I’ve had periods of my life in which I acted like what I did with my body – whether partying too hard or staying up way too late – had no bearing on my spiritual health. 

But that’s a lie. 

In my early days in the monastery, we had classes on spirituality, during which we’d learn from the older brothers who'd been in the monastery for a while. I remember Fr. Robert, an energetic, younger friar sharing with us: 

“We all have this candle burning within us. It’s the light of hope, life, God’s presence within us. If you run around while carrying a candle, it will go out. 

There’s a tendency to think that prayer or meditation is hard. That it's inaccessible or won’t really make a difference in our lives. We kinda feel like we should do it and we’d be better for it. But in the midst of our crazy days, it sometimes feels just too distant. 

St. Therese, a French nun who lived in the closed walls of a hidden convent in a small town and died in her early 20s, reminds us here that, to the contrary, prayer is primarily just a simple movement of the heart. 

After six years in the monastery and after the passing of my father, I suddenly and strongly felt called to be more active in how I was serving God and living my life. It was jarring, and I remember literally feeling like I was being ripped apart internally. I loved being in the monastery - the routine of life, all the time for prayer, being with the brothers. But I was feeling called into something different. 

Mother Teresa did not start out as Mother Teresa. 

For 20 years, “Sister Teresa” was a teacher and school administrator in a middle class school in Calcutta with a religious community called the Sisters of Loretto. 

Daily she walked by people dying in the streets and starving for food – and love. One day, she went on her day off to bring them comfort. Then she did this for a few hours every week. She couldn’t help the millions of suffering people in Calcutta. But she could help a few each week.

In the 5th century Egyptian desert, Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and said: 

“Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and, according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: now what more should I do?”

The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven and said: “Why not become fire?”

As he said this, Abba Joseph’s fingers became like ten lamps of fire shooting flames.

In my day job, I work with hundreds of founders to help them grow in business and life. One of the most important factors of growth – at work and in the heart – is great mentorship. 

This is especially true in one’s spiritual journey. We have such a limited and incomplete view of ourselves. We need others with more experience to reflect us to ourselves and guide us. 

I’ve often chased success, achievement, and pleasure in my life. These were my go-to means for filling the void within. 

But this never really satisfied me. At some point, I realized I would never be the smartest or the best. It was a game I could win for a while but ultimately always lost.

Thomas Aquinas, one the greatest philosophers and theologians of all time suggests here that love is fundamentally rooted in the will. OK, what does this mean?

As a Carmelite nun in the 1500s, St. Teresa of Avila lived an extremely disciplined and penitential life. But she also recognized there was a time for “partridge” – a feasting delicacy of the time. 

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Macarius, one of the pillars of early Christian monasticism was once approached by a younger monk who sought his guidance: "Abba, how should I pray?" Abba Macarius took the young monk to a well in the desert, drew some water and…

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Community and family life is hard. I don’t care who you are.

One time in the monastery, I was particularly struggling with one brother for months. There always seemed to be…