by Karla Petty | Mar 9, 2017 | Contemplative Life
“Originality consists in returning to the origin.” – Antoni Gaudí I hadn’t heard of Antoni Gaudí before spring of 2004 when I first visited Barcelona, but you can’t miss him once you’re there. Of the many works this master architect designed, his pièce de...
by Coracle | Mar 8, 2017 | Contemplative Life
By: Joe Riffe I hate failing. It’s excruciating. This was true when I was young. I hated failing at school or at sports or high school attempts to be “cool.” Becoming an adult hasn’t changed that fact. My opportunities for failure have just changed. Now they are work,...
by Bill Haley | Mar 3, 2017 | Pilgrimage
The slum of Danaseri in Kathmandu, Nepal is a sacred place on par with the island of Iona in Scotland, St. Peter’s in Rome, Jerusalem, and Lourdes. Danaseri doesn’t look like much at the first glance. It looks like a place you wouldn’t want to go to or spend much time...
by Bill Haley | Mar 2, 2017 | Pilgrimage
To the American mind, the caste system is almost impossible to comprehend. Because of our Declaration of Independence it is engrained (though inconsistently applied) in our national psyche that ‘all men are created equal’. In Nepal because of Hinduism, this is not...
by Erin Clifford | Mar 1, 2017 | Contemplative Life
Thomas Merton said: “We are not converted only once in our lives but many times, and this endless series of large and small conversions, inner revolutions, leads to our transformation in Christ.” As a child, I was considered a Pollyanna in our family. A...
by Coracle | Feb 27, 2017 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
Liturgical seasons can act as guideposts through the year and Lent is a particularly special one. It’s easy to get caught up in the “sackcloth and ashes” part of Lent, with all the self-denial and focus on our own sin. This is important to...
by Scott Buresh | Feb 23, 2017 | Contemplative Life, Liturgical Seasons
This coming Wednesday, March 1, marks the beginning of the Lenten season this year. I used to think of Lent primarily as a somber time of suffering, self-denial, repentance. In other words a time for me to feel great sorrow which for me also meant guilt and shame over...
by Bill Haley | Feb 22, 2017 | For the World, Justice and Mercy
Bill’s talk on the current climate of race relations in America, some of its origins, and how Christians are uniquely positioned to respond to them, offered at the Soundings Seminar on Feb 1, 2017 at Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, VA. Race in America...
by Coracle | Feb 21, 2017 | Justice and Mercy
For those who weren’t able to make it to the February 1 Soundings Seminar at Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, VA, we have provided links below to a “video” (an audio-only recording of the entire evening set to still images from the evening)...
by Coracle | Feb 16, 2017 | Contemplative Life, For the World
By: Margot Eyring, Coracle Spiritual Director Margot is a regular volunteer at Our Daily Bread Breakfast Ministry in DC and Health and Wellness Professional. She writes on how Prayer, Compassion and Paying Attention have been helpful to her in her spiritual life. ...
by Coracle | Feb 7, 2017 | Contemplative Life
Several years ago, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a getaway in southern Utah. Where we stayed, we were bordered by the Colorado River on one side, and on the other by the dramatic red sandstone structures that make up the landscape. One morning...
by Bill Haley | Jan 26, 2017 | Contemplative Life
The power of God was shown most clearly at the resurrection of Jesus. God defeated death. The love of God was shown most clearly on the cross of Christ. God poured out his life for us. And Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another”...
by Coracle | Jan 20, 2017 | Contemplative Life
By: Desiree Barker Coracle Spiritual Director, Northern Virginia I will begin by saying that I did not grow up keeping a diary or a journal. I had two younger sisters and writing down personal things in a diary was not a safe activity at our house! While in college, I...
by Coracle | Jan 17, 2017 | Contemplative Life
By: Heather Strube Coracle Spiritual Director Baltimore, MD “Friendship forms. Friendship is a much underestimated aspect of spirituality. It’s every bit as significant as prayer and fasting. Like the sacramental use of water and bread and wine, friendship...
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 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 Erin Clifford | Dec 9, 2016 | Liturgical Seasons
“What are you waiting for?” It’s a question that we might be asked by a stranger as we hold up a grocery story line or to a friend who we want to encourage to step out in faith. It’s normally a question that implies choosing to wait as the lesser choice. Advent, on...