"A little bit of meditation is better than no meditation. Two minutes is better than zero minutes. Consistency sends a signal to your whole system, to the divine, to the planet that you want to serve that you’re showing up, that your attention is there. Just give it two minutes on the days...

As I go to sleep tonight, Please, love, hug my family tight. With stars and moon so big and bright Love shines round me like a light. As I go to sleep tonight, Please, love, hug my family tight. Can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"...

As a hospital chaplain, I often listen to painful stories. We call it compassionate presence, but I may be crying inside. When words fail, I pray and sing.

People of color—and other marginalized people—can’t just want things to be different. It has to be everyone wanting things to be different for everyone.

Can we just sit here for a minute, Holy One? Some of us are carrying pretty heavy stuff. . . . . . And we could all use a moment of peace. To count our breath. To quiet the noise. To let our spirits be still. . . . . . Perhaps as we sit, we will count our blessings. Name them, one by one. . . . . .

When we can gently hold things steady, change comes from within; that’s where the real growth happens.

See now the daybreak of our love: Through it may we be lifted, For when the nightfall closes in, May strength anew be gifted. Yes! Love endures on this good Earth. Our steadfast hope we’re bringing; We sing a truth no creed can end. How can we keep from singing? Good people gather to proclaim new...

We can’t always predict which choices will wind up having a huge impact on us, whether it's bringing home a stuffed animal or taking a particular train to Oxford Circus.

What could you accomplish this week if you knew you had a ground team wishing you well? Who are the other explorers around you, needing a word of encouragement that would mean so much coming from you?

Outside of the meditation hall, we plan for the future and think of the past. But so often we replay past regrets and worry about future events to the point where we’re no longer present in the present.

"Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution. We cannot 'triumph' over death, or loss, or grief. They are immovable elements of being alive. If we continue to come at them as though they are problems to be solved, we'll never get solace or comfort in our deepest pain."...

[S]piritual and meditative practices are not meant to erase pain. That's a symptom of our pain-avoidant culture, and not an accurate portrayal of the practices themselves. It's a misuse of so many beautiful teachings to force them into roles they were never meant to play....

Surrender is the last thing, often the only thing, available. And so we give ourselves to it. We fear it is our end. Sometimes—with grace or luck—we find it is our liberation.

What is it That calls you here That calls you onward That calls you inward That leads you homeward? What is it That gives you the power To make that change To ask that question To take that journey?...

Once I quit drinking, my inner voice and I began the harder work: that of creating a life from which I do not need or want to escape.

We are broken, O God. We are broken. We gather in vigil again to mourn the death of school children and school teachers. Death and violence are the reasons that draw us together in sorrow, in anger, in anxious grief and loss....

Advent is about expectation—radical expectations that undo the status quo—and anticipation: a skillful search for the places where liberation rises from the ashes.

A white woman pulled over and ran over to me with a shopping bag. As I looked down at the bag, I had very mixed emotions.

I want to tell you about my bicycle. The frame is a sparkly kind of blue and it has pink handlebar tape. And guess what color the wheels are? Lime green! I love my bicycle. Now suppose this was your bicycle. And suppose one day you biked to school and totally forgot to lock your bike when you got...

In my small-town congregation, our beloved dead seem to linger with us for a little while.