Read. Pray. Write.

IN THIS EPISODE Attention Is Prayer

Matthew 13: 14-17 reminds us that “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”

WRITING PROMPT  So often we go through our day on autopilot, more in-tune with our to-do list than the wonderful world around us. In fact, attention alone can be a form of prayer if it is coupled with gratitude and insight.As you go about the rest of your day, make a point of attention.  Simply pause to appreciate even the smallest observation, the most mundane moment, the most under appreciated person you encounter. Then write down three events, places, people or insights that you “prayed” into attention.

IN THIS EPISODE

Writer and teacher Kaya Oakes offers a selection from a memoir by Richard Rodriguez. She shares her own essay about Medieval mystical women who teach us that even in midlife we can defy confinement and find ways to remain creative.

WRITING PROMPT   Think about a time when you were somehow constrained by your role at home, at work, in your family. What were the limitations?  Were there also opportunities in that role that perhaps you could not see at the time? Write about how you continued to find satisfaction despite a “confinement.” Write about how God gave you the ability then and now to create, whether it was new relationships, novel endeavors, new insights into your life, or artistic work.

About the Guest

Writer Kaya Oakes teaches nonfiction writing at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of four books, including Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture, Radical Reinvention: An Unlikely Return to the Catholic Church, and The Nones Are Alright: A New Generation of Seekers, Believers, and Those In-Between. is a regular contributor to publications such as The New Republic, Slate, The Guardian, America, Commonweal, On Being, National Catholic Reporter, US Catholic, The Washington Post, Sojourners. She has appeared on NPR, the CBC, and on many podcasts. She lives in Oakland, California, where she was born and raised.

IN THIS EPISODE

Writer and teacher Kaya Oakes offers a selection from a memoir by Richard Rodriguez. She shares her own essay about Medieval mystical women who teach us that even in midlife we can defy confinement and find ways to remain creative.

WRITING PROMPT   Think about a time when you were somehow constrained by your role at home, at work, in your family. What were the limitations?  Were there also opportunities in that role that perhaps you could not see at the time? Write about how you continued to find satisfaction despite a “confinement.” Write about how God gave you the ability then and now to create, whether it was new relationships, novel endeavors, new insights into your life, or artistic work.

About the Guest

Writer Kaya Oakes teaches nonfiction writing at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of four books, including Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture, Radical Reinvention: An Unlikely Return to the Catholic Church, and The Nones Are Alright: A New Generation of Seekers, Believers, and Those In-Between. is a regular contributor to publications such as The New Republic, Slate, The Guardian, America, Commonweal, On Being, National Catholic Reporter, US Catholic, The Washington Post, Sojourners. She has appeared on NPR, the CBC, and on many podcasts. She lives in Oakland, California, where she was born and raised.

IN THIS EPISODE God Rewards Our Obedience

This excerpt from Psalm 18 is but a small part of an extensive “gratitude list” by David to God, one in which the king recalls his fear, torment, and misfortunes. He thanks God for delivering him.

WRITING PROMPT    David shows a sophisticated understanding that his salvation was a direct result of obedience and faithfulness.Think of ways in which you have been recently rewarded and write a similar prayer of thanksgiving. Include in your prayer, like David, 3 specific ways your blessings might be connected to incidents of faithfulness, obedience, prudence, etc.

IN THIS EPISODE Wrestling with God

Guest Rev. Heidi Haverkamp shares her interpretation of Jacob’s Wrestling with God at Peniel from Genesis 32, noting that sometimes we must wrestle with ourselves in solitude in order to meet God. Rev. Haverkamp discusses the wisdom of the Rule of St. Benedict that she strives to live by, and reads an excerpt about Hagar of Egypt from her book, Holy Solitude.  

WRITING PROMPT    Go back to a reflection you wrote a month or longer ago. Have you been wrestling with God in the interim and what has changed as a result? How do you see the same observation differently now? What role might God’s guidance have played in your new understanding, your new path?

About the Guest

Rev. Heidi Haverkamp is the author of two books, both published by

Westminster John Knox Press. She is an Episcopal priest and for ten

years, served as a full-time vicar, rector, and senior associate of

parishes in the Chicago area. She has published articles in magazines

such as The Christian Century, Gather, and U.S. Catholic. She is an

oblate (associate) of Holy Wisdom Monastery in Wisconsin, a small,

ecumenical monastic community for women.  

