FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! This is our final roundup before we go on summer break here at The Contemplative Writer. Enjoy these rich offerings from a host of talented writers, and accept our blessings for a fruitful summer.

Lisa and Prasanta

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‘I Wake With Wonder’: A Crowdsourced Poem Of Pandemic Pain And Hope via NPR (a community poem about the challenges of the past year and hope for times ahead)

A Litany for the Planet via Louise Connor (a prayer for all our neighbors)

The Prodigal Son: Visio Divina 2021 via Karen Hice Guzmán (a visio divina exercise from The Well )

Kintsugi and the Divine Potter via Gretchen Crowder (the Divine Potter and the art of repairing broken pottery)

How to Lose a Sense of Wonder via Debra Elramey (when were you last awestruck or seized by wonder?)

The Problem with Urgency and the Power of Letting Go via Sarah Westfall (the more we untangle ourselves from what feels urgent, the more we find peace where we are)

Attending to the Word: Reading as Spiritual Practice via Gregory Wolfe (a series of reflections on the gift and practice of reading)

Revamping the Raven–And Other Writing Mischief via L. L. Barkat (on crafting a well-rounded writing approach)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! Here at The Contemplative Writer, one of our favorite “tasks” is rounding up each week’s collection of posts, videos, and podcasts. We hope today’s selection will provide encouragement and opportunity for reflection.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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How I Use My Prayer Rope via Rich Lewis (a short video with helpful ideas for using a prayer rope with the Jesus Prayer)

Your Suffering is Sacred (with K. J. Ramsey) via Marc Alan Schelske (on learning how to hold suffering as believers in Jesus Christ)

Just For Today via John Blase (a poem about life, loss, and wanting to run away)

Celebrate the Ignatian Year With a Spiritual Treasury via Father Raymond J. de Souza (learn about the Jesuit Year of St. Ignatius and Ignatian spirituality)

Twelve Ways to Approach Christian Mystical Spirituality via Carl McColman (a helpful overview of mysticism in the Christian tradition)

Choosing to Replant our Trees of Knowledge via Deborah Beddoe (on the call to consider something again)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We hope this week’s roundup, featuring some excellent writers and thinkers, will be thought-provoking and inspiring.

Enjoy, and be blessed.

Lisa and Prasanta

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Spirituality With A Dog In Your Lap via Casey Tygrett (the great mistake is to idealize the spiritual life)

AJB Recommends: Spiritual Practices for Personal and Social Healing via Amy Julia Becker (some resources for finding healing in mind, body, spirit, and community)

The Problem(s) of Susan via Matt Mikalatos (what to make of Susan’s fate in C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle)

A Black Woman at War: Battling for God and a nation’s people via Natasha Sistrunk Robinson (the lie of white supremacy that’s killing us all)

What We’ve Lost in Rejecting the Sabbath via Sohrab Ahmari (in an age of constant activity, we need the Sabbath more than ever)

The Stories Between Us: Karen Swallow Prior Talks Frankenstein and Twitter via Shawn Smucker and Maile Silva (in this podcast episode, Prior talks about intentionality, writing, and social media)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We hope this week’s roundup will give you an opportunity to reflect on God’s goodness and our life of faith.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Makoto Fujimura Sings with God, Carries His Cross, and Awaits the New Creation via Joel Clarkson (the renowned Christian artist’s insights on faith and creativity)

Catherine of Siena to Her Confessor via Jane Greer (a poem based on the life and letters of Catherine of Siena)

As the world reopens post-pandemic, how will we find our way in it? via Stephanie Paulsell (finding a guide in St. Theresa of Avila)

Plum Harvest via Laura Cerbus (what does it mean to receive a gift we haven’t chosen?)

The Year of Madeleine via Haley Stewart (motherhood and writing as acts of co-creation)

The Unmaking of Our Biblical Womanhood via Michelle Van Loon (“what if we finally stood together, united by our belief in Jesus instead of divided by arguments over power and authority?”)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! This week we have a beautiful roundup of posts we hope will help you on your quest for peace, silence, resilience, and faith.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Hollowed via Emily Polis Gibson (a poem about keeping vigil)

Outward Noise; Inward Silence via J. Brent Bill (the silence that feeds our spirits says, “Don’t just do something, sit there”)

We have to be willing to begin again via Kathleen Norris (when you experience failure in writing, in faith, and in life itself)

The Final (or Possibly Second-to-Last) Frontier via Amanda Cleary Eastep (on facing change and crossing the next threshold)

A Law of Deceleration: How I dumped the internet and learned to love technology agai via Paul McDonnold (on living a life of greater peace and stillness)

The Hobbit! via Malcom Guite (indulge in some comfort reading–listen to poet Malcom Guite reminisce and read aloud from The Hobbit)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome back to Friday Favorites! We hope this Friday finds you enjoying the birth of spring and clinging to the promise of resurrection in all things. Enjoy these posts and podcasts as part of your reading and reflection time.

