Following Spirit

This is a reflection that was offered at the monthly Celtic Service at Church of the Ascension in Knoxville, TN. Have you ever listened to a song and found yourself in tears? The breath of the Spirit often uses music to crack open our hearts & bring us to a feeling of deep aliveness.

This meditation is an opportunity to create sacred space to be with and let be whatever might be restless within your mind, heart space, gut, body, soul &/or spirit. When we turn towards our own experience with compassion we have the opportunity to not only listen to whatever wisdom the restlessness might have to share, we also realize we come home to the presence of a loving God right there w...

This is a meditation that utilizes both body awareness, connection with the breath, Spirit and your own soul. Towards the end of the meditation is a brief body scan that prompts the opening to receive the fruits of the Spirit in every fiber and cell of our being in addition to our souls and spirits. 

This meditation works with how we might open ourselves to receive the fruits of the Spirit. Coming to stillness and coming home to our bodies and breath create the foundation to best connect with the breath of the Holy Spirit. Connected to the Spirit's presence and movement within us, we can open ourselves to receive any or all of the nine fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness...

This meditation is a Christian version of loving kindness meditation that works with the notion of grace- God’s love and favor towards us. The meditation works with both receiving God’s love, blessings, & gifts of the Spirit, while also offering blessings of loving kindness to others.

This is a meditation crafted after the LIVE meditations I offer every Saturday morning at 8am eastern on Insight Timer. You can find more information about these live events on my website www.carolinevogel.com. You can also find links to more recorded meditations both on my website and on my teacher page on Insight Timer. 

This was a sermon preached Sunday, February 27th- Transfiguration Sunday. The sermon explores how part of our walk with God is opening and allowing ourselves to radiate the love of God.

We don't always have 20 minutes to sit in meditation and be mindful of a holy sense of blessing. We oftentimes need to be reminded of God's blessing when we're on the fly, in the midst of our hectic and busy lives. So, this 3 minute meditation was crafted to practice on the fly. Any time you have three minutes and want to come home to a sense of blessing, there you are. This meditation on blessing...

This meditation is created to bring to mind something or someone you're holding in your heart, mind, soul, spirit with a sense of blessing. We work with the definition of blessing offered by John O'Donohue in his book To Bless the Space Between Us . O'Donohue shares, "A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal, and strengthen." This meditation crafts sacred space for a...

This meditation was crafted to assist all of us who get too busy in our lives and forget to come home to a loving God dwelling within us. The meditation offers the practitioner the opportunity to ground in the body and breath and then lean into the wisdom Jesus shares with Mary in Luke 10:38-42. Though Martha truly believes her actions are superior to her sister's, Jesus sheds light on in the real...

This sermon was preached Christmas Eve 2021. The sermon highlights the reality that following God rarely leads to a predictable path. From the human eye, our lives of faith can look like one curveball after another. What if the curveballs are portals for God to meet us- the Emmanuel- God with us? 

This is an Advent sermon focused on how we can live into a greater sense of joy even amidst the darkness.

This meditation invites the listener into a time of quiet stillness to honor the season of Advent using The First Song of Isaiah. Surely, it is God who saves me; I will trust in him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and he will be my Savior.

My grandmother didn’t go down in history as famous; she didn’t accomplish anything grand or exceptional. Yet, she was very much a Saint to me in that she shined the Light of Christ into my life, shared God’s love with me, and drew me closer to our loving God. The celebration of All Saint’s Day is an opportunity to remember all the saints in our lives- those we can no longer see or touch or feel, t...

This sermon is a shout out to all my fellow Ted Lasso fans out there woven with the gospel reading Mark 10:46-52. Our belief in God and ourselves can truly set us free to follow The Way. Thanks be to God!

This sermon speaks to the reality that disagreements can be difficult to work through in loving relationships.

Do you ever feel as if you’re carrying around a lot in a metaphorical backpack? Worries, fears, preoccupations? This sermon looks at how lightening our load can empower us to live into the wisdom of Ephesians 4:25-5:2. God can do infinitely more with us when we receive God’s peace that surpasses all understanding.

Ever think about how God uses the pieces of our lives to stitch together a tapestry of Hod’s goodness? This sermon reflects on this idea and how we are called to share with good friends and the world God’s goodness in our lives. Our faith is always emerging, and we have so much to learn from each other. ♥️🕊

Living an embodied faith encompasses worshipping in a mindful way. Over the last year and a half I’ve enjoyed and come to greatly appreciate worshipping in the Celtic Tradition within The Episcopal Church. This episode reflects on the inherent wisdom and mindful practices embedded in the the Celtic Tradition, the ease of rest in the quiet & stillness, and the connections this tradition offers our...

This sermon was preached for The Diocese of East Tennessee in the celebration of Pentecost. The story of Pentecost is powerful, informative to our faith and relevant to how we live our lives even in 2021. May you experience the Holy Spirit guiding you into all truth and may you have the courage to go where She leads.

A version of this sermon was preached to the Foothills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on May 2, 2021. Everyone has a heartsong- the notes that sing from within that tell the story of who we are and our deepest longings. One of the many gifts of novels, memoirs, movies and tv shows is that we have the opportunity to draw connections and watch patterns emerge as characters develop. Noticing these...

A version of this sermon was preached Sunday, April 18, 2021 @ The Episcopal Church of the Ascension. Scripture readings are for the third Sunday in Eastertide including 1 John 3:1-7 & Luke 24: 36b-48.

This sermon is about taking on grace in the wilderness of Lent, trusting God’s love & favor reaches us even, especially in our struggles. A version of this sermon was preached March 14, 2021 on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Includes verses from Ephesians 2:1-10.

This an Advent sermon for the third week of Advent. It pulls from Isaiah 61, Psalm 126, & 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. The third week of Advent asks us to lean into the joyful anticipation of Christ arrival. How do we honor the real grief and sorrow of our pandemic reality and adhere to the wisdom of joyful anticipation? Can we integrate our full experience for a greater sense of wholeness?

This is an Advent reflection offered at a Celtic Service. As the darkness of winter sets in and the virus numbers rage on the prophetic words of Isaiah & gospel message take on a new perspective and promise of hope.