As winter approaches and the weather gets colder, I find myself looking out the window a lot. I gaze at the beauty of nature, the bare trees and the leaves piling on the ground. I sometimes feel melancholy. Maybe it’s the time of year, maybe the time of life. I gaze out at the serene setting, and suddenly there’s a bolt of movement. A huge black-and-white magpie flies by or a deer appears and stares me in the eye. Whole-body... Read more

A few years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Sobonfu Somé and host a grief ritual at my home. Sobonfu, of the Dagara people of West Africa, was a teacher by example and a storyteller in the oral tradition. She left this world Jan. 14, 2017, and her wisdom is now available to us as an ancestral spirit. In the village Sobonfu was from, ritual sacramentalized all activities and relationships. The community came together to express feelings and... Read more

As we mourn the victims of another mass shooting, we are flooded with emotions, numbness being one of them. We mourn the lives lost, as well as the loss of the world as we knew it. Perhaps we even see the dysfunction and unhealed wounds, both individual and collective. Acknowledge your feelings How do we hold the place of peace inside of ourselves and the world in the midst of madness and malignancy? We cannot put our heads in the... Read more

Shanah Tovah! Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and a two-day celebration beginning this year on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at sunset. In memory of our dear Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, please be blessed here as he shares his wisdom: About prayer As a Jew, I have liturgy for three, four times a day, plus many, many blessings each day—of our food, and even going to the bathroom and acknowledging that everything works—and you say a thank you prayer for that.... Read more

Hurricane Irma swept through the Caribbean leaving mass devastation in her wake. As she continued up into Florida, I wondered: Where do the birds go? I have heard of animals having a sense or “radar” that alerts them to oncoming storms in time to get out of danger’s way. Birds can hear infrasound and also are sensitive to barometric pressure. Being tuned into the changes of nature is a guiding principle that we too are part of. But how often... Read more

If you pray, to whom do you pray? Is it “God”? What is your concept for God? Do you have one (or more) that you no longer embrace, have grown out of, or threw away? If this describes you, we have something in common. Like you, I was left high and dry as I explored new territory and names for the unknown. As I sat with Ultimate Reality, Ground of Being, All That Is, and many more, I was intrigued... Read more

As I shared and collected prayers from hundreds of people for my book How Do You Pray?, I realized that I was part of a prayerfield—and so are you. It’s an energetic flow of love for ourselves, each other, the Earth, and “the divine,” by any name we acknowledge that. The constant flow of love There are always people praying, any time of the day or night, in every language and religion, with words and without, keeping the vigil of... Read more

Prayer isn’t an escape from our normal existence, but a key and valid way to fully immerse ourselves in our individual and communal Life. Read more

I tell my stories, you tell yours; I share my prayers, you share yours. And we create something beautiful together. Read more