by Abigail Whitehouse | Jul 2, 2015 | Contemplative Life
In Psalm 21:4, it says that David “asked life” from God and God “gave it to him – length of days forever and ever,” as the New King James renders it. When I read those words last week, I was struck by David’s request. He wanted...
by Abigail Whitehouse | Jun 25, 2015 | Creation
Tara and I cleaned out the chicken coop this week – and by “cleaned out,” I mean deep-cleaned, the kind of cleaning you do once a year with brushes that scour and lots of bleach. In this case, we didn’t use bleach because a batch of fifteen new baby chicks is on its...
by Abigail Whitehouse | Jun 10, 2015 | Contemplative Life
In his book Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality, David Benner argues that surrendering to Divine Love is the key to spiritual growth and genuine transformation. In fact, Benner goes so far as to say that “the deepest need for all human...
by Abigail Whitehouse | Jun 5, 2015 | Contemplative Life
I recently listened to an interview with Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche communities, and was struck by a particular question he posed. He asked: “How can we welcome fully the weakness of another if we haven’t welcomed our own weakness?” The question...
by Abigail Whitehouse | May 29, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Singing Bowl” by Malcolm Guite Begin the song exactly where you are, Remain within the world of which you’re made. Call nothing common in the earth or air, Accept it all and let it be for good. Start with the very breath you breathe in now, This moment’s pulse, this...
by Bill Haley | May 21, 2015 | Contemplative Life
The most consistent prayer I offer when people come out for a few hours or a day or overnight at Corhaven is, “God, please help them to encounter your love, your deep deep love for them”, and we try to facilitate that in any way we can. One of the reasons why this...
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 Bill Haley | May 8, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Do you want to grow spiritually? Of course you do. We all do. And God wants us to as well, and will help. But what does spiritual growth actually mean? What’s the goal actually? And most importantly, how do I get there? These are all questions that we’re going to take...
by Bill Haley | Apr 13, 2015 | For the World, Peacemaking
Five words and each one of them are critical. The motto of Coracle is “Spiritual Formation for Kingdom Action”. That is to say, the purpose of our becoming like Jesus is not simply for our own self-actualization. It’s got to move outward. Likewise, our efforts...
by Coracle | Apr 13, 2015 | Contemplative Life
[Some people have gotten divine messages from Gabriel the Angel. Many of you have gotten emails from Gabriel Dodd, the Program Manager. I asked him to tell you a little bit more about himself. He did. – Bill] My name is Gabriel. I’m 26, a husband, and I have been the...
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 Coracle | Mar 20, 2015 | Contemplative Life
“Listening in the spiritual life is much more than a psychological strategy to help others discover themselves. In the spiritual life the listener is not the ego, which would like to speak but is trained to restrain itself, but the Spirit of God within us. When...
by Coracle | Mar 16, 2015 | Contemplative Life
[What does a monk do and why? Members of the Coracle community just got some answers as we returned from an experiences that you’ll read about below. It was great, truly great. I asked the Abbot, Fr. Robert Barnes, “What is the deepest essence of why a monk does...
by Bill Haley | Mar 5, 2015 | Contemplative Life
This past weekend a young woman came to Corhaven to talk about Mother Teresa. A freshman in high school, she’s working on a year long research project and had heard that Tara and I had met her. It’s true. I met Mother Teresa in 1995 when I spent a month in Calcutta...
by Bill Haley | Mar 4, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Several years ago, I was given the opportunity to teach on how Mother Teresa’s life exhibited spiritual maturity, and it afforded the opportunity to explore the meaning of her long “dark night”. It was a privilege for me, and this talk became...
by Bill Haley | Feb 20, 2015 | Pilgrimage
Our pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine had several purposes. We went to meet the peoples of this land. We went to better understand the reality and complexity of the contemporary Holy Land. We went to walk where Jesus walked. Most importantly, we went to learn...
by Bill Haley | Feb 16, 2015 | Contemplative Life
A few years ago at St. Brendan’s in the City, I gave this sermon which was the result of about 10 years of journey. It remains to feel like one of the most important sermons I’ve ever given, an attempt to wrestle into clear and simple words the goal and...
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 Bill Haley | Jan 21, 2015 | Contemplative Life
I have a brother and two sisters. I love them all and wish you could meet them. There’s a good chance that one of them, my sister Ruth, is already known to you. A funny, glee-full thing happens to me at least several times a year. Someone will be talking to me...
by Bill Haley | Jan 15, 2015 | Contemplative Life
Hebrews 6.1 invites and beckons and woos and calls and commands us: “Let us go on to maturity.” The Greek word used here for mature comes from teleios, meaning complete, or perfect. It has the meaning of something that has lived into its design and purpose. The...
