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Turning Our Expectations Upside Down

Turning Our Expectations Upside Down

by Shirin McArthur | Jan 16, 2023 | Christianity, Spiritual Life

In last week’s post, I wrote about the concept of pilgrimage as a crucible. In this post, I want to share some ideas about expectations from the homily I preached at the Mount of the Beatitudes in Galilee while we were on pilgrimage last November. I’ll share more from...
Reflecting on the Crucible that Is the New Year

Reflecting on the Crucible that Is the New Year

by Shirin McArthur | Jan 9, 2023 | Christianity, Conscious Living, Spiritual Life

Dear friends, I continue to reflect on images and ideas that came to me during our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in November 2022. In this post, I’d like to make some connections between pilgrimage as crucible and our pilgrim journey into the new year. A crucible is the...
Sharing Thoughts on Incarnation in Christmastide

Sharing Thoughts on Incarnation in Christmastide

by Shirin McArthur | Jan 2, 2023 | Christianity, Spiritual Life

Happy New Year! As has become a yearly tradition, I led an Advent retreat day at St. Philip’s last month. The theme was Incarnation—the fancy word for God in Christ becoming flesh in Jesus. As we continue living into the season of Christmastide, I thought I would...
Pondering Childbirth in Christmastide

Pondering Childbirth in Christmastide

by Shirin McArthur | Dec 26, 2022 | Christianity, Society and Culture

Yesterday Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth. Recently, I read a reflection that got me thinking about childbirth. So, I thought I would begin the Christmastide season by reflecting on the gifts and dangers of childbirth. Anyone who has been responsible for a child...
Sharing Christ with Children in Jerusalem

Sharing Christ with Children in Jerusalem

by Shirin McArthur | Dec 19, 2022 | Christianity, Society and Culture, Spiritual Life

As I noted in last week’s post, I’m sharing my thoughts on my interactions with Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land this Advent. Today I want to focus on a family that turns their home into Jerusalem Santa’s House each year, a place for “children to feel the...
One Man’s Experience of Being Christian in the Holy Land Today

One Man’s Experience of Being Christian in the Holy Land Today

by Shirin McArthur | Dec 12, 2022 | Christianity, Society and Culture

During Advent this year, I’m focusing much of my attention on the experience of Christians in the Holy Land today. This is because I served as spiritual director for a pilgrimage from St. Philip’s to the Holy Land last month. In this post, I want to focus on the...
Honoring the Publication of a New Book of Homilies: A Prisoner and You Visited Me

Honoring the Publication of a New Book of Homilies: A Prisoner and You Visited Me

by Shirin McArthur | Dec 5, 2022 | Christianity, Ministry and Service, Spiritual Life

Along with Advent comes the liturgical new year. This also means that the latest book in the Homilists for the Homeless series has now been published. A Prisoner and You Visited Me gathers homilies from a variety of well-known Christian leaders (like Richard Rohr, Jan...
Palestinian Christians Face Impossible Choices in the Holy Land

Palestinian Christians Face Impossible Choices in the Holy Land

by Shirin McArthur | Nov 28, 2022 | Christianity, Society and Culture

Henry and I recently returned from a long-awaited (and repeatedly postponed!) pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We first traveled there in January 2017 and I blogged about it quite a bit after my return. I sense that this time will be the same, as there’s already so much I...
Pondering How to Be a Good Relative

Pondering How to Be a Good Relative

by Shirin McArthur | Nov 21, 2022 | Christianity, Society and Culture, Spiritual Life

Last month, I attended our Episcopal Diocese’s annual convention and had the privilege of hearing the Rev. Isaiah Shaneequa Brokenleg give the keynote speech. She’s on the national church staff in the Office of Reconciliation, Justice and Creation Care. Her words...
Movement and Stillness in the Waning Year

Movement and Stillness in the Waning Year

by Shirin McArthur | Nov 14, 2022 | Conscious Living, Nature and Seasons, Society and Culture

A spiritual director colleague recently shared a Rumi poem on her Silentium post and one stanza really resonated for me: I seem restless, but I am deeply at ease.Branches tremble; the roots are still. My life is quite full at the moment (I’ll be sharing more specifics...
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Shirin McArthur is a spiritual guide and writer who ponders the sacred through prayer, poetry, dance, photography, nature, and contemplation. Her mission is to help cultivate deep spiritual roots and strengthen wings for ministry of all kinds.

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