are deeper conversations around particular topics that are impactful for our own personal journeys of faith, the larger church, and our lives in the world. Through the years, they have been hosted in person and online, and they are all available in...
by Ken Wettig | Sep 26, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God” reflection, Ken Wettig guides us into a rich encounter with Jesus’ classic parable typically titled, “The Prodigal Son.” Taking his lead from Rembrandt and Henri Nouwen, Ken draws our attention to the role of the...
by Coracle | Sep 21, 2023 | Contemplative Life, Vocation
In this Soundings Seminar conversation, Ken Wettig (Coracle Community Minister) speaks with musician and educator Seth Crissman about his work at the intersection of art-making and spiritual formation. For the past several years, Seth has been part of a collaboration...
by Ken Wettig | Aug 30, 2023 | Contemplative Life
“That is the best thing I have ever seen come out of Christianity.” Those words were the gut response of a young adult artist, typically uninspired by Christianity, who upon entering a home witnessed a group of people rehearsing Gregorian chants for a church service....
by Coracle | Aug 10, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty” devotional, we welcome back Jan Haugen (Smithsonian National Gallery) for another “Art Break”—this time looking at a 16th Century Italian painting by Titian. Jan guides us into the beauty and subtlety of the portrait of 12-yr-old...
by Coracle | May 11, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty,” Jan Haugen (National Gallery of Art Docent) guides us into a close and prayerful viewing of Jan van Eyck’s masterful depiction of the Annunciation. She uses this painting to help focus our attention on the small...
by Scott Buresh | Apr 27, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty” devotional, Scott Buresh (Coracle Community Minister) guides us into an encounter with an artistic interpretation of Psalm 23 by African-American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner. Scott first offers space for imaginative prayer with both...
by Erin Clifford | Mar 16, 2023 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
In this “Space for God: Lent,” Rev. Dr. Erin Clifford (Fuller Theological Seminary) draws our attention to John the Baptist’s exuberant declaration about Jesus in John 1, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the...
by Ken Wettig | Feb 9, 2023 | Contemplative Life
In this “Space for God: Beauty,” Ken Wettig (Coracle Community Minister to the Shenandoah Valley) guides us into a reflection on the beauty that exists all around us if we have eyes to see it. He frames his session around the story of the Prodigal Son,...
by Jeff Lindeman | Jan 18, 2023 | Contemplative Life, Creation
In this “Space for God: Beauty,” Jeff Lindeman guides us on a tour of creation, helping us to encounter its colorful diversity, complex symmetries, and staggering beauty as a gallery of God’s artwork. By spending time reflecting on the art, Jeff...
by Coracle | Jan 6, 2023 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
In this “Space for God: Advent,” Wanda Bickers (Coracle Spiritual Director), guides us through a time of visio divina, or prayerfully encountering God through a combination of visual art and scripture. She focuses on Luke 1:25-40, and draws our attention...
by Coracle | Dec 8, 2022 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
In this “Space for God: Advent,” Susan Ward guides us through a time combining the practices of lectio divina and visio divina to draw us into the story of the Annunciation to Mary in Luke 1. Through repeated scripture readings accompanied by beautiful...
by Scott Buresh | Mar 21, 2022 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
What little I know of sheep, other than that they are incredibly cute and wooly, is that they are not very bright and easily wander into trouble and danger. Thankfully, we also know God loves sheep, and He loves shepherds. Psalms 95:7 and 100:3 proclaim He is our...
by Danny Nasry | Mar 2, 2022 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”If you attend a church that observes Ash Wednesday, a pastor or priest will murmur these words to you soon before anointing your head with a cross of ashes. It’s a profound and tangible reminder of the...
by Ken Wettig | Dec 21, 2021 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
“It was not a silent night.” I still remember the moment I first heard those words. I was at a fundraising concert for a local non-profit and a young female singer-songwriter with a voice like glass opened her set with those words from Andrew Peterson’s song “Labor...
by Coracle | Nov 2, 2021 | Coracle News, Liturgical Seasons
by Coracle’s Community Ministers “For, indeed, everything about is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.” Athanasius of Alexandria In less than 4 weeks, Advent begins, as does a new Liturgical...
