by Wade Ballou | Jan 14, 2020 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
We’re still close to the beginning of a new year and decade, and as always, beginnings are invitations. So it is with the Christian year. Advent leads to Christmas which in turn becomes Epiphany. Later in the year we enter into Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. We conclude...
by Wade Ballou | May 21, 2019 | Spiritual Direction
“It’s just one of those days.” How often do you hear that? How often do we say that ourselves. Let’s consider a day in the life of Jesus using Matthew 14. His day would begin the evening before, with sundown. Bedtime would typically be early. So, it’s not surprising...
by Wade Ballou | Mar 20, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
Friends, we are well into our season of Lent. I have come to see this season as an invitation by Christ to lean in to be in him and with him in union with the Father, through the strength of the Holy Spirit. The idea of Lent and its practices have developed over many...
by Wade Ballou | Mar 15, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
The season of Lent often coincides with tax season and these days we can find ourselves sorting through receipts and bank statements taking stock of our year financially, as well as taking stock of our interior lives. Any examination connected to federal income taxes...
by Wade Ballou | Dec 22, 2017 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
The year was 1933, deep into the Great Depression. In Murphy, NC, a small Appalachian town, a group of evangelicals seeking to raise funds had been ordered out of town. At one point before leaving: “A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform...
by Wade Ballou | Sep 18, 2017 | Contemplative Life, Coracle News
“War, sin, killing and a robbing — they say that the world is one big problem. I’ve got one, I tell you now, I can’t find my guernsey cow. I didn’t write no constitution but I got one good solution: drink a little wine, drink a little booze, sit on the back porch and...
by Wade Ballou | Dec 13, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
My first invitation to wonder about Jesus’ coming came when I was a boy, stealing away to my childhood living room and sitting alone among all the bright trimmings of the season. Without really knowing it was happening, the mystery of the season seeped into my soul....
by Wade Ballou | Sep 22, 2016 | Contemplative Life
One of the questions I’ve been considering lately is, what does it mean to live in the kingdom of God? As I’ve talked with God about this, he continues to lead me back to the image of the garden. From the beginning of the Bible to the very end, the garden...
by Wade Ballou | Apr 27, 2016 | Contemplative Life
In a fast-paced world, we are constantly bombarded with things that require immediate responses, even designed to elicit them. Taking time out to really think about the right response seems counterproductive and there’s almost no room for it. I’m not immune to demands...
by Wade Ballou | Dec 1, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
The eye doctor remarked on how much my vision had changed during the past year. I waited with increasing anticipation for more than the week it took for the optician to prepare new lenses for me. Finally, I excitedly picked up my new lenses and experienced once again...
by Wade Ballou | Oct 6, 2015 | Contemplative Life
There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness...
by Wade Ballou | Jul 6, 2015 | Contemplative Life
We live in a frenzied and seemingly chaotic world. We drive ourselves to distraction with our devices and multitasking. We strive for the next customer, contract, or position. For many the electronic world means that the work world is always present. We carry our...
by Wade Ballou | May 11, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“It is time.” These are the words of beginning for me and I know that I’ve come to a beginning when I hear them inwardly. My wife and I heard them almost a year ago the summer of 2014 concerning our house. It was time to deal with the leaky bathroom issues, and...
by Wade Ballou | Apr 7, 2015 | Contemplative Life
My Monastic Immersion Weekend at Holy Cross Abbey began in earnest with Vigils. Three o’clock in the morning is early. Nah, it’s not even morning yet. I’m not used to what this hour looks like and I’m definitely not used to being functional at this hour. And that’s...
by Wade Ballou | Feb 2, 2015 | Contemplative Life, Coracle News
A common sentiment among those who retreat at Corhaven is how powerful it is simply to step back from the noise, and be still, and create space for God to enter in and speak, and even more than that, to encounter God’s love again. Simply stepping away from daily...
by Wade Ballou | Jan 29, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke, from Letters to a Young Poet One theme from the early years of my life is restlessness. I tend...
by Wade Ballou | Nov 26, 2014 | Contemplative Life
“For the beauty of the skies … for the joy of human love …” The lines of this favorite hymn fill my heart this Thanksgiving and guide me into reflection–What am I thankful for? I am thankful for God’s blessings around me, and I know joy in being in Christ. I am...
by Wade Ballou | Jan 31, 2014 | Contemplative Life
“God doesn’t waste a background.” This thought, planted by the Rev. Sam Ferguson during a study of the life of St. Paul began coming to fruition for me during my preparations for giving the general Father’s Blessing at the January 2014 Mother/Father’s Blessing held by...
by Wade Ballou | Dec 24, 2013 | Contemplative Life
In the Joseph portion of the Christmas story (Matthew 1: 18-24), Joseph reverses his decision to put Mary away due to his encounter with an angel of the Lord who comes in a dream. In the Mary portion of the Christmas story (Luke 1: 26-56), Mary accepts the word of the...
by Wade Ballou | Nov 29, 2013 | Contemplative Life
A Japanese red maple graces the front of our home. We planted it about 20 years ago. It provides wonderful shade while in leaf and lately has been home to a family of doves. It does however have the bad habit of dripping a sticky resin onto our cars. In the Fall its...
