by Bill Haley | Feb 15, 2019 | Contemplative Life
When you arrive, you’ll see a small plaque on our front porch that reads, “Bidden or not bidden, God is present”. God will be present to you here. God has given us this space so that others can find him, and he likes to be found, and he likes to find us! Your retreat...
by Bill Haley | Feb 15, 2019 | Contemplative Life
On the desktop of my computer I keep a document called “Current Quotes”, easily found to be opened quickly (the app Evernote works just as well). It’s for brief thoughts and quotes, from deeply trusted sources that reveal deep truths and that speak to me in the...
by Bill Haley | Feb 7, 2019 | Contemplative Life, For the World
When I was growing up, there was a funny little toy called Stretch Armstrong. Made of soft rubber and dressed only in tiny blue wrestler’s shorts with blond hair painted on, there was really only one thing you could do with him: stretch his arms as far apart as they...
by Bill Haley | Jan 24, 2019 | Contemplative Life
We wrestle with God for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, we want to wrestle because of what we see “out there”– a culture moving in the wrong direction, the moral failings of trusted leaders, the disunity and strife amongst God’s people, etc. ...
by Bill Haley | Jan 18, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Justice and Mercy
As we approach the national holiday honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, it’s easy (and right) to contemplate his activism and commit to carrying on that legacy of justice for all and especially for those who have the hardest time finding it. It...
by Bill Haley | Jan 4, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Creation, Liturgical Seasons
Almost 10 years ago, we moved from the inner-city of Washington to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. There are at least two things I haven’t gotten used to yet, and hope I never will be. Both are arresting. Both can stop you in your tracks with a sense of awe,...
by Coracle | Dec 26, 2018 | Contemplative Life
By: John Gardner Many people know the story of how Franz Gruber, an organist in Oberndorf, Austria, whose organ was broken, hurriedly composed the melody for “Silent Night” for guitar on Christmas Eve, 1818 – two hundred years ago today. The bicentennial has gone...
by Bill Haley | Dec 14, 2018 | Contemplative Life
Earlier this week Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for illegal acts committed while in service to Donald Trump. Until this week I’ve not given much thought to Michael Cohen and bear him no ill will, but I do think his story warrants attention as a...
by Bill Haley | Dec 5, 2018 | Contemplative Life
“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...
by Bill Haley | Nov 30, 2018 | Contemplative Life
I’m not a big birthday guy. Most years I’m content to quietly let the day pass without a lot of notice and a simple dinner with loved ones, with some time to reflect and pray in gratitude. But this year I tip over some sort of edge into my 50s, and as I’ve done on...
by Bill Haley | Nov 29, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Coracle News
Well, friends, it’s been another remarkable year of watching God work through Coracle. What really fires me up is comments like these from folks we’ve walked with in the last year, just a sample of many… “My life, praise the Lord, will never be the same. “ “I can...
by Bill Haley | Nov 20, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Creation
“O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Ps. 30.12 Of course we all go through challenging seasons, and seasons when we might feel a little depressed, or things aren’t turning out quite the way we thought or not at all the way we hoped or wanted. It’s too...
by Bill Haley | Nov 15, 2018 | Contemplative Life
I’d been on that roof top many times in Kathmandu, and never seen it. But when last there and our group was taking the Eucharist on that same roof top deck, one of our members suddenly exclaimed, “Look! There’s a Himalaya!” And indeed there it was, one mighty...
by Bill Haley | Nov 9, 2018 | Contemplative Life
At the end of a week when our eyes have been focused on the mid-term elections of 2018 in the United States, we can be grateful that our country’s governmental model–based on the checks and balance of power–worked yet again. For those most concerned about the...
by Karla Petty | Nov 1, 2018 | Contemplative Life
“… to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Corinthians 1:2 Today, November 1, is the Feast of All Saints. Recognition, veneration, and prayer...
by Bill Haley | Oct 26, 2018 | Contemplative Life
Some authors are worth coming back to again and again. Dallas Willard is one of those for me. Dallas will, for a profound lack of a better phrase, rock your world, if you do the hard work to understand what he’s getting at! His thoughts and contributions are like...
by Coracle | Oct 6, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Creation
For more pictures: follow @commongoodthing on Instagram. Last week I had the opportunity to visit one of the oldest letterpress print shops in the country. I knew the company well, but that knowledge hardly compared to the experience of standing on the production...
by Coracle | Sep 24, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Spiritual Direction
by Margot Eyring I was reminded this week of a story that has helped me understand some of the ways the Spirit brings insight and discernment. Each aspect of this unfolding story involves an important lesson on recognizing the presence of Jesus, but in this story, no...
by Coracle | Sep 20, 2018 | Contemplative Life, Coracle News
The Coracle Fellows Application for 2019 is now available. This is an invitation – an invitation into a deeper relationship with Christ and others, and (warning!) an invitation that may stir up the waters of your life. This is an invitation to change. It’s...
by Coracle | Sep 2, 2018 | Contemplative Life
by Ann Bodling Coracle Spiritual Director A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked me what my spiritual practices have been lately. I was caught off guard and mumbled something about reading and contemplative prayer but, at the same time, I felt like I was forgetting...
