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I am away on an eight-day silent retreat at the beautiful Eastern Point Jesuit Retreat Center in Gloucester, MA. This time grants me space to quiet myself and listen for that “still small voice” of the Sacred. Each day we practice the spiritual exercises taught by St. Ignatius. We pray, read scriptures, quietly reflect on their meaning for our lives and celebrate Mass each day. I am not Catholic, but I do find the structures of these days meaningful, helping create space for contemplation. The Jesuits have a prayer book… Read More

Buddhist meditation teacher Jack Kornfield tells the story of a young man who was desperate to become enlightened. He traveled to a monastery and talked with a teacher.  “If I really focus on becoming enlightened, how long will it take?” he asked.  “For you, it will probably take ten years,” said the teacher.  “Ten years? But I will make this the focus on my life. I will commit everything I have to becoming enlightened,” said the young man.  “Then for you, it will probably take twenty years,” said the teacher. … Read More

In a Washington Post opinion piece, legal scholar and President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, talked about racism as a national security crisis. She observes that our willingness to label one another as enemies lets our biases animate our policies, consumer choices, and media preferences, leaving us all vulnerable to foreign actors who play upon our fears and hatred of each other. As a legal scholar, Ifill’s concern today is how legislative bodies at the state level are passing anti-Critical Race Theory laws. When you read… Read More

Sociology and cultural studies teach us that groups of people define themselves mainly by who they are not, what they are against, what beliefs they do not hold, what behaviors they do not practice. They define themselves in the negative – against another group, issue, ideology, or politic. Their identity requires a problem or an enemy. They need someone to oppose to act with any force in the world. Living by what we are for, what we support, who we love, what we cherish is harder to sustain. Its boundaries are more porous, and it’s welcome… Read More

Friends, you have been so wonderfully patient as I took a two-month break from writing these meditations to focus on getting TWO books written and ready for publication. Clearly, I lost my mind. Ha! But soon, you will see updates about these projects as they become available from the publishers. Now, let’s resume our meditations together. I am excited to be back. Cameron We rejoin one another in the midst of a devastating war launched by Russia against the Ukrainian people. We’ve been watching heartbreaking images of innocent civilians thrust into the… Read More

Reposted from A Daily Meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation Author and CAC teacher Brian McLaren has spent decades thinking about change in the church and why so many resist it. Here he summarizes what often happens to our religious institutions once they lose their original purpose: The pattern is predictable. Founders are typically generous, visionary, bold, and creative, but the religions that ostensibly carry on their work often become the opposite: constricted, change-averse, nostalgic, fearful, obsessed with boundary maintenance, turf battles, and money. Instead of greeting the… Read More

Today, the world bears witness to an unprovoked act of war as Russian troops invade Ukraine. Citizens, living their lives, raising their children, working in their jobs, today huddle in train stations and bomb shelters, trapped in cities as bombs fall around them. I fear we will watch heartbreaking carnage and senseless death. So we do what people of faith do. Today, we pray. God of Peace, In the face of terrible violence in Ukraine: We pray for global leaders to stand firm, and do all that they can to… Read More

Already nearly two weeks into 2022, life feels like it’s racing forward into more of the chaos that we’ve become accustomed to in the past two years. Just when we thought we were nearing the end of shutdowns, shortages, and viral “tsunamis,” here we are again rocked by the waves of disruption, inviting the question once more: how shall we be in this time of unpredictability? We’ve been through a great deal since the spring of 2020, learning along the way about who we are, how we are, and what we… Read More

Today we remember.  This day, one year ago, we lost our naïveté. White nationalism marched down Pennsylvania Ave. White nationalism stormed the Capital, threatened elected officials, attacked law enforcement, and changed our nation forever. What we saw, we cannot unsee. Today we remember. This day, one year ago, we lost our moral center. Yet even now we can’t seem to look, really look, at who we’ve become. “Just another day in January,” says Pence. Instead of accountability, let’s adopt conspiracy. What we saw, we cannot unsee. Today we remember.  This day, one year… Read More