by Coracle | Jan 13, 2017 | Contemplative Life
By: Giovanna Meek (Coracle Intern, Summer 2016) “Spiritual Formation” often gets a bad rap: considered some new age, non-Christ-centered effort or, alternatively, raised to the level of the most important aspect of a Christian’s life, but to be pursued in an...
by Karla Petty | Jan 11, 2017 | Contemplative Life
Right on the heels of Epiphany, appropriately, I’d like to ask: Has something familiar ever suddenly, or maybe over time, become totally new to you? Have you ever asked yourself what shifted that allowed that newness to flood into something so familiar? For me, it was...
by Coracle | Jan 10, 2017 | Contemplative Life
By: Yonce Shelton Coracle Spiritual Director December 2016 I believe because I go to the woods and am met. I go not to get away from, but to draw closer to. I go with desire. Or a question. Or the sense that I carry something. Or three words on a sticky note. I...
by Bill Haley | Jan 3, 2017 | Contemplative Life
2017 is going to be a big, strange year, full of challenges, with much uncertainty. You feel it. We all do. I do, deeply. And just like it is true at the beginning of every new year, the world needs more people who are alive and strong in God to powerfully be his...
by Bill Haley | Dec 31, 2016 | 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 19, 2016 | Contemplative Life
This Advent season, when I pause to reflect on the meaning of it and prepare for that feast day and celebration that is Christmas, my heart is filled with gratitude. It may seem rather simple to say, but I’m really grateful that God came. God came. It’s that simple,...
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 Coracle | Dec 13, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
Bill Haley’s sermon given at The Falls Church Anglican on December 11, 2016.
by Scott Buresh | Nov 30, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
On my journey with Christ I have considered myself many things: a redeemed, rescued, forgiven, beloved child of God; Jesus’s friend; Jesus’s co-laborer in the world; God’s handiwork created in His image. But rarely have I identified with being a “contemplative,” one...
by Coracle | Nov 18, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Justice and Mercy
Hear the recording of Bill’s talk. “The Deepest Things Haven’t Changed” given at the World Vision DC office on November 16, 2016 in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election. There is a handout referenced in the talk, which you can...
by Erin Clifford | Nov 17, 2016 | Contemplative Life
Margin. That’s what I like to call it. A margin of faith. For me, one of the great challenges and opportunities we have in following Jesus is in maintaining a margin of faith in our lives. Where in our lives are we required to exercise faith? Where in our lives are we...
by Bill Haley | Nov 9, 2016 | Contemplative Life
REGARDLESS of the outcome of the election, I expected this to be a day of mentally disciplining myself to focus on King Jesus, joyfully focusing on the Kingdom of God that is here, near, and coming, celebrating that the Christian’s (and my) primary citizenship...
by Coracle | Nov 8, 2016 | Contemplative Life
Story and Photos by: Dean Luckenbaugh On a cool, cloudy Monday morning, I finished breakfast with a friend and headed from the DC suburbs to a quiet country retreat for a day set aside to hear from God. Against my will, the radio stayed off and I prayed through...
by Coracle | Nov 3, 2016 | Contemplative Life, Spiritual Direction
By: Heather Strube, Spiritual Director for Coracle in Baltimore, MD. As I discerned whether or not to walk forward with formalized training in Spiritual Direction, I have had to answer this question multiple times already from curious (and skeptical) friends. My...
by Coracle | Nov 3, 2016 | Contemplative Life
By: Giovanna Meek (Corhaven Intern – Summer 2016) It’s not uncommon that a caring Christian, especially one with an evangelical heart, might ask someone “do you know Jesus?” And, if a Christian is responding, she might begin with “well, yes…” and continue by...
by Karla Petty | Oct 21, 2016 | Contemplative Life, For the World
Coracle recently made its first foray into Coracle: Culture, and a group of us gathered to watch the much-talked-about film, Birth of a Nation. The film has drawn less attention for its content and Sundance Festival accolades than for the director and star Nate...
by Bill Haley | Oct 20, 2016 | Contemplative Life
The imagery can be as gentle as “a feather on the breath of God” (Hildegard) or as shocking as “immolate me” (Margaret Mary Alacoque), but the essence is the same. This is where the Christian life will ultimately lead if we want it and are willing to go there. This...
by Coracle | Oct 3, 2016 | Contemplative Life, For the World
Reflections by Hannah Zachman, a Theological Horizons Fellow 2017 Original post can be found here. In early September, the Horizons Fellows drove out through the rolling hills and harvest-ready fields of the Shenandoah Valley to experience a weekend of reflection,...
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 Bill Haley | Sep 13, 2016 | Contemplative Life
TRANSCENDENCE. That’s what these live performances are for me. They take me to a different place, lift me up from the low places, take me again to the High Place of God’s presence, and Glory, and Truth. They feed my spirit, nourish my convictions, keep me wanting...