Brad4d Savasana

In our “go for it” impulsive culture, there’s little patience for things to ripen and arrive at the proper time. We want to seize the day out of enthusiasm, but sometimes the right choice hasn’t fully matured or materialized…yet. God’s promises are slow, and this can test our faith and patience. But perhaps that’s the point.

Social media and website analytics can tell creators which posts and pages get the most engagement. Marketers tell you to create more content similar to that so you can increase your audience. Rather than create content that is authentic and inspired, we’re tempted to create content that is simply about worldly profit. Meanwhile, the content and creators who are truly authentic remain on the perip...

Lent begins (of all days) on Valentine’s Day. Many people might give up drinking or sweets for Lent, which is fine because it serves as a reminder of God as you resist temptation. This year, I’m giving up political news for Lent. While it’s important to stay abreast of what’s going on in the world, many of us turn to political news only to have their ideas confirmed. Yet that leaves us not only bi...

Many books, courses, and videos promise quick fixes to finding peace and joy. There are no deep secrets to having joy and peace. Rather than gathering more knowledge or more methods to secure more joy in your life, it’s a matter of taking things away. It’s also a matter of realigning your life around the true source of joy and peace.

Politics and marketing often manipulate spirituality so it persuades us into believing what’s profitable for them. Then we’re blinded by fear and desire to the extent that they become idols. Our spiritual truth becomes watered down or even distorted by those who have something to gain from us. A spiritual revolution means rooting out idolatry, materialism, and fear and return to the virtues and va...

How often have you found yourself leaping away from your meditation or prayer space when a great idea arrives? I’ve noticed when my distracted mind wants to have its way, a thought will arrive with urgency. I cut my time in centering prayer or meditation, thinking I must act immediately. Most times, it can wait. This cultivates patience and weakens impulsivity. If we just sit, we teach our busy mi...

Evangelists, theologians, and philosophers love to talk about God. Some will try too hard to convince you towards their point of view. But what does it say about their relationship with God? If you consider God like a spouse, how much time and energy do you spend talking about God rather than investing in the relationship itself? We can over-intellectualize God without spending much time in love.

Too many voices in this world promise us inner peace and happiness if we just buy this, read this “new” book, or enroll in this program that costs thousands of dollars. Did the Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, or Krishna demand money before they offered their wisdom? Regardless of your spiritual, religious, or political affiliation, spending some time in silence and self-reflection are two keys to living...

After a turbulent weather event, you become humbly aware of the power of Nature. Even though many of us don’t recognize it on a daily basis, we’re connected to Nature on a spiritual level. St. Francis understood this in his Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Hear the words of this 13th century monk, who understood the importance of honoring nature well before we uttered the words, “climate c...

The story of the Three Kings (or magi) fascinates me because it depicts deep spiritual seekers being led by faith. They dropped everything and followed a star. Then, transformed by what they saw, they took a different path home. We can use this story to contemplate our true calling. We can find meaning and purpose in our lives when we drop everything and follow the light.

Modern culture loves forward progress, but sometimes we can easily get swept up in the wrong direction. We get pulled by the expectations of others or our desires for approval. Yet if we spend time each day in stillness, savoring that inner silence, we’ll become more grounded in our purpose. We let God guide our path rather than the worldly vices.

Negative people can be tough to be around. Some people can’t exorcise their negative emotions and spread them to others. This can leave us lethargic, depressed, and disempowered. It’s up to us to recognize how other people’s energies can consume us and find ways to transform them.

How easily we forget the meaning of Christmas during this holiday season! Our energies become scattered as we rush to buy gifts for others and prepare elaborate meals. Our need to please others can cause us to forget what our souls are truly longing for. Take a moment to return to center and keep your eyes focused on The One who is coming.

When our lives are stuck, we demand God to change things. It can be frustrating when God doesn’t answer our prayers. We then get tempted to retreat, to backslide, rather than wait patiently for the light to come. Evelyn Underhill gives some gentle words of wisdom to help us wait.

Christianity and yoga complement each other very well. The Gospels give us a perfect role model of how to be, and yoga philosophy guides us in how we can remove barriers that get in the way. What’s most important is who is at the center of our lives. Yoga teaches that we become yoked with who or what we put on the pedestal, whether it’s God, ourselves, or our worldly pursuits.

To a certain degree, we all crave a little more power—power over others, power over our situations, power over ourselves. We know that craving worldly power can be futile because once we have it, it can easily be stolen. Worldly power is about competition. Worldly power strengthens the “I, me, and my” and ultimately results in isolation and loneliness. Instead, we use these three mystical powers t...

The word “repent” really is a buzz-kill, isn’t it? Words like “repent” really turn people away from religion. Let’s face it, many people don’t like to hear that the way they’ve been living is “wrong.” But the word repent in the Bible is a mistranslation of the Greek word “metanoia.” It’s taking a step back and looking at your life differently. Metanoia is a challenge for us to see things from a ne...

Embark on a transformative journey of spiritual reflection with this guided audio meditation, drawing inspiration from Ignatian imaginative prayer. This immersive experience focuses on the sacred scene from the Gospel of Luke, vividly bringing to life the profound moment when Mary and Joseph welcome the birth of Jesus. Allow your mind to wander through the rich tapestry of this biblical event, fos...

The world can easily sweep us away with its collective anger and anxiety. It feeds on our own anxiety and anger, gathering strength to destroy whatever peace and compassion that might exist. It’s up to us to take moments every day to sit in stillness to reconnect with virtues that serve God and his creation. This gives us the energy and mindset to effect positive change in the world.

If we hold everything in the Bible close to our hearts, which translation do you use? Some translations of the Bible are rigid, and others use language that we don’t use today. Let’s face it, that turns people off. That’s why it’s important to understand that our faith and love are beyond words and language. The book I quote is from Neil Douglas-Klotz, “Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus.”

A lot of self-help and self-care strategies emphasize finding yourself or finding your authentic self. While some methods are helpful in stripping away attitudes and behaviors that hurt us and others, others might be strengthening our persona, our ego, or our superficial self. We eventually learn that we must dissolve any concept of self, any ideas of I, me, and mine, to experience connection with...

In today’s political arena, it’s hard to find Christian leaders. Many will say they’re Christian with their lips yet their behavior says otherwise. Very few act with humility but many act with pride and vainglory. Yet these leaders should be subjected to a higher standard because they serve as role models in our society. If a U.S. Senator, Congressman, or presidential candidate uses vile or proud...

Whether we’ve accomplished little or accomplished a lot in our lives, we’re all loved by God. To compare ourselves or herald others as “better” is just the ego talking. All that can easily be stripped away in an instant, but that doesn’t mean our souls lose value.

It’s not surprising that many people are leaving Christian churches when we see such bad examples of them in the media. Some Christians have extreme worldviews, and when they have positions of power such as the Speaker of the House, they become role models for the whole of Christianity. Yet these extremes aren’t the norm, and they turn people away from Christianity altogether. It’s important for a...

Matthew Perry wanted to be known as a seeker. To a certain extent, we’re all seekers. We’re all seeking something, whether it’s more money, more adulation, or more pleasure. Spiritual seekers know that we’re all really searching for something transcendent. We’re searching for meaning beyond our daily triumphs and troubles. Yet in a sense, we are already found.