The Invitation

It’s been too long. I apologize for disappearing. Doing quarantine for a year with young children is not easy. It’s been difficult to get anything done, yet there has been much goodness for the Invitation even in 2020-2021 that I want to share with you. In this episode I offer good news about this years three cohorts of the School of Prayer, our new spiritual direction practicum, the School of Con...

In November of 2018 Josh sat down for a long-awaited conversation with David Dark, professor of Religion and the Arts at Belmont University. This conversation offers us a bit of sanity as Josh and David consider questions of faith, formation, and politics. In fact, no matter what happens with our election on Nov 3 and the following week, listening to David Dark will help you "slow the tape" and co...

Continuing on with Fr Laird's wonderful text A Sunlit Absence, the second book of his three book series on contemplative prayer. Please be sure to subscribe to keep up with the Invitation Podcast, its retreats, and classes www.invitationpodcast.org/subscribe

This is an update as we transition from summer to the fall. Work with Fr Laird's A Sunlit Absence will resume soon. In the between weeks, Josh is working to recruit and set up the School of Prayer in in-person and perhaps also in distance learning formats. Much of this episode is focused on a guided prayer through questions of racism. We begin with a selection of readings from the first two chapte...

Part XI of marks our journey halfway through Fr Martin Laird's A Sunlit Absence. This episode is the third movement with chapter four. We've spent more time with chapter four because it is the most difficult. If you are having difficulty getting your heart and mind wrapped around chapter four, you are not alone. Press on ahead if and when you sense the goodness of the Holy Spirit drawing. Do not f...

Part X of our journey through Fr Martin Laird's A Sunlit Absence puts us squarely in the middle of the book. This is the second of three treatments of chapter four of the book. As we wade deeper into these waters, Josh wants to give listeners participating more freedom to not only stop listening and working through the book but to even perhaps take a break from the Invitation Podcast altogether. T...

In the context of covid-19, the Invitation has been focusing on A Sunlit Absence, the second of a three-book series on contemplative prayer by Fr Martin Laird. This episode is Part I of two parts comprising an 1.5 hour conversation that Fr Laird so graciously shared with us. Here Josh opens with a brief, guided prayer. Fr Laird shares some opening thoughts about contemplation in the context of all...

Part IX of our journey through Fr Martin Laird's A Sunlit Absence takes us into chapter four which is also titled, "A Sunlit Absence." This is the thickest and most challenging chapter of the book, so before diving into chapter four Josh spends ample time reviewing what is contemplation and why we are bothering with it especially in our present, painful time of pandemic and political strife. The p...

A Reformed Pastor and Catholic Theologian Walk Into a Bar…. No. This isn’t the lead into a joke. These two friends didn’t walk into a bar, they sat in my office in August 2018 to talk about contemplative prayer, the Lord’s prayer, catechism, and theological orthodoxy. As a pause from our series through Fr Martin Laird’s A Sunlit Absence, Pastor Dominic Palacios and Dr Jared Ortiz speak candidly ab...

Part VIII completes chapter three of Fr Martin Laird's book, A Sunlit Absence. Josh offers some more context of Fr Laird's writing by looking at one saying of Abba Arsenius from the 4th century desert sayings. The question for discernment before us is what kind of daily practices, rhythms, disciplines each of us need to cultivate and nurture inner silence so that we can remain open to the love and...

his is part VII of our journey through Fr Martin Laird’s A Sunlit Absence, the second of his three books on contemplative prayer. In the last episode we looked at how the opposite of the contemplative life is not the active life, but the reactive life. In this episode we consider how silence leads us to justice, to an honest awareness of what is broken, sick, and failing inside of ourselves. Fr La...

This episode is part SIX of our journey through Fr Martin Laird's book A Sunlit Absence. Here Josh completes a guided study and practice through chapter two. It is not too late for you to join into this journey especially if you want to join into the webinar Q&A session with Fr Laird. Information and signup to be involved in the Q&A is found here: https://www.invitationpodcast.org/fr-laird-qa-webi...

