Praying for the Middle East
I am horrified and heartbroken over the war in the Middle East. I wake up in the morning feeling the grief of the parents whose children were killed at the…
Lenten Series – The Book of Private Devotions
Join us for a five week exploration of Christian devotional practices. These practices will follow the structure of our Sunday morning services, giving you new ways to approach worship and…
Ash Wednesday Services and the Meaning of Lent
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of fasting, self-reflection, and atonement that lasts for forty days and ends on Easter Sunday. This year Ash Wednesday falls on…
New Contemplative Prayer & Study Group
A new in-person contemplative prayer group & book study is forming at St. Stephen’s! This group will meet on the 2nd & 4th Thursday of each month in the sanctuary…
Petition
Image: The Temptation of St Anthony, engraving by Martin Schongauer, c. 1470–75 After offering an invocation that leads me through a door into the divine presence, I often find that my…
Invocation
A few years ago, I spent the summer praying through the Jawshan Kabir, a remarkable Islamic text that lists more than a thousand names for God. I was merely a…
Elaborating the Shape of Prayer
Faiths tend to build expectations for prayer, which can almost be thought of as a form of manners. Breaking the prayer form is impolite. God, of course, can handle impolite…
The Peace of God
There are many ways of praying and thinking about prayer. A common one is to consider prayer a kind of conversation with God. This conversation can take any shape and…
Entering the Divine Reality Through Prayer, Part One
In a previous post, I talked about ways to open a door into the divine reality that Christians call the Kingdom of God. I mentioned prayer in passing before going…
A Necessary Corrective
I've been writing about worship as a way of entering an alternate reality, which Christians might call the Courts of Heaven, The Heavenly City, The Heavenly Banquet, The Resurrection Life,…