Join me for (free) Advent prayer!
Plus small things to help healing: art, books, music, and more
First, a gift for you! Join me and the amazing team from the Church in the 21st Century at Boston College for a FREE virtual workshop on Scripture and prayer in Advent. Register here for this gathering on lectio divina and learn how the slow, sacred reading of Scripture can bring a peaceful practice into this season of preparation. I adore praying with lectio, so I can’t wait to share this with you. Tuesday, December 3rd, 12:00 - 1:15 pm ET on Zoom.
Back to recovery-land. Some of us are healing from major surgery; some of us are trying to recover from…everything else. Here are a few small things that are helping to soothe my cranky self. These softest pajamas from Target (top/bottom). This calm + comfort candle from Dayspring. This hilarious, wise talk with Anne Lamott. The delightful distraction of building tiny books.
Books are food. Already shared that Niall Williams’ This Is Happiness was my favorite novel of the year. (Currently waiting impatiently for his latest Time of the Child, set in the same small town in Ireland.) So when a dear friend recommended the book he co-authored with his wife Christine Breen, I jumped. But it’s much more than a gardening memoir: it’s the story of a place, a marriage, and the conflicting times in which we live. In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden.
Need a Christmas present for an art lover? Check out Melissa Diane’s still life calendar of floral photography. I adore Melissa’s work (here’s a photo essay she created for Mothering Spirit). Supporting artists is holy labor right now.
Speaking of stumbling towards holiness, I’m back to starting the day with Pray As You Go. Highly recommend their free guided prayer app. Often features the music of The Porter’s Gate, including Jon Guerra whose latest prophetic songs are a must-listen.
No one tell my surgeon, but I’m hoping to finish an essay on healing for paid subscribers this weekend. (Yeah, I’m not supposed to be writing yet, but to quote Fyodor Dostoevsky, “I don't know how to be silent when my heart is speaking.”) Your support has been invaluable during this off-work season, so please know you are in my prayers of gratitude.
I'll have to check out the pray as you go app! Been listening to a lot of Porter's Gate and Jon Guerra lately <3
It warms my heart every time I encounter a new (passionate!) fan of This is Happiness. It is easily one of my all-time favorite books and one I know I'll continue to re-read (the audiobook also has a great Irish narrator). It's the rare book that I find myself widely proselytizing about but this was definitely one of those. I can't wait to read his newest!