In the context of the growing race protests across America, Josh checks in with one of his favorite conversation partners, Chris Hoke of Underground Ministries in the Skagit Valley of Washington State. Chris initially appeared in episode 19 in January of 2018. Chris has been a prison chaplain and now also is involved connecting former convicts with local churches. Josh especially wanted to reach o...

To introduce Part V of our journey through Fr Martin Laird's A Sunlit Absence, Josh takes a moment to wrestle with the point of contemplative prayer in the midst of America's current racial upheaval. The two main gifts of contemplation for us as we heal of our racism is: 1. contemplation is divine therapy. It is a safe place to rest, to find healing, and to draw in the life of God as we continue i...

While protests continue to erupt across America, we continue here on a journey into contemplative prayer knowing that contemplation is not an escape from the brokenness around us. Contemplation is not a comfortable way of hiding from the justice that we should all be crying out for today either. Contemplation will deepen and clarify our understanding of justice. Contemplation will help us identify...

This third instalment of our journey through A Sunlit Absence by Fr Marin Laird continues in chapter one. Chapter one is a summary of Laird's previous book, Entering the Silent Land. The intention here is to offer a substantial definition of contemplation as well as offering some practical descriptions of how contemplation is practiced. Bless you for continuing on this journey. May you be blessed...

Part two of a journey of guided prayer, reading, and commentary through A Sunlit Absence by Fr Martin Laird. Buy your own copy of the book and read more in-depth on your own or access the journey through this transformative book with the podcast. A new episode will be offered every second or third day. Questions and comments are welcome. Email josh at invitationpodcast dot org. If you have not alr...

One sentiment offered on social media this past week went something like this: “let's not return to normal. Normal wasn't working. If we try to return to normal, we won't have learned the costly lesson." This is the truth of all transformation. COVID 19 is just a very severe, collective opportunity for us to move beyond "normal." This episode no. 48 is the first of a new series of reading, studyin...

This episode turned out to be two meditations, connected to each other but each worth separate listens. First, Josh walks through some questions for us to consider regarding our experience of being in quarantine. How free are you to accept the trauma of this crisis and to talk to God about your suffering? Then, at around 12 mins in, the episode moves on to Nathan Foster of Renovare guiding a praye...

It's hard to sit still in the midst of confinement and suffering. You are not alone in your struggle. This episode is a re-release of guided prayer through Psalm 131 by Nathan Foster from 2018. We will also be posting a meditation on Psalm 19:14 he also offered in 2018 but was never released. More prayer resources to come soon!

In the midst of our current crisis, I'm re-releasing a guided meditation on Ecclesiastes chapter 3 originally released on Dec 2, 2017. One-third of the Psalms are psalms of lament, yet most of us recoil from speaking honestly with God about our questions, anger, pain, and disappointment. Surely this is a time where we especially need the sacred space of lament. We need to give ourselves and each o...

In the midst of this bizarre, unsettling spread of covid-19, we invite you to continue on your Lenten journey with this episode on chanting the Psalms. Here in episode no. 44, Josh has a discussion with Lacy Finn Borgo of Good Dirt Ministries and Renovare about how singing the Psalms can get this holy, prayer book of the Scriptures into our bodies. What a great help for us always and especially as...

We had intended to release an episode on chanting the Psalms next with Lacy Finn Borgo, but this liturgy led by Maple Avenue Ministries member, AJ Westendorp was too good not to sneak in and share with you. AJ is a former college football player, a Gutamala missionary and is now on staff with Escape Ministries in Holland, MI as well as employed at a local juvenile detention center. Finally, AJ als...

In episode 42 David Taylor, assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, shares from his forthcoming book, Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide to Life. David is one of the many people who have befriended and inspired Josh over the span of many years. Here Josh and David focus on praying the Psalms in a way that will get inside of our bodies, to transform and hea...

This long-format retreat is an audio adaptation of an expanded version Invitation's prayer guide, "40 Ways to Spend 5-Minutes with God." Here just follows a lectio divina style structure using Ephesians 2 and Matthew 6 offering reflections, questions as prompts for prayer, and extended sections of original meditative music to help you explore the depths of prayer. The original prayer guide, “40 Wa...