Journal

Tag: Retreats

The Eucharistic Life

The Eucharistic Life

I imagine that many of you, like me, did not come from a sacramental tradition. Perhaps you find yourself in one now and still have questions when it comes time on Sunday for “Communion,” “The Lord’s Supper,” “The...
God’s Presence in Our Pain

God’s Presence in Our Pain

by Lori Smith “Jesus is here and He is loving you,” Bill said to me as I began my retreat out at Corhaven several years back. It was a message I couldn’t fully embrace yet.  I knew God loved me, I’d known that for as long as I could remember.  BUT … there had...
A Decade of Corhaven!

A Decade of Corhaven!

On August 15, 2009, in response to that gentle and clear invitation from God, Tara and I moved from the inner-city of DC to what would come be called Corhaven, meaning ‘rest for the heart’ and ‘a safe place for the soul’.  Almost 10 years later, it’s been that thin...
Your Work is God’s Work

Your Work is God’s Work

Years ago, when I was speaking at a men’s retreat in Philadelphia, I got into a conversation with Jerry. Jerry owned and ran a car dealership. It sounded like a great work environment that was pastoral and love-filled. He said that the business had allowed him a lot...

Falling in Love with Jesus (How to, or Again)

“Oh Lord, please light the fire / That once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love / That burns with holy fear.”    -Keith Green I’m really excited about a new retreat we’re offering at Corhaven on Saturday, February 23.  Jesus is so great that...
Let Us Come Together

Let Us Come Together

One of the primary features of living Christianity as Christ has called us to live it is being a part of community.  Whatever Myers-Briggs personality type you are, or where you fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum, there is no getting around the fact that Christ...
Wisdom at 94 Years…

Wisdom at 94 Years…

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ~ Proverbs 2:6 Time and again, the bible instructs us to seek wisdom. In Proverbs 8, wisdom is personified as a woman who calls out to the “children of man”.  For many of us, seeking wisdom...
Coracle Annual Report 2017-2018

Coracle Annual Report 2017-2018

Dear ones, I’m delighted to offer you Coracle’s Annual Report for 2017, and a look into 2018.   Please take some time to look it through, thank God with us, and pray for us coming into 2018. SO many people are making Coracle possible, and you are amongst them.  Thank...
Deeper Into Life

Deeper Into Life

It’s doubtful that people ever actually want to meditate on suffering. But these mediations do come in the course of our lives, through direct or indirect circumstances. About two years ago, I wrote to you about the death of my cousin, Brian. In early Spring, I wrote...
ContemPLAYtion

ContemPLAYtion

In the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is a running gag featuring monks in sombre garments, trudging through streets, chanting mirthlessly and monotonously in Latin, hitting themselves on the head with boards in between cadences of their chant.  Despite...

Chasing Awe…Again

Describing his conversion, CS Lewis wrote “Into the region of awe, in deepest solitude there is a road right out of the self, a commerce with…the naked Other, imageless (though our imagination salutes it with a hundred images), unknown, undefined, desired.” It’s a...

Get Revolutionized – Truths that Transform

Over the years of my life, I’ve seen something happen enough times to be able to recognize something of a pattern that ends up really changing things for me, super-charging my heart and giving me new passion and vision.  It’s when some deep truth–ubiquitous in the...

Caring for You and Creation

Last week I spent my day off doing a deep spring cleaning. I swept the dirty corners of my room, dusted-off countertops and opened all the windows of my house to let the fresh air in; and once everything was back in its place – dusted, cleaned, polished and...