Thoughts on a Contemplative Reformation
At the Intersection of Contemplative Practice, Poetic Imagination, and Congregational Ministry
On a bench at the auto shop To take time each day to sit in quietness, to sit still in the busyness that presses upon us and lures us like a siren to join it and yield our groundedness to the distractions that sap our soul. To sit, to plant ourselves in one place,... Continue Reading →
Guard Your Heart A Reflection for June 14, 2020 The Rev. Dr. Stuart Higginbotham You should know I had an entirely different sermon written for today, but yesterday I really struggled to know what to say right now. The original words I had crafted so carefully, with quotes by Meister Eckhart that weaved with the... Continue Reading →
Spider Web Meditation You must sit still with the rays of light riding through the branches on chariots of dust to see the shimmer of the thin strand of the spider’s web that connects this leaf with that one over there. In this moment of stillness, of stillness, it shocks you: The connection of... Continue Reading →
Some masks are going on; Other masks are coming off: The struggle of living in community Pentecost 2020 Stuart Higginbotham Last week, I made my first pastoral visit in two months. Two months. I had to get special permission from the bishop to go and visit Ann Beadling in the nursing home wing of... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clh8odj0Iiw Stone and Water Be a stone, planted firm as a cliff, on which the waves of reaction are exhausted and eventually settle and gently lap the sandy shore. Be a stream of water, a river, whose persistent flow and presence crosses the rigid boundary of the stone by passing through it--and beyond. ... Continue Reading →
Master of Divinity Months back I took all my diplomas off my office wall and replaced them with paintings and icons that I swapped out from time to time to see how a change in the sunlight would catch an eye. I could not help but laugh out loud when I lifted one particular... Continue Reading →
A Community with Good Bones The Sixth Sunday of Easter The Rev. Dr. Stuart Higginbotham When we were looking for a new house early last year, we worked with a realtor and gave him a random mixture of qualities and items that we were looking for. I wanted a fireplace, Lisa wanted it not to... Continue Reading →
Heart-shaped rocks I don’t know if heart-shaped rocks are rare, but I know it is rare that I see one on a walk. Maybe it’s because I don’t pay attention, but today I saw these two stones lying beside each other, so I brought them home to teach me. SH 5/13/2020
Like children running The dappled rays of light squeeze through the branches like children running through their parents’ legs to go outside and play in the grass. They almost giggle as they launch out into the day and join the swallows who greet them there. SH 5/12/2020
Sanctuary Light I slip into the nave for a moment of prayer, which, while it makes my soul sing, also stokes heaviness in my heart that I am sitting here alone, with teary eyes. The light streams through stained glass like it always does this time of day and year, yet never so wonderfully... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on a Contemplative Reformation 