What is inviting you beyond your own comforts and capacities in this season of your life? How are you feeling called to watch yourself, attend to the task at hand, and lean into blessing?

This talk follows a presentation by Fr. Michael Peterson OSB about the vision and intersections of Laudato Si (Pope Francis' encyclical on the care for our common home) and The Rule of St. Benedict. I pick up the thread of a vision for the Common Good with Benedict's wisdom about embodied practices. Essentially, our care for one another and for the planet must be rooted in concrete expressions of a faith and commitment that reflects the Incarnation. Hosted by the Northern Midwest Plains Region of North American Benedictine Oblates.

We need writing to downshift from fragmentation and overstimulation, to give more of our hearts over to the present moment, and to remember what we discover in those encounters. Poems, for example, are testimony to that very process. In this two-part webinar, poets Victor Klimoski and Samuel Rahberg explore stories of wonder and do-able writing practices that enable any of us to listen.

A book summary in poem-like form, drawing from the author’s own language. In this case, a call to robust and grace-filled love for our neighbors from Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis in Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World. (New York: Harmony Books, 2021).

A book summary in poem-like form, drawing from the author’s own language. In this case, wisdom for our times from Steven Charleston in Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage (Minneapolis: Broad Leaf Books, 2021).

Incarnation—God in the flesh—is central to the Christian witness. The pandemic has challenged our assumptions about what community looks like and what tools we use to nurture human connection. The heart of the matter is nothing less than Incarnation. What does it mean to face this moment in an embodied way, to sense the invitations, and to practice Incarnation?

The bar has been raised, and is rising even higher, as we all scramble to improve our use of web conferencing, live streaming, and video editing. As spiritual directors and retreat leaders, we are eager to pool our learning about accompanying others online so that we can all exercise our listening and leading as effectively as these times demand.

Life has become a crash course in discernment. The learning objectives? Acknowledge pressures at a pandemic scale, turn to witness, and practice life.

This meditation practices a less anxious presence, from the sights and sounds of a water glass tipping to experiencing connection with a much wider world.

This reflection continues an exploration of the unknown in our inner worlds, sometimes called the shadow. Part 1 took up the question “What Is Shadow?” while parts 2 and 3 follow the questions “What Do We Do with Shadow?” and “What Is the Gift of Shadow?”

This reflection continues an exploration of the unknown in our inner worlds, sometimes called the shadow. Part 1 took up the question “What Is Shadow?” while parts 2 and 3 follow the questions “What Do We Do with Shadow?” and “What Is the Gift of Shadow?”

This reflection kicks off a three-part exploration of the unknown in our inner worlds, sometimes called the shadow. Part 1 takes up the question “What Is Shadow?” while parts 2 and 3 follow the questions “What Do We Do with Shadow?” and “What Is the Gift of Shadow?”

My artist sister, Natalie Rahberg, and I are pleased to announce the release of The Gospel of Luke in Poem and Image. It is our third collaboration with the Gospels, combining my efforts to simplify the text into "reader's poems" with her response expanding the text through visual arts. It is a pleasure for us to share our prayer with others. Enjoy a pair of examples.

The everyday and lasting pressures of ministry can take their toll on Christian leaders—and venting only helps so much. Thankfully, what we can learn from the practice of spiritual direction is that Christian leaders are not alone in their struggles and that there are ways to notice and reflect upon our experiences more constructively. God is present and stirring. The sustainability of our callings depends on our paying attention.

These days I need the woods. I need to steal away from everyday pressures and quagmires to wander and wonder within creation. While I cannot quite wholly explain why this feels so natural and important, I am coming to appreciate that experiences in nature restore my perspective. In the woods I encounter touchstones, signs of what is true and genuine that teach me how to remember and recognize the presence of the divine elsewhere.

When it comes to spiritual direction, do you ever feel like everyone else is talking about a book you haven’t read? I have grown to appreciate spiritual direction so much that I don’t want others to feel left out. With this short essay I want to help those who are unfamiliar with the practice find a place to begin.

If I were to boil Enduring Ministry down to two essential actions, both would relate directly to vision. Most importantly, take time for solitude with God and anchor yourself in the vision of being unimaginably loved and cherished. There is no better orientation for ministry. Then, stay connected with those who hold you to a wholesome vision for ministry and who support you in your ongoing discernment.

In sixteen action-packed chapters, the Gospel of Mark makes haste to convince readers of the good news of Jesus Christ. This collection of ninety-one reader's poems, combined with twenty-seven original pieces of art printed in full-color, offers an inviting first read to those new to the Gospel and fresh perspective to those long familiar with its themes. There is no substitute for reading the Scriptures themselves again and again. This resource, in fact, flows directly from that kind of sustained reading. Like artists throughout the centuries, siblings Samuel Rahberg and Natalie Rahberg have employed the disciplines of written word and visual art to share with others the fruits of their own prayer. May each reader be led back to the Christ revealed in the Gospel of Mark. This project follows The Gospel of John in Poem and Image, released in 2016. Readers have expressed appreciation for the artwork in that piece speaks to them when words are too much and the text for invitations deeper into prayer with the Scripture. Samuel Rahberg is a spiritual director and author in Saint Paul, MN. Natalie Rahberg is a working artist in McKinney, TX.

On the far edge of winter

a frozen lake quakes and groans

as a warm sunrise hints at Spring.