Dear friends and fellow-pilgrims!   This is one of those occasions when I want to personally share some important developments for all of us and a few sentiments.   Thanks for reading to the bottom, and I’ll be as brief as I possibly can!  If you make it all the way down, you’ll be rewarded with a link to something that recently blew a fire into my heart that is still burning.

Thank you!   Thank you so much for your support at the end of the year!   We enter 2015 in a healthy place financially, and even stronger because God is faithful.   Thank you to each and every one of you who were able to support the work of Coracle financially and in other very important ways throughout 2014!

Coracle’s new “Community Minister for Northern Virginia”:  It’s official and has begun!  Wade Ballou, one of our spiritual directors, has joined the staff of Coracle, with the express purpose of bringing some of what Coracle does and is from Corhaven to the northern Virginia area.  Wade will very shortly be starting a couple of regular groups to facilitate opportunities for some contemplative forms of prayer as well as growth in spiritual formation, as well as helping out with the “Soundings” seminars, and more.    He’ll be writing about that at the end of this month, but even now if this stirs some excitement in you can email Wade to let him know at wade@inthecoracle.org

You can make a short film about Coracle!   Well, you can make it happen, that is, and we’d love it if you could help.   Kyle Schroeder, an old and trusted friend of ours, has chosen Coracle to be the subject of a 15 minute short film to be released in the early fall of 2015.   You can get a sense of what it’ll be like here, and it’s going to be quite moving, gorgeous, and sweet.  He’s actually building a real coracle for it that will end up at Corhaven this fall!

Coracle and Holy Cross Abbey join to offer a Monastic Immersion Weekend:  Many of you have heard me speak of my dear spiritual director, Father James, at Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville.  This Trappist community has offered an experience for awhile that enables interested folks to join in their community and life for a weekend, and they have been kind enough to hold some spaces especially for Coracle folks for this on March 13-15 that Wade and I and others are doing.   It includes following the Benedictine rhythms, several talks (including by Father James!), experiencing the monastic life, and obviously prayer.

Our spring retreat schedule is now up online:  Click here to see what we’re doing with Lent, Calling, Earth and Soul, Spiritual Growth, Men, God’s Love…it’s all there, and will be great.  Hope to see a lot of you at these!

And some new folks in the boat!  We’ve got some new associates and spiritual directors with Coracle.   Christine Warner in Austin TX, Desiree Barker in NoVA, and Fran Powell in Loudon County have joined as Spiritual Directors, and Bill Deiss in NoVA and Kit Elmer in Baltimore have joined as Associates.    Welcome to you all, and I know you’ll be a grace to many.   As was said immortally in Jaws, ‘we’re gonna need a bigger boat.’

I’ll close where I began…Thank you, each and every one of you.  I often speak of ‘being on a journey with God, together’.  It sure feels like that, and feels like an adventure!

On the journey,

PS:  OK, so here’s the thing that met me so deeply in December that it’s still ringing in my heart and orienting my year.   It’s thanks to Kate Harris at The Washington Institute.   Shortly before his death, John O’Donohue, the Irish philosopher/poet speaks about “The Landscape of Beauty” to Krista Tippet of “On Being”.  On several levels it just met me, and reminded me of something deep that I had lost some touch of.   It reminded me of the Invisible Real and how that can be mediated through what is seen, and inspired me to continue to see that Real, to swim in it, live in it, live out of it, and stay as close as a beloved spouse to it’s Source (Col. 1:15-17).