Virtual Eucharist: Is this a Spiritual Practice?

In the light of my recent blog posts on what constitutes a spiritual practice I thought that I need to highlight this fascinating discussion currently going on across several blogs about whether or not we can legitimately celebrate the Eucharist on the internet.  Mark Brown CEO of the NZ Bible Society posted this article a [...]

A Breathing Prayer by AB Simpson

I have just been working on an article on Writing Breathing Prayers as a Spiritual Discipline for the upcoming MSA Seed Sampler – Writing as a Spiritual Discipline.  In the process I came across this beautiful breathing prayer that I wanted to share with you.  It is written by   A.B. Simpson, who was founder [...]

Are You Suffering From Nature Deficit Disorder?

I am sitting at our dining room table working and looking out at the beauty of an early summer’s day in Seattle.  We are so blessed at the opportunities to enjoy the outdoors not not just in times of leisure but also in our work. My focus for the morning has been looking at innovative [...]

Feeling Close to God in the Graveyard

Just after I posted my last blog post I came across this very moving article by Christopher Heuertz, director of Word Made Flesh.  Visiting the graveyard is obviously a spiritual practice that has a great deal of significance and provides a deep encounter with God for Chris. One of the places where I often feel [...]

The Death of Idols

Yesterday two well known Hollywood celebrities died.  In the morning we heard about the death of Farrah Fawcett most famous for her role in the original Charlie’s Angels series.  She died at 62 after a long struggle with cancer.  Then in the afternoon many were shocked by the sudden death of Michael Jackson touted around [...]

Everything is Spiritual – Rob Bell

In keeping with the current theme on this blog I thought that you would appreciate this video by Rob Bell

Crying as a Spiritual Practice

It looks as though the summer blog series and learning party on What is a Spiritual Practice is off to a good start.  I am certainly looking forward to all that we can learn together about how God speaks to us and how everyday experiences can deepen our relationship to God. As well as the [...]

The Spiritual Practice of Taking a Shower

Over the next couple of months I and hopefully some of my friends and colleagues will be blogging about What is a Spiritual Practice?.  As I mentioned last week the purpose of this blog series to to stimulate our thinking beyond prayer and bible study so that all of us can connect our spirituality more [...]

My Favourite Black Currant Jam

Yesterday was garden day at the Mustard Seed House.  We finally got all the hoops up round the tomatoes, laid the last of the irrigation hoses and weeded furiously.  We also picked the black currants.  These are rather tart berries that are not good for fresh eating but they  make the most wonderful jam I [...]

Is Breathing a Spiritual Practice?

The breathing prayer that I posted yesterday has raised quite a bit of interest.  It always fascinates me to see how all of us love prayers like this that invite us into a regular and relaxed rhythm .  That shouldn’t surprise me because the research I did for my book Godspace made me aware of [...]