I’ve mused to myself that my daily hikes are “God-walks”.  God holds an invisible leash attached to me, and I follow where God leads.   Understanding that I’m on a God-walk snaps me out of the small-“s” selfishness of thinking that my life is my own, that I make all my own decisions consciously, that I’m the master of my own fate and the captain of my own ship. 

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We must have the freedom to seek the truth and follow where it leads us, or we will lose our democracy and lose our faith.  Good religion is a foundation for democracy, and democracy is a foundation for the flourishing of good religion.

Beauty is a trap. A trap set all around me, as I walk to and from the Metro Red Line Subway station at Hollywood and Vine on my daily commute. Huge electronic billboards depicting idealized, unrealistically beautiful people demand the attention of the little, actual humans scurrying around on the sidewalks below.

WE NEED TO STOP LETTING THE SMALL THINGS SLIDE. Stop putting yourself and your needs first. Stop blaming the world outside for your irritation. Stop making excuses for not treating this world as though your every action matters. Stop pretending that the occasional Chick-fil-A doesn’t make a difference. 

If our knowledge of God can only be accessed through faith, and if the divinity of Jesus can only be affirmed through faith, why do we act and speak as if faith is the same as empirical knowing?

I come from a traditional evangelical upbringing and have embraced catholicismCatholicism. However, I am also exploring the more modern Christian concepts as related by Bishop Spong and Rev. Matthew Fox. I am very attracted to those concepts and want to incorporate them into my spirituality, along with Buddhist and native American wisdom.

PATHWAYS Theological Education, Inc., is a Progressive Christian learning community seeking to empower transformative leadership for justice and peace within and beyond the church by engaging heart and mind to consider what it means to know, love and serve God in today’s changing world. 

How do we build a better world? One key way, says Cindy Wang Brandt, is by learning to raise our children with justice, mercy, and kindness.

I pray that as we humans expand our own spiritual consciousness we will outgrow all of the assumptions we’ve nurtured about our innate superiority.

What follows is a conversation I had at the Goose last year, with my friend Mona Haydar. Mona is a Syrian-American rapper, poet, activist, practitioner of Permaculture, meditator, composting devotee, mountain girl, solar power lover, and a tireless God-enthusiast.

Throughout his time on Earth, Jesus makes it very clear that riches should be stored in Heaven, not during this lifetime. He makes several references to rich men and poor men and tells us exactly how we’re supposed to give up everything for Him.

Mystical activism begins with mystical consciousness: an intentionally awakened, the thought-free, sacred of awareness of the mystic that transforms the experience of our self, our work, and the world itself.

Most of us did not know what was happening, but we do now. The industrial age offered to humanity comforts and conveniences never before imagined, but what we are now discovering is that the bedrock of this modern civilization is a resource that we have unwittingly and precipitously transformed into what could be the cause of our own destruction.

The most effective treatment for depression or addiction, the best way to prevent suicide, is to strengthen a person’s connections to people, meaningful work, and nature.

Work out your faith and renew hope through our film library of spiritual leaders and contemplative pieces.

A life with renewed purpose, healthy spirituality, embodied values, meaningful connection with others, and hope for a more just future.

I write, speak, podcast, and build community surrounding faith shifting issues and anxieties. I want to build the world I want to live in—together, with you.

    When I Am Among the Trees When I am among the trees,
 especially the willows and the honey locust, 
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
 they give off such hints of gladness, 
I …