Enjoy Spring at River Place Woodland Retreat in Preston, MN through the lens of Mark Cavanaugh, a contemplative photographer and family friend.

Discover the quiet wisdom of shared silence on retreat. Erin Sim reflects on deep listening, sacred pauses, and finding presence beyond words.

Fear is everywhere—in our bodies, in our headlines, and in the lives of those we accompany. In this webinar recap, we explore how spiritual direction can offer compassionate, courageous presence amid anxiety and trauma. Drawing on metaphors like the “tangled knot,” and practices that name, normalize, and nurture fear, we consider what it means to companion others toward integration and trust, even when certainty is out of reach.

A personal reflection and poetic summary of When Stories Wound by Nathaniel Samuel—exploring identity, love, and healing in a polarized world.

In a world facing deep spiritual and ecological challenges, we need leaders who are both wise and resilient. My "why" is clear: Encouraging the leaders we need to sustain our spiritual and ecological futures. This vision takes shape through three new initiatives: STRENGTHSForward, integrating CliftonStrengths with ancient practices; Shadoems, a poetry collection exploring life's complexities; and Spiritual Directors on Practical Questions, a webinar collaboration with Saint John's. Each is designed to help individuals take a spiritually grounded and constructive step forward—wherever they begin. Join me in cultivating leadership rooted in wisdom, reflection, and action.

Poetry invites us to the edges of our awareness, guiding us into liminal spaces where we encounter the unseen and unwelcomed within ourselves. Shadow work—acknowledging and integrating the hidden aspects of who we are—requires courage, curiosity, and creativity. This collection of poems serves as a companion on that journey, offering glimpses of insight, moments of tension, and invitations to deeper freedom.

Discover how ancient Christian wisdom can transform modern leadership. Learn to cultivate hope, trust, compassion, and stability through Benedictine stability, Ignatian discernment, and Desert spirituality. Integrate timeless spiritual practices to foster a thriving, faith-centered leadership approach.

Explore the difference between discernment and deliberation in decision-making with insights from jury duty. In this blog post, Samuel Rahberg reflects on the nuances of thoughtful judgment and how they apply to everyday choices.

This winter, a small group discovered the ripple effects of simple habits like drinking 2 liters of water daily. Keystone practices—cornerstone habits that inspire intention and connection—can transform your days and relationships. Wood & Water Retreats invites you to reclaim or begin practices that ground and renew you. Start your year with one meaningful step.

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?”