We have handed ourselves over — our bodies, our innocence, our learning, even our belonging to God — as though we were not already that. The work now is not to acquire, but to return. What we need to sow in our hearts is nothing: the seed is already there, and it is who we are. The power we are called back to is not power over, but power in — power in awakening to the fact that this journey is mine, and that it has a purpose. Not one handed to me, nor one my little self invents from the options down here, but one drawn from my very essence. And not one I come to by myself, but held.
What’s the difference between being fixed and being healed? More than you’d think.
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeMany of us want to be fixed. Very few want to be healed. A reflection on the difference — and why healing, not just the fix, is the deeper invitation.
Power, Purpose and the Seed Within
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeWe have handed ourselves over — our bodies, our innocence, our learning, even our belonging to God — as though we were not already that. The work now is not to acquire, but to return. What we need to sow in our hearts is nothing: the seed is already there, and it is who we are. The power we are called back to is not power over, but power in — power in awakening to the fact that this journey is mine, and that it has a purpose. Not one handed to me, nor one my little self invents from the options down here, but one drawn from my very essence. And not one I come to by myself, but held.
Reflections in the Forest
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeWalking in the forest reminds us that the Earth is not simply the background to human life. It is a living field of relationship — holding us, grounding us, and teaching us to listen again. In returning to nature, we may begin to recover something essential within ourselves.
Come up higher: Stillness, Turmoil and the Work of Humanity.
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeOn a quiet holiday morning, stillness can feel like a gift. There is peace in the air. A sense of rest. A pause. And yet, even in that stillness, the heart remembers that in other parts of the world there is turmoil, fear, destruction, and loss of life. It is tempting to call ourselves blessed […]
Journeying Home – A journey inward, a journey home – A Reflection for Good Friday
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeGood Friday does not stand alone. It belongs to a deeper flow of love that carries us from the table to the cross and on toward resurrection. In these seven words from the cross, Jesus does not simply speak from suffering; he leaves signposts for the soul, showing us the way home through forgiveness, release, aloneness, discernment, growth, and surrender.
Pitching the Tent: Holy Week and the Journey of the Soul
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeDo not let this Holy Week pass as mere ritual. Enter it. Remember yourself. And ask what it means, here and now, to be about the business of the Divine.
Holy Lent, Holy Ramadan: Finding Peace Within the Noise
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeIn this reflection for Lent and Ramadan, we consider what it means to live in a world marked by war, noise, and uncertainty. The invitation is not to escape the world, but to turn inward, to seek peace within, and to listen more deeply for the work that is ours to do.
Prepared by Being: Releasing What Hinders the Sacred Within
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeBefore anything else, we pause.We breathe.We allow ourselves to come inside. In one of her luminous poems, Hildegard of Bingen turns to nature to speak about what it means to be prepared for God: O green vigour of the hand of God,in which God has planted a vineyard…You are glorious in your preparation for God. […]
Grow, Grow, Grow – A Reflection for the New Year
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeWelcome to the year before you. Are you ready for it? Ready for the journey? Ready to face whatever comes your way? There is something about this threshold moment that carries a strange mixture of emotions. We are not exactly afraid, but there is a quiet foreboding — What is this year going to offer […]
Every Morning Is a Birth
/in Spiritual Reflections/by Michael A. ClarkeEach morning offers us a quiet miracle. There is that moment — half-awake — when the body hesitates. The bed is warm. The night has held us gently, almost like a womb. There is safety there. A reluctance to leave. A subtle struggle to rise, to be alive again. And perhaps that is exactly what […]