God In All Things

Hastiness reveals the spirit that treats even sacred practices as achievements to be completed rather than journeys to be trusted. The labyrinth teaches us that God's path is inefficient by the world's standards, winding away from the center just when we think we're getting close, requiring patient trust rather than strategic speed.

On a recent pilgrimage to Spain visiting Ignatian sites, I wrestled with how ornate decoration and costly adornments often obscure St. Ignatius's radical journey from opulence to simplicity. The sacred exists not in elaborate structures but in the simple, authentic presence that connects us to the God who dwells in living stones rather than buildings.

Charlie Kirk's assassination and the contrasting responses at his memorial service—his widow's radical forgiveness versus calls for political warfare—reveal the collision between authentic Gospel witness and civil religion in American Christianity. Our culture's addiction to immediate mobilisation after tragedy robs us of the contemplative space necessary for genuine transformation, replacing the narrow path of forgiveness with the broad highway of tribal retaliation.

The recent proposal to rename the Department of Defense to the Department of War represents more than a simple change in terminology—it reveals a fundamental shift from defensive protection to aggressive warfare as a primary orientation. This linguistic change challenges Christians to examine whether our ultimate trust lies in military might or in the God who calls us to be peacemakers and transforms symbols of violence into instruments of redemption.

Christian hope is a steady posture of the heart that joins human longing to God’s greater plan. It endures with patience, recognising that the ultimate promise transcends individual lifetimes.

Neuroscience research reveals that revenge activates the same reward circuits in our brains as addictive drugs, keeping us trapped in what Ignatian spirituality calls the "false self." Faith-based practices like prayer and meditation literally rewire the brain for mercy over retaliation, offering a path to the spiritual freedom that comes when we choose forgiveness over the ego's demand for revenge.

I recently had a fascinating conversation with Will Dennis, a high school theology teacher and founder of Unscripted Productions, an improv studio dedicated to helping individuals and teams discover their full potential. With a unique background spanning professional theatre, campus ministry, and applied improvisation, Will currently teaches world religions and discernment at Villa Joseph Marie, an all-girls Catholic high school in Pennsylvania.

What makes Will's work particularly compelling is his conviction that improv—rooted in radical acceptance and contribution—can genuinely change the world. In our discussion, we explored the profound connections between improvisational theatre and spirituality, particularly through the lens of Ignatian principles like presence, discernment, and finding God in all things. Will shared how improv has become a laboratory for experiencing deep spiritual truths about acceptance, vulnerability, and collaborative co-creation, offering insights that bridge the sacred and the seemingly silly in remarkable ways.

Read Will's Substack

Unscripted Productions

God's emotional responses are not rooted in ego or woundedness like human resentment, despair, or vengeance. Instead, divine emotions such as righteous anger, sadness, concern, disappointment, and the desire for justice flow from unconditional love and seek the wholeness and restoration of all creation.

Western Christianity often approaches artificial intelligence with anxiety rooted in dualistic thinking that separates the spiritual from the material, human from machine. Non-dualistic elements within Christian traditions, particularly Ignatian spirituality, offer a more integrated vision that can help us engage with AI as a potential extension of divine creativity rather than a threat to human uniqueness.

Gratitude forms the cornerstone of Ignatian spirituality, establishing the proper relationship between the gift-giver God and humans as recipients rather than takers. This fundamental orientation shapes our entire spiritual life, fostering virtues like humility and generosity whilst providing a powerful antidote to anxiety and negativity.