Dear friends,

This letter is a gentle reminder — for you and for me — to keep coming back to the spiritual practices that lead to life. 

Lead to life is an important way to say it. Because habits that are life-giving aren’t necessarily ones we look forward to. 

For me, two practices in particular bear good fruit, but they rarely ​“just happen” — it requires some intentionality and a little kickstart by the will. Both have to do with finding words to connect with God: journaling and praying aloud. 

In some contemplative practices, like centering prayer, words fade away and we keep quiet company with God as we would a friend on a park bench. But coming to a place of wordless abiding often means passing through words, not going around them. 

That’s because so much is churning deep inside us. Conscious thought is only a glimmer of the fast-flowing subterranean river of our subconscious. 

When we journal or pray or sing aloud — even if we borrow someone else’s words, like those from a Psalm or poet — an outlet is created for that river; the flow of unformed thought comes into the light, gets clarified, and slows its pace. 

Our disappointments, frustrations, and grief — our longings, joy, and praise — need a place to go. God is waiting to receive them. To receive us. Finding words for what’s unspoken inside us is a way to give ourselves to God.