ponder-and-pray.com

Author: Marie Proctor

  • Advent Joy

    May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope! * * *Romans 15:13 MSG Joy can be a way of life, a way of living, a way of being.…

  • Advent Peace

    John 14:27 NLTJesus said, “I am leaving you with a gift, Peace of mind and heart. And the Peace (Shalom) I give is a gift the world cannot give (or take away)…so do not be troubled (afraid). This Peace, this Shalom, includes “wholeness and well-being”. May you receive this gift by remaining open and thankful.

  • Advent Hope

    We wait. We hope. We live. We lived. We live. We will continue to live.

  • Pressure Cooker

    A few days before my sister passed away I took this photo. I was taking a class, “Photography and Spirituality”, and was given the assignment to scroll through my phone over the last year to see if a theme arose out of the images I took. As I scrolled looking at the images, I realized…

  • Getting older…Nana’s version

    I love my visits with my Nana. She is aging and growing older. We don’t know when she will depart our physical presence, but for now I plan to visit as often as I can. Occasionally I like to capture her words. They are both wise and funny. Here is a short conversation I captured…

  • Register for our first ‘Advent Retreat’ by November 10

    Advent is slowly approaching. It literally means “coming”. The coming into place, view, or being. The coming of Christ into the world, our world, our celebrations, our messes, our dreams, our lives. It is the season where we wait, hope. The season where we practice slowing down to embrace and experience peace, joy, and love.…

  • Book: Leaving church

    ❤

  • Book: The Pastor

  • Your voice…

  • Interested in Spiritual Direction Training?

    CenterQuest School of Spiritual Direction is now taking ‘early bird’ applications for Cohort 6 (July 2024- October 2025) click HERE for more details. FOR MORE INFO: Contact CenterQuest through the toll-free number: 1-833-QUEST-05 or email: info@cqcenterquest.org or site: www.CQCenterQuest.org

  • At home

    This is where I love being the most, at home. Home is where my heart is, and my heart is right here in the present. Home is one of my most favorite places to be and one of my most challenging places to be. It is in this place I learn compassion. Compassion for myself,…

  • What is Spiritual Direction?

    Walter Burghardt describes contemplation as taking a “long, loving look at the real”. Spiritual Direction is the ancient spiritual practice of “listening to God together” while taking a “long, loving look at the real”. It is a place where one learns how to notice and pay attention to God in their own life as they…

  • Contemplation

    The contemplative life is about returning home, again and again and again. Martin Laird, in his book Into The Silent Land, mentions this home as the “Silent Land”. This Silent Land can be found. It is within me, yet it won’t be found unless I am willing to enter by way of contemplative prayer, a…

  • Life…

    Life. It happens to all of us And, is meant to be experienced. Life. We can read and observe how others experience it And, we can experience it ourselves. Life. We can become envious of what it brings to others And, we can be grateful for ‘what is’ in this present moment. A regular practice…

  • There she goes…

    🎶There she goes🎶🎶There she goes again🎶 “So momma”, Mia asks, “how do you feel?” “Well babe, I feel pretty good. This is what I raise you for. To grow up, to be mature, and to be trustworthy. Do you feel you are trustworthy?” “Oh yeah, I am trustworthy, and I trust myself.” “Ok, then I…