“We’re shoulder to shoulder with many universes”

Plus a new Lenten offering for you

Enjoy this week’s labor of loves:

Currently reading Dacher Keltner’s Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life & dreaming of a theology of awe.

“We’re shoulder to shoulder with many universes; countless lives, hopes, dreams and fears as complicated as our own, all clustered in the same crowded shops, train cars and sidewalks. Why ignore all that?” Stop Ignoring All The Mundane Miracles In Your Life (let me know if you need a gift article to read behind the NYT paywall).

Lisa Hendey speaks truth to anyone who’s ever been frustrated by healing’s slow pace. Love her practice of praying a “waiting Rosary” in the doctor’s office: Being A Patient Is Slowly Teaching Me About Patience.

On Being’s recent episode with Nick Cave surfaced the most unexpected conversation on spirituality and faith. Still thinking about this one: Loss, Yearning, Transcendence.

My hair is growing back after chemo—softer, lighter, changed—so I was deeply moved by the latest Substack from

Sharifa

Stevens: a vulnerable reflection on losing her hair and the gratitude that remains.

For Lent, for you

As a thank you to paid subscribers of The Holy Labor, I wanted to offer something for Lent this year. To be honest, I’m worn out on the usual devotionals. So I decided to dip into a book I’ve been working on for several years on Pray Both Sides. 

While teaching how to pray both sides (a practice I periodically do on Instagram), the book also wrestles with different sides of God. I dug into Scripture to find pairings of images of God that appear to be opposites but end up revealing more of the mystery.

While I won’t give away what’s unique about the book quite yet, I want to share more of it with you. (I’m also refreshing much of the material because—go figure!—slamming up against your own mortality makes you reexamine everything you believe.)

Each Sunday in Lent, I’ll send a special “mini-chapter” to paid subscribers for your Lenten reflection, including:

• two Scripture passages with different images of God

• a new essay exploring “both sides”

• a breath prayer

• ways to pray both sides with these images of God

• and an invitation to offer your own petitions

While my usual content is free to everyone, I want to keep this Lenten offering as a special thanks to those who are supporting my work and my family during this hard year. I also want to limit this work-in-progress to a smaller audience before it makes its way into the world. So…

if you like when I do “pray both sides” on Instagram,
if you want a simple way to reflect through Lent,
if you’ve ever wondered about contradictory sides of God’s nature, 
if you’re wrestling with prayer or faith these days,
if you want an extra essay each week,

I hope this Lenten taste of Pray Both Sides will meet you right where you need it.

To receive the Sunday offerings starting on Feb. 18, you can join for only $5/month.

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