The Clochán

I wondered where I was going to begin this blog. I wanted the first post to be a springboard for other posts. Mainly because I think I would like this space to be a place where we tackle a narrative of ideas rather than random reflections. So, I think the best place to begin, the most fertile soil we can start with, is the idea of humanity being made in the Image of God. This is a complicated topic because what do we mean by "being made in the image of God?" Well, this idea is mentioned multiple times in the book of Genesis. The first time we encounter this idea is when God says to the heavenly hosts, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness..." (Gen. 1.26). When God makes Adam ( אָדָם - literally man, mankind, or humanity), scripture says, "When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God" (Gen. 5.1).  In a rather challenging passage, after the flood, God says to Noah, "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood sha...

Welcome to my space! Before we get to the meat of this blog, it is probably good to know why I picked the title I picked. A clochan is a small beehive-looking hut used by Celtic monastics in both Ireland and Scotland. They are places of prayer, meditation, contemplation, and study. They are places where we consider the transcendent and move beyond our every-day thinking. They are places where we invite God into our lives by opening our hearts, minds, and spirits to the infinity of God and the limitless possibilities inherent in the creator, redeemer, and sanctifier of all reality.  I'm hoping that this space will be an online clochan where we can come together to reflect, discuss, pray, and nurture our spiritual lives - a place where we can interact with one another and examine how we can best cultivate our spiritual lives so that they can be carried into the world. And while we will consider spirituality from a diversity of sources, the primary focus of this blog will be spiritual...