by Bill Haley | Feb 27, 2016 | Contemplative Life
I was in my very early 20s when using A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants that I stumbled across this prayer from a man unknown to me then–Henri Nouwen. What he wrote pierced my heart, and set me off to find more of what he had written, and there was...
by Bill Haley | Feb 23, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Vocation
If William Wilberforce was the man who effected the most social change in the first half of 18th century Britain, Anthony Ashley-Cooper was one who did it in the second half. Better know as Lord Shaftesbury, he was a Brit in the mid-late 1800’s who took advantage of...
by Bill Haley | Feb 20, 2016 | Contemplative Life
Bill’s sermon from February 14, 2016 given at The Falls Church Anglican: Coracle · The Kingdom in Word and Deed
by Bill Haley | Jan 29, 2016 | Contemplative Life
Mother Teresa said once “If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist.” JRR Tolkien wrote in a letter to his son Christopher, “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the...
by Bill Haley | Jan 22, 2016 | Coracle News, Justice and Mercy
What would you do if you were given the bodies of the victims of a long and violent oppression perpetrated by your own people? That’s a question I never even dreamed of asking, let alone that one day I’d have to answer it. When we made the move from the inner-city...
by Bill Haley | Dec 31, 2015 | Contemplative Life
On December 31, 2013, Bill Scherer, father to Tara and father-in-law to me, entered the larger Life. He was a founding board member of Coracle, and instrumental in enabling Corhaven to come into reality, among so many other things. Below is the homily that I...
by Bill Haley | Dec 24, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Almost 20 years ago, I had three weeks in between graduating from college and heading off to seminary. And one of those weeks I spent with my dad, canoeing the chain of 10,000 lakes in the vast, wild, and absolutely unpeopled Boundary Waters between Minnesota and...
by Bill Haley | Nov 27, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Stars in Spiral Song” Penetrate me with passion, pure and holy flame. Wild and free, galaxies spin cast forth, strewn like dice loaded and shot wide; a sweep and stars dance comets sing, take flight on sparkling wing to find wonders, and praise Your name....
by Bill Haley | Nov 26, 2015 | Liturgical Seasons
Atonement bought by the Son of God, the ransom paid in righteous blood; Brothers and sisters, the bonds we share of love and life though scattered everywhere; Creation sings its praises heav’n winging though no metal strikes it raises its ringing;...
by Bill Haley | Nov 20, 2015 | Contemplative Life
It Spreads for Thee by Bill Haley Dark and warmly damp waits the wood While white mist hovers thick with scent. Solace and solitude kiss Give rise to strength and rebirth To dance again. Hidden ‘tween the trunks of trees Protected lies the slitted door, Veiled in the...
by Bill Haley | Nov 15, 2015 | Liturgical Seasons
Soon, well already actually, you’re going to get slammed with the commercialization that surrounds the Advent and Christmas season. Very little in the holiday season is going to be calling you to engage the deep meaning of it, the Person, the Baby, the One Who Came,...
by Bill Haley | Nov 13, 2015 | Contemplative Life
The Stones of Prayers and Dreams by Bill Haley We walked through rain and dripping heather Conscious of the gift of the place, Aware that “together” was our greatest gift. So the weather could not dampen our joy On that Emerald Isle, The place of prayers and dreams....
by Bill Haley | Oct 30, 2015 | Contemplative Life
I Shall Emerge Someday by Bill Haley I shall emerge someday a nugget of gold though covered with clay I shall emerge someday mud made to gold though covered with clay Rising from the pit gold though covered with clay I shall emerge someday Some will see clay, some...
by Bill Haley | Oct 27, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Since the first centuries of the Christian church until now, across the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant spectrum, noteworthy leaders have made the same assertion, and it is a bold one. In the 2nd century, St. Irenaeus said it: ‘Through his transcendent love, our...
by Bill Haley | Oct 23, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Thrust by Bill Haley Trust in God’s goodness, Faith in his power; These are the weapons To get through this hour. These the tools, These the bedrock Diving in an ocean of love A heaven of love Without words, without knowledge Naked intent Desire full bore Undone and...
by Bill Haley | Oct 16, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Present, Speak Today by Bill Haley Present, speak today It matters not the voice A kiss from the salt sea spray A pleasant wind’s embrace Long listening of a trusted friend Soft strong words said clear It matters not how you send But, you, speak So I can...
by Bill Haley | Oct 9, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Eucharist* by Bill Haley The new day breaks with golden hue and sunlight fills the room, with promise and peace and promises of peace, three coming inconsistently while they wrestle with a season’s gloom. But still they come, a warrior trinity to fight fiends and...
by Bill Haley | Oct 2, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Skye by Bill Haley Skye crouched in the corner like a coiled spring, his little balled up body so small it was almost hidden despite no solid thing to cover or shield him. The walls on either side gave no inch though he tried to pinch more tightly in, not yet having...
by Bill Haley | Sep 29, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Spiritual Direction
It’s one of the greatest pictures and promises in the Bible, and for many of us, one of the most frustrating. The picture and promise is that God speaks, and that he speaks to each one of us. Implied in this is that we can hear him. And that’s where the...
by Bill Haley | Sep 25, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Matthew 14 by Bill Haley Your face is hidden by the water wall While howling wind drowns the echoes of the call “Come.” I came to follow, not to fall Yet sink I do! Why bid Then hide in the hour I most need You? “After seeing, do you not see? Is...