IN THIS EPISODE Reclaiming Our Soul's Soil

Even when we are faithful, challenges in our lives can be the “rocks and thorns” that make it difficult to bear fruit for God. Matthew 13:18-23.

WRITING PROMPT  We’ve heard this parable many times, but when Pope Francis interpreted it (Agelus Address, July 16, 2017) he encouraged us to consider how the “soil” of of our lives changes over time, and that any soil can be reclaimed and bear fruit. He suggested that we sometimes have “rocks of laziness” and we don’t go deep enough in our spirituality. Thorns might be our possessions or living just for ourselves, which “choke God’s growth within us.”Spend some time now thinking of the rocks and thorns in your life. Write down the impediments that might be preventing you from hearing God’s word deeply, from flourishing and bearing fruit for Him. End by praying for God’s grace as the good sower, to pull out these weeds in your life.  

IN THIS EPISODE Could It Be that God is Singing?

Guest Becca J. R. Lachman, a librarian and singer-songwriter whose work is being considered for the hymnal of the Mennonite Church U.S.A, discusses how writing poetry and lyrics has helped her get through “dark nights of the soul.”

WRITING PROMPT    Singer-songwriter Lachman discussed revision of a song of worship with new lyrics or poetry in order that gives voice to contemporary issues in order to “carry God’s light to others.” If you could (re)write a hymn in the words you’ve always wanted to sing in a place of worship, what would those words be, and why? 

About the Guest

Becca Lachman is a writer, singer-songwriter, and recovering adjunct professor living in Appalachian Ohio. In 2012, Becca edited the national anthology A Ritual to Read Together: Poems in Conversation with William Stafford. She’s also the author of two poetry collections of her own: Other Acreage, an ode-elegy to her family’s 1840s dairy farm, and The Apple Speaks, which explores being a wife/daughter of loved ones doing nonviolent peace work in war-torn places. She most recently co-edited an issue of the Journal for Mennonite Writing on the theme “Traditions in Translation.”   

IN THIS EPISODE Love like God's never ends

In Romans 8: 31b-35, 37-39 we are​ reminded that the best human relationships mimic Christ’s love: a fidelity that unites all, is unbreakable, and gives us the confidence to overcome any difficulty. Even death cannot end that kind of love.

WRITING PROMPT    Now take the time to think about a deceased person you loved.
As a way to describe your love for that person, both when they were on Earth and now, make a list of ways you loved them. Write down how your love is modeled after God’s love for you.For example, did your love require forgiveness? Understanding? Appreciation? And so on. Then consider how longing for that person and recalling memories brings not sadness but nearness to them.End your writing session with a reflection of how remembering God’s love for you also brings Him closer to your daily experiences.

SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS    Feel free to share your writing as a comment to this post.

IN THIS EPISODE In Faith, as in Art, There are No Deadends

Guest Jessica Mesman reads Graham Greene and discusses how she experiences God through her writing. She also shares an excerpt of a recent article in America Magazine.  “[Writing] is how I come to any small scrap of understanding, compassion, love,” she says. 

WRITING PROMPT    Mesman’s reaction to the crisis in the Church caused by priest abuse and cover-up is to find alternative voices, to expand her imagination and rebuild her perspective as a witness of faith. Are there aspects of your life or part of your voice and experience that do not “fit” with traditional definitions of belief and faith? Describe them and why you feel this way. Might these “dead-ends” actually lead to deeper faith? Describe how your experience, your doubts might actually be a  just a different form of faith.

About the Guest

Jessica Mesman is a widely published writer whose work has been noted in Best American Essays. She is currently the blog and podcast editor for Image Journal. She’s a cultural columnist for US Catholic Magazine, where she has written about David Bowie, Green Nuns and Stranger Things. She often writes about the intersections of faith and psychology and creativity. She founded the award-winning blog Sick Pilgrim.

IN THIS EPISODE Finding Joy after Grief by Closeness with God.

In John 16: 20, 22-24,  Christ prepares his disciples for the grief they will experience at the Crucifixion, reminding them-and us-that if we ask of God, we will receive, and experience profound joy.

WRITING PROMPT Whether you are experiencing a time of grief or not, write about 2-3 specific ways you feel close to the Lord in daily life through gratitude for the good gifts lavished upon you as a child of God. When we can distinguish the presence and action of the Lord in every created thing and through every circumstance, we experience a joy unknown to the world.