how faint a whisper

glimpses of God in a heaven-crammed earth

crafting spaces both in and out of the ordinary to see, wonder, and journey with God

I am passionate about holistic spiritual formation: the truth that God is creative, huge, and ordinary, and that the whole of our lives in the world and with the people around us is constantly shaping us. “Every common bush” of our lives afire with God.

There are innumerable ways to pursue greater intimacy with God, but three areas of focus rise to the surface from the the way I have been formed, and shape the spaces I want to craft for others.

“To move slowly and deliberately through the world, attending to one thing at a time, strikes us as radically subversive, even un-American. We cringe from the idea of relinquishing, in any moment, all but one of the infinite pos­sibilities offered us by our culture. Plagued by a highly diffuse attention, we give ourselves to everything lightly. That is our poverty. In saying yes to everything, we attend to nothing. One can only love what one stops to observe.” – Belden Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes

Much of the spiritual journey is learning to see. Attentiveness provokes wonder, and wonder can change our lives. I love crafting deliberate practices and spaces that help us learn to see God, and our lives, in new and wonderous ways.

We are embodied creatures and physical spaces matter. We encounter God primarily in our physical bodies, not merely in a removed “heart” or “mind”, and the space around us can be a catalyst and conduit to seeing God. Whether through the beauty of the created world or simply a well-thought-out room, I love crafting spaces that by their shifted norms and tangible engagement create opportunities to see God.

We can’t do ANY of this alone. We are created for relationship; and life with God, though it contains plenty that is personal, is not meant to be just about “me and God.” We are meant to witness with and for each other and be profoundly shaped by the impact of true relationship with others. I love crafting communal spaces, formal or informal, that give opportunity to bear witness to and for each other to God’s presence and work. (Ps 66:16)

“…for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”

-Gerard Manley Hopkins, As Kingfishers Catch Fire

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