In the first episode of our weekly Lenten series, we invite you to take a moment to slow down, quiet your heart, and hear what God may be saying to you. Throughout the season of Lent, we'll be releasing weekly episodes focused on themes of reflection, prayer, and contemplation.

On March 19, 2021 we were delighted to host Christian author, leader, and teacher, Ruth Haley Barton. Barton is founding President/CEO of the Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to strengthening the souls of Christian leaders and the congregations and organizations they serve. Ruth is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, including Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership and Sacred Rhythms. She reflects regularly on spirituality and leadership in her blog, Beyond Words, and on her podcast Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.

We hope you enjoy this conversation around her book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence. Our attention, Barton believes, has become a commodity that we must protect if we are to avoid being swept away by our distracted age. She invites listeners to engage in these ancient biblical practices to find the rest for our souls that Jesus promises. In this Lenten season, we hope this will inspire you to pursue God’s transforming presence in new ways and contemplatively sit in solitude and silence with the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

Learn more about Ruth Haley Barton.

Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript from March 19, 2021.

Related reading:

A Shocking Lack of Solitude, Cherie Harder

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Blaise Pascal

John Milton

C.S. Lewis

Richard Rohr

Dallas Willard

Henry Nouwen

Shop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew B. Crawford

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Julian of Norwich

Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence, by Ruth Haley Barton

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Confessions | A Trinity Forum Reading by St. Augustine, introduced by James K.A. Smith.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek | A Trinity Forum Reading by Annie Dillard, introduced by Tish Harrison Warren.
Devotions | A Trinity Forum Reading by John Donne, introduced and paraphrased by Philip Yancey.
The Long Loneliness | A Trinity Forum Reading by Dorothy Day, introduced by Anne and David Brooks.
Wrestling with God | A Trinity Forum Reading by Simone Weil, introduced by Alonzo McDonald.
The Pilgrim's Progress | A Trinity Forum Reading by John Bunyan, introduced by Alonzo McDonald.