“Jesus is the point at which heaven and Earth are met. He actualizes on Earth that which will be possible in heaven.” Summer Seminarian Sam Aldred looks to the Gospel for two examples of how we can respond to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is.

“Although we cannot be young forever, we can have inner youthfulness. Being youthful means our hearts are full of passion, love, kindness and sincerity. If we only want to look younger but not to have a child-like heart, we are doing it in a wrong way.” Summer Seminarian Elizabeth Phyu urges us to claim our inner youthfulness by allowing our light to shine.

“Love of God can only be accomplished by committing to the equally large task of love of neighbor as self.” Br. Jim Woodrum tackles the messy, inconvenient, challenging, and essential call to "chesed": loving-kindness, compassion, mercy.

“It doesn’t take much, and in an instant there is a moment, a movement, a presence, a strange voice, a greeting, a command, a promise, and everything is different. It doesn’t take much, and suddenly we are aware of a Presence; of the Divine; of God. It doesn’t take much, and we know that God is in our midst.” Br. James Koester encourages us to keep watch for the many, small, and powerful ways that God acts amidst the ordinary, routine events of our lives.

“More than familiar words of comfort, this prayer challenges our easy temptations to imagine that we ourselves are the authors of our own salvation and the world’s.” Br. Sean Glenn unravels the familiar words of the Lord's Prayer to uncover its difficult revelation.

“A childlike perspective is playful. Open to questions. Exploring possibilities widely. To play is to gaze in wonder. To do something simply because it delights.” On Trinity Sunday, Br. Luke Ditewig invites us to pray playfully, delighting in how we discover God in the mystery beyond knowledge.

“The Church’s worship is not for us alone, but for everyone, regardless of language or culture or race. It is meant to unite rather than divide.” On the Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer, Br. David Vryhof gives thanks for visionaries – from Thomas Cranmer to Dick Mahaffy, a friend of SSJE and president of the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf – who work to offer accessible worship to all people.

“The Spirit dances around the borders or surges as an undercurrent beneath the lives of women and men, palpably felt though never quite glimpsed directly: at times, a blazing fire on mountaintop or altar, whose power is just barely contained; at other times, an almost fluid substance invading a prophet from without; at still other times, a guiding light illumining the dreams or visions of a hero.” On the feast of Pentecost, Br. Keith Nelson celebrates how the Holy Spirit frees us to receive each moment of life as an opportunity for ever-deepening theosis.

“When I am battered and broken and lost, I do not need an idea, I need refuge. I need to know that when everything falls apart, I am not alone, and that death will not have the final word.” SSJE monastic intern Nathan Leach reveals how love is the ultimate refuge for our broken hearts and our broken world: a solid place to stand when everything seems to be shifting.

“We humans are not fond of endings. We would like to step forth confidently on a new adventure with our left foot while keeping our right foot firmly planted on its old familiar turf. But life doesn’t work that way.” SSJE monastic intern Amy Nizolek uncovers both the weight and the poetry buried in that one small, underappreciated, overburdened, little donkey of a word: Goodbye.