The Woodlands: A Place for Exploring the Spiritual Life

What if the spiritual life begins with attention? This Pentecost reflection explores distraction, presence, prayer, and learning to be present to God in a restless age.

A Practice for Pentecost: Learning the Habit of Attention

Attention rarely happens by accident. Our days always take shape around habits and rhythms. In that sense, all of us already have a rule of life. The question is whether our current patterns are helping us stay connected to God.

This week, pay attention to the rhythms that shape your days.

How do you begin the morning?

What claims your attention first?

How do you end the day?

What patterns shape your week?

What helps you remember God’s presence?

What consistently pulls your attention away?

Don’t try to overhaul your life all at once. Instead, choose one simple practice that helps you reconnect your attention to God.

You might begin the day with a short prayer before looking at your phone. Pause for silence at midday. Read a Psalm before bed. Set aside regular time for worship, rest, or reflection.

The Book of Common Prayer offers a simple way to begin. It includes brief Daily Devotions for Morning, Noon, Early Evening, and Close of Day. These short prayers can help punctuate the day with moments of attention to God’s presence. You can find them on pages 137-139.

The goal is not spiritual perfection. It is learning to make room for God at the center of your life.

Scheduling Me for Your Event

If you would like for me to lead a retreat, offer a workshop, or speak at your event, contact my colleague Holly Davis. I love connecting with you in-person or online. Holly is already scheduling 2027, but there are a few spaces left for 2026.

A reflection on Jeremiah’s call, ordained ministry, and the way of Jesus. Real leadership is not about power or performance, but courage, humility, and the willingness to speak up.

Living is more than existing. In this reflection for Ascension Sunday, Jake explores the restless patterns that leave our souls behind—and the way of life Jesus offers instead. The way of the cross is not escape from the world, but a deeper way of being present to God, to others, and to creation itself.

Spiritual Practice: How We Carry What We Carry

Set aside ten minutes.

Begin by becoming still. Sit comfortably. Take a few slow breaths. Let your body settle.

Then bring to mind something you are carrying right now—a burden, a pressure, a responsibility. Don’t choose something abstract. Choose something real.

Now ask yourself:

How am I carrying this?

Without judging, notice the pattern.

Are you tightening? Managing? Controlling?

Are you bracing yourself, trying to hold it all together on your own?

Sit with that honestly for a moment.

Then hear these words of Jesus:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

Read the words slowly. Let a word or phrase stand out.

Now ask:

What would it be like to carry this with Jesus instead of by myself?

Don’t overthink it. Let an image, a feeling, or a simple shift come to you.

It may be releasing control.

It may be asking for help.

It may be taking one faithful step instead of trying to solve everything.

Sit quietly for a minute or two, holding that new pattern in your imagination.

Close with a simple prayer:

Jesus, I am carrying more than I can hold. Teach me your way. Teach me to carry this with you, not alone. Amen.

Some choices aren’t between right and wrong, but about how best to love. When what love requires isn’t clear, how do we know what to do?

In this episode, we explore how the risen life of Jesus forms our hearts to discern and act with faithful love.

Spiritual Practice: Learning What Love Requires

Read the passage slowly. First out loud. Then quietly.

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16–17a)

Sit with that for a moment.

Bring to mind a situation in your life where it’s not clear what love requires.

Don’t try to solve it.

Just notice it.

What makes this situation complicated?

Where do you feel pulled in different directions?

What feels most important to you here?

Now, gently ask:

What might love look like in this moment?

Stay there. Don’t rush to an answer.

Trust that you are not alone in this.

When you’re ready, take one small step in the direction of love.

Close with this prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit. Teach me what love requires. Give me the wisdom to take the next step. And the courage to follow where you lead. Amen.

Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” But what does that mean when life actually falls apart? This episode explores a different way of living—not a life we achieve, but one we receive and learn to give away in love.

Spiritual Practice: Letting Go

Read the passage slowly. First out loud. Then quietly.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

Sit with that for a moment.

Where do you feel the pressure to hold your life together right now?

What are you trying to control or secure?

Notice what happens in you as you hear Jesus say, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

Where might you be invited to remain open and present, rather than withdrawing or grasping for control?

Stay there for a few moments.

