Contemplative Daily Devotions

Index to a year of Contemplative Daily Devotions

Coming Soon! On January 1, I will start sending out these daily devotions. I am also offering them as a Kindle Book.

God’s Faint Path: Wisdom from the road

A Year of Wisdom: The Journey Completed

For years I carried the vision of writing a year-long devotional series, weaving together my story, scripture, the voices of the saints and mystics, and journaling prompts to invite others into the journey. It lived in my heart as a longing—a sense that God was asking me to gather the wisdom of the tradition and combine it with the lessons of my own life. Like many of the longings we carry, it sometimes felt too big, too far off, or too daunting to complete.

Now, by God’s grace, that vision has come to fruition. What once felt like a dream has become a body of work: fifty-two weeks, 365 daily devotions. Each page is a reminder that wisdom is not only found in the heights of spiritual experience, but in the ordinary stories of our lives, our failures as much as our successes, our questions as much as our answers.

This year-long journey has been about discovering the God who is already here—the God who dwells within, who speaks through scripture and through creation, who whispers in silence, and who meets us in vulnerability and weakness. Along the way, we have heard from ancient voices like Julian of Norwich, John of the Cross, and Meister Eckhart, and from modern companions like Richard Rohr, Henri Nouwen, and Howard Thurman. Their words, alongside our own lived stories, remind us that wisdom is always both gift and practice.

As I bring this project to completion, I feel deep gratitude. Gratitude for the years of longing that prepared the soil. Gratitude for the companions on the way, both living and gone before us, who have offered light for the path. And gratitude for you, reader, who now step into this journey of reflection and prayer.

My prayer is that as you move through these pages, you will find not simply words, but invitations—into silence, into awe, into honesty, into courage, into love. May you discover that the wisdom you seek is already planted deep within you, waiting to be uncovered. Click on the weekly topic links for a deeper dive into a subject.

Blessings, Gregg

Contemplative Daily Devotions Index

Week One: Abiding / Sabbath Rest

Jan 1 – Find Rest for your Soul
Jan 2 – Our Soul Dwells in God
Jan 3 – Our Heart is Restless until it Rests in You
Jan 4 – Those Who Abide Bear Much Fruit
Jan 5 – Abiding in Christ Gives us a Quiet Heart
Jan 6 – Struggling with Humility? Try to Picture a Humble God
Jan 7 – Are You Present to the Presence?

Week Two: Bearing Fruit / Spiritual Gifts

Jan 8 – Understand your Gifts to Find your Calling
Jan 9 – Rivers of Living Water
Jan 10 – Let the Peace of Christ Rule your Heart
Jan 11 – Moving Beyond ‘Not Good Enough’
Jan 12 – Pruning, Painful but Necessary
Jan 13 – Bear Fruit with Patient Endurance
Jan 14 – Does One’s Life Give Evidence of an Encounter?

Week Three: Being vs Doing

Jan 15 – Be Still and Know
Jan 16 – My Whole Being Longs for You
Jan 17 – Regain Contact with the Source of Being
Jan 18 – Discover the Ground of Being
Jan 19 – We Only Experience God in the Present Moment
Jan 20 – Still the Thousand Chattering Voices
Jan 21 – Do Not Keep Striving & Worrying

Week Four: Calling

Jan 22 – What Wound might Flower into Calling?
Jan 23 – God works through Broken People
Jan 24 – Find your Gifts, Find your Calling
Jan 25 – You have a Unique Vocation
Jan 26 – The Glory of God is the Person Fully Alive
Jan 27 – Channel the Energy, Live in the Flow
Jan 28 – What is Yours to Do?

Week Five: Consciousness / Awareness

Jan 29 – Why Do I Need to Awaken?
Jan 30 – Mystical Awakening
Jan 31 – Living into your Values
Feb 1 – Do You Have Eyes to See?
Feb 2 – Dawning of Humility: Doorway to True Wisdom
Feb 3 – Deep Calls unto Deep
Feb 4 – Who is Wise?

Week Six: Contemplative Life & Practice

Feb 5 – Find the Ancient Path and Walk in It
Feb 6 – Do You Only Have a Moment?
Feb 7 – Forest Bathing, Walking Meditation
Feb 8 – Time in the Wild
Feb 9