What Are the Elements of Your Spirituality?

Reflecting a year removed from a retreat I took myself on, I ponder what it looks like to create retreats for myself in “the real world” and how I can use my natural gifts to enter more deeply into relationship with God, myself, and the world.

a yellow mosque with a huge open space in front of it

We Need to Talk About China

Right now, in Xinjiang, China’s far western province, roughly one million people are being detained in extralegal internment camps (the state calls them “re-education centers”). Those detained are mostly Uyghers, a mostly-Muslim Turkic ethnic group.

brown pencil on white book beside black eyeglasses

Becoming an Artist, Again

My experiment in regaining a sense of curiosity, creativity, and playfulness not just in the times I set aside to indulge my wannabe artist but, in my life overall.

a doctor smiling at a patient sitting on a bed with a blanket on her lap

Guest Post: Advent Birthing

I love the imagery and symbolism of pregnancy and birth during this time of Advent, because it is so rich with meanings and also of course because I love accompanying women as they prepare and work to bring new life into the world.

A stack of stones

My Principles

I’m the sort of nerd who likes to articulate my principles. I love being able to recite these words in times of prayer and lean on them in times of stress. My articulations of my principles are largely borrowed from Thich Nhat Hanh’s mindfulness trainings, but I have gone ahead and made some modifications of my own.

Radical Friendship

I’ve recently started to re-examine what Arrupe actually meant by love in his “Fall in Love” prayer. What if we treated our friendships with the same kind of intentional love as other relationships?

Purpose Outside of Production — Is it Possible?

I’ve come to realize this past year that the striking contrast between being a JV and a capitalist actor manifests in the relation of myself to the rest of the world — a cataclysmic shift from freely and generously giving my time to speculating and assessing the monetary estimate of my productivity.

The Wisdom of Emptiness

Although we, as Catholics, make a commitment to the “one, holy, and apostolic church”, I have found a spiritual connection to Buddhism: a relationship that possibly expands and further explains what I value in the Catholic tradition.

Cami standing underneath the St. Louis Arch holding a completion medal for the half marathon

How I Became a Runner

By the end of a rough 2016, I knew I wanted to make a gesture that would symbolize the beginning of something new for me. Although I was not and had never been a runner, running the Go St. Louis! half marathon crept into my mind. During that spring, the time, energy, and concentration I expended on running became holy.

a green lawn in front of a large building with big chinese characters on top

My “Formation” Years

After graduating from SCU, I spent time with JVC, L’Arche, and the Maryknoll China Teachers Program. I’ve thought of these experiences as my “formation years,” as something akin to the notoriously long Jesuit formation process, which typically lasts at least ten years.