by Mary Gardner | Oct 21, 2019 | For the World, Pilgrimage
One of our Spiritual Directors, Mary Gardner, has developed a Prayer Guide for those who would like to pray for the team of 12 who departed on Oct. 20th for nine days in Guatemala and at the US-Mexico border. We encourage you to download a copy and use it to hold our...
by Bill Haley | Oct 18, 2019 | Church Unity, Contemplative Life
For a long time my life has been formed and fed by the monastic tradition. It began by reading Henri Nouwen’s Genesee Diary in college, and it was that book that introduced me to monasteries, the Trappists, and spiritual direction. Since that time and over time God...
by Sarah Kohrs | Oct 14, 2019 | Creation
Graveyard. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? Perhaps neatly mown grass—short blades interrupted by granite headstones carved with names and scrollwork. Perhaps vases of flowers, trinkets, or similar tributes to the dead settled near the stones? Perhaps...
by Bill Haley | Oct 5, 2019 | For the World, Pilgrimage
It didn’t take long to realize it. It was after witnessing the prayer and fasting, and hearing story after story of the same. And then hearing testimonies of people who had come to believe in Jesus because they saw a loved one healed after prayers in his name. ...
by Rick Mastroianni | Oct 1, 2019 | Contemplative Life
I’m among many who have benefitted from experimenting with the practices found in Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. Friends from various Christian traditions practice the Prayer of Examen, a contemplative review of the day in which we reflect on moments of...
by Drew Masterson | Sep 24, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Creation
Robert Frost once defined poetry as a “way of remembering what it would impoverish us to forget.” Poetry emerged as the first form of literary writing in human history way back in the 3rd Millennium BCE, and indeed the vast majority of ancient literature comes down to...
by Coracle | Sep 24, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Creation
A poem by Julie Harrison Eastwood Written during the first Coracle Fellowship retreat in January, on a grassy little island just big enough to sit on, beside the water. Forgiveness is Love, said the winter-swollen creek. Impatience is the brush-tinder for every bad...
by Coracle | Sep 23, 2019 | Contemplative Life
In mid-May of this year, 2019 Coracle Fellow and accomplished painter, Carolyn Marshall Wright, sustained a serious concussion. The injury, from which she is still recovering, left her largely confined to her home for the next four months, where she alternated between...
by Bill Haley | Sep 20, 2019 | Creation
It was surely a surprise 10 years ago when God invited us to move from the inner-city of DC to rural Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. It was unexpected, and unexpectedly good, a grace. It was as if the Lord was saying to us, “Thank you for your heart and service...
by Bill Haley | Sep 17, 2019 | Contemplative Life
I imagine that many of you, like me, did not come from a sacramental tradition. Perhaps you find yourself in one now and still have questions when it comes time on Sunday for “Communion,” “The Lord’s Supper,” “The...
by Kelly Gould | Sep 10, 2019 | Contemplative Life
As we approach the halfway point of a year of gathering together, I reflect on what I thought this year would be and what its reality has been. When I discovered the Fellows program, by accident really, I immediately heard God whisper my name, “Kelly, this is what we...
by Coracle | Sep 3, 2019 | Justice and Mercy
by Jacalyn Barnes, Director of the Repentance Project This is the question that resonated in my own heart as our country’s legacy of slavery and racism began to erupt in explosions of violence and terror. I turned to the Scriptures and wept. From the Old Testament to...
by Bill Haley | Aug 30, 2019 | Vocation
Happy Labor Day weekend, friends! Some years ago, I wrote this for the Washington Post, and I hope that in reading it for the first time or re-reading it, you’ll be reminded deeply and again that your work is one of the main ways God does his work in the world. Take...
by Abigail Whitehouse | Aug 27, 2019 | Contemplative Life
My husband and I live on an Air Force base, and a few weeks ago, I went for an afternoon walk along the trail that circles the runway. I had just purchased a jogging stroller from my sister’s neighbor and wanted to give it a try, but the timing was terrible and the...
by Karla Petty | Aug 20, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Pilgrimage
I. Kyrie II. Gloria III. Credo IV. Sanctus and Benedictus V. Agnus Dei We’ve just finished another Coracle pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This time, we walked along the Camino Portuguese using the Coastal Route option. It leads you for...
by Coracle | Aug 14, 2019 | For the World, Justice and Mercy
As some of you may know, this October a team from Coracle will be traveling to Guatemala and then to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez to visit with and learn from the men and women seeking refuge in this country, as well as those who are striving to love and support that...
by Coracle | Aug 14, 2019 | Coracle News
by Lori Smith “Jesus is here and He is loving you,” Bill said to me as I began my retreat out at Corhaven several years back. It was a message I couldn’t fully embrace yet. I knew God loved me, I’d known that for as long as I could remember. BUT … there had...
by Coracle | Jul 29, 2019 | Church Unity, Contemplative Life
Father James has been my spiritual director for over 20 years, and my life is unrecognizable without his ministry (see more about that here in “What is Spiritual Direction”). In a recent session we were talking about the polarized moment our country is living...
by Drew Masterson | Jul 25, 2019 | Contemplative Life, Creation
Before you read the quote from C.S. Lewis below, I highly recommend that you watch this performance of J.S. Bach’s Fugue in G Minor, commonly called the Little Fugue. Pay attention to how the opening lines of the piece ripple through different registers of the...
by Bill Haley | Jul 18, 2019 | Contemplative Life
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking to about 20 college students from The Falls Church Anglican who were back for the summer or getting ready to enter freshman year. I was basically told ‘talk about whatever you’d like,’ so I chose to reflect back...
