It’s been a few weeks now since I looked a practice rooted in scripture reading, so I decided this week to look at one of the other traditions commonly known as lectio divina, or sacred reading. Whereas a few weeks ago I explored devotional reading focused on different ways scripture can speak to us, this … Continue reading Lectio Divina (Gospel Contemplation)
[Originally posted two years ago on my old blog] Those of you who know me undoubtedly know my deeply ambivalent feelings about Lent, or more accurately, about how Lent tends to be celebrated. Too often this season of penitence is defined by external things, like the lack of flowers on the altar, or depriving oneself … Continue reading A Bright Lent
At the start of this season of penitence we remind ourselves of our smallness and impermanence. Over and against the ego's instinct to puff itself up in the face of these simple realities of existence — like a house cat arching its back and raising its fur at the sight of its reflection in a mirror — we instead lean into our smallness and impermanence and remember that we are crafted and sustained by the love of an infinitely creative God.
The twentieth-century physicist Niels Bohr wrote: “The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.” I was thinking about this important principle the other day while pondering the relationship between God, faith, and safety. In one sense, there is no one or nothing as safe as … Continue reading Into the Cold
One of the things I’m particularly interested in is spiritual discernment. This could be because the data of my life have always been pretty messy and so finding the signal in the noise has been difficult for me, or maybe I’m just indecisive. Whatever the reason, I love tools that help me sift through the … Continue reading Ignatian Examen
Matthew Root 