With love,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Pietà via Matt Schultz (a poem)

Thank God for the Poets via Margaret Renkl (poetry reminds us that life is our birthright…read this opinion piece for the many links to wonderful poems)

Bray & Keane: A Primer on The Book of Common Prayer via The Laymen’s Lounge (a podcast episode providing an introduction, overview, and step-by-step guide)

Making Space for Each Other’s Grief via Michelle Reyes (grief can bind us together if we resist the urge to judge how others grieve)

A Specific Love via Courtney Ellis (finding love–and God’s love–in the small and specific)

How Does an Introvert Emerge from a Pandemic? via Afton Rorvik (an introvert’s guide to venturing out once again)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

On this Good Friday, we hope that these posts, which include music, art, and fiction, help you to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice and the coming hope of resurrection.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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“Today You Shall Be With Me in Paradise” via The Lent Project, Biola University (a reflection for Good Friday involving Scripture, art, poetry, and music)

The Stations of the Cross via Pádraig Ó Tuama (a guided meditation for Good Friday)

Holy Week via Duane W. H. Arnold, Ph.D. (a brief history of Holy Week and looking ahead to hope)

Ubi Caritas via Joel Clarkson and Joy Clarkson (an arrangement of Ubi Caritas, which commemorates Jesus washing his disciples’ feet)

Gethsemane via Simon Parke (an extract from Parke’s novel, Gospel, Rumours of Love)

Easter Flight: Crucified in the Middle Seat via Leslie Leyland Fields (“This week, Friday, many of us will watch a man take that middle space for us, the place no one wants…”)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! Here at The Contemplative Writer, we love rounding up posts, articles, poetry, and podcasts from wonderful writers around the web. We hope you enjoy our selection this week.

Be well and be blessed,

Lisa and Prasanta

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“The Poet Thinks About the Donkey,” by Mary Oliver via SALT (a poem for Palm Sunday)

Meditation Monday–The Garden Walk of Holy Week via Christine Sine (Jesus’ journey from garden to garden)

The Grand Positives via Coe Hutchison (a journaling exercise based on the Ten Commandments)

You’ve Got Our Ear via Marjorie Maddox (a poem for the Age of Anxiety)

Archiving Lament via The Visual Commentary on Scripture (artworks and commentary based on Lamentations 1)

“Art + Faith: A Theology of Making” Book Review via Melanie Weldon-Soiset (a review of Makoto Fujimura’s recent book)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We hope you enjoy this round-up of posts that will help you pray, praise, flourish, and write.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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A Simple Prayer Marking One Year of Pandemic Life, for All Ages via Traci Smith (a unison and responsive prayer)

Praise on Pi Day via Lisa Rosenberg (a poem)

How Prayer Can Prepare Us For Death via Kara Bettis (an interview with Douglas McKelvey, author of the Every Moment Holy liturgies)

Flourishing Together: When Racism Affects Us All via Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (“Let’s walk together and treat each person like an image bearer of God to be treasured”)

How 2020 Disruptions Have Led to Relational Innovations via Dorothy Littell Greco (how some people are creating something new during the pandemic)

Prompts To Get You Writing via April Yamasaki (some questions and reflection prompts to get your creativity flowing)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We hope the posts collected here will enrich your Lenten journey and inspire you in your writing/creative life!

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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The Power of the Cross via Classically Christian (a meditation on 1 Cor. 1:18-19 and some wonderful quotes from women mystics on the cross of Christ)

Juan de Yepes via Roger Butts (a short poem about St. John of the Cross, when he was released from jail)

I want to talk to Thomas Merton about race via Sophfronia Scott (“I don’t want to be a rigid flame of indignation. I don’t want my life weighed down by anger, hopelessness, and resentment.”)

Intention can turn any lockdown walk into pilgrimage, urges British Pilgrimage Trust via Emily McFarlan Miller (ideas for taking a micro-pilgrimage or a spiritual pilgrimage during lockdown)

A Tale of a Fox and a Novel: On Taking the Leap and Submitting Your Writing via Nicole Bianchi (“Resistance loves it when we hesitate, when we over-prepare. The answer: plunge in.”)

Blogging Versus Email Newsletters: Which Is Better for Writers? via Jane Friedman (the pros and cons of each approach and how to figure out which might be better for you)