Resilience is the willow tree of attributes. It flexes, stretches, and bends. The winds blow, failure hits, rejection hurts , loss and grief and disappointment happen. I can break, give up, or sway in the breeze and sink my roots deeper into God.

How can we allow Scripture to take hold of us and transform our hearts as well as our minds?

 Lectio Divina (sacred reading), an ancient discipline of the Church, offers a way to slow down and allow the Holy Spirit to lead our experience of Scripture.

My first GPS would say “recalibrating” when I took a wrong turn and reroute me. That’s what I want spiritually—to quickly find out when I’m lost and reorient.

It’s not my mother’s fault. She told me to stand up straight. But after years slouching over my computer keyboard, I confess I am a “slumper.” A slumper who also is easily distracted and frets too much.

Because of that, I developed a recalibrating practice I call my “morning stand,” a way to engage my whole body to anchor my scattered soul as well as straighten my sagging posture.

We often make prayer so complicated, a labyrinth of lists and complicated expectations when it could be as simple as our breath. In the battle against anxiety and indecision, clutter and confusion, a deep breath and cry for help has been my first (and ongoing) step.

A small gathering of musicians, potters, painters, writers, and other artists captured a few quiet moments of food and conversation with singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken and musician Kenny Meeks in the home of Birmingham painter and InSpero founder, Gina Hurry.

As I walked and waited, prayed and pondered, I heard a quiet reassurance, “All shall be well.” And that one simple, but not ‘pat’ sentence, allowed me to breathe.

Is there one word to describe me? From having lived in seven states and Puerto Rico, to my seemingly unrelated academic degrees, to my housekeeping abilities, and thought process, it could be scattered.