When you’re ready, close with this prayer:

Jesus, you know how easily my heart becomes troubled. I find myself trying to hold things together on my own. Teach me to trust you. Help me to let go of what I cannot control and to receive the life you are giving. Amen.

We are always being addressed by many voices. In this episode, we explore discernment as the practice of learning to recognize and trust the voice of Jesus amid the noise.

Spiritual Practice: Listening for the Shepherd’s Voice

Set aside some time to sit in a quiet place.

Begin by listening to what is already moving through your mind. What voices are speaking? Pressure, worry, self-criticism, striving? Don’t argue with them. Just notice.

Now turn your attention to Jesus. Read this phrase slowly. First out loud, then quietly:

“He calls his own sheep by name.” (John 10:3)

Sit with that for a few moments. Let a word or phrase stand out to you. If your mind wanders, gently return to the words.

After a few minutes, ask yourself: Which of the voices I’ve heard today sounds like this one?

End with this prayer:

Jesus, you know us and call us by name. Teach us to listen for your voice in our hearts and to trust where you lead. Amen.

Dear listeners, this post is not like the usual message from The Woodlands. It’s a pastoral response to the murder of eight children in Shreveport, Louisiana. That’s within the Diocese I serve. While I believe that the message is for anyone who has experienced grief and trauma, and nothing graphic is said here, I do want to urge you to listen with care.

We are shaped by what we practice every day. Those habits can open us to Jesus—or keep us from seeing him. Conversion is a change in what and how we love.

In this series, we’re not only thinking about the spiritual life—we’re learning to notice how Jesus is already present and at work in our lives. I’m including in Substack—and also in the Apple and Spotify show notes—a simple way to begin. Try it today and consider trying it for a few minutes each day this week. I would love to hear from you about your experiences and insights.

Spiritual Practice: Meeting Jesus in the Ordinary

Set aside 10–15 minutes.

Read this portion of the Emmaus story slowly. First out loud. Then quietly:

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”

Sit with that for a moment.

Where in your life are you simply going through the motions right now?Work. Home. Conversation. Prayer.

Don’t analyze it. Just notice it.

Now ask:Where might Jesus already be present in that place?

Stay there for a minute or two. No need to force anything.

Then choose one ordinary action you will return to today—a meal, a conversation, a task—and receive it as a place where Christ meets you.

End with a simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, meet me in the ordinary rhythms of my life. Open my eyes to recognize you. Shape my heart to love what you love. Amen.

We’ve been trained to think the spiritual life is about effort, discipline, and control.But what if it’s more like breathing?Something given, not earned. Received, not achieved.This episode explores what it means to live from that kind of life.

Spiritual Practice: Receiving the Breath of Christ

Read the passage slowly. First out loud. Then quietly. Sit with it.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”—John 20:19–23

Imagine yourself sitting behind the locked door in fear.

What fear are you carrying?

Hear Jesus say, “Peace be with you.” Sit with that. Repeat peace silently, gently, and slowly.

Now imagine his breath upon you.

Where are you being sent?To what situation in your life?To what need of the world do you feel drawn?

End with a simple prayer:

Lord Jesus, you come close, breathe your life into me, and send me. Help me to receive what you give and to carry it into the lives around me. Amen.

Resurrection is often understood as a promise for life after death. But in the risen Jesus, eternal life is already at work in us, shaping our hearts and drawing us toward a fuller, more alive way of living.

A Simple Practice: Listening for Jesus in Your Life

Take a few minutes and find a quiet place. Sit comfortably. Let your body settle.

Take a slow breath in. Then another. Don’t rush.

Now, gently bring to mind your life as it is right now—not as you wish it were, but as it actually is.

Ask yourself:

What do I find myself longing for right now?

Don’t analyze. Just notice what comes.

Sit with that for a moment.

Now, in that place of longing, turn your attention to Jesus—not as an idea, but as one who is present with you.

Ask:

Jesus, what is your invitation to me right now?

Stay there for a minute or two. You don’t have to force an answer. Just remain open.

Finally, take one more slow breath and ask:

What is one small step I can take today that leans toward your invitation?

Let’s take what we’ve noticed here and gather it into prayer.

Loving, life-giving God, you raised Jesus from the dead and are raising us to new life. Open our hearts and minds to your transforming love and draw our desires more deeply into the life you are giving. Help us to trust that your love is stronger than death and to follow you, one step at a time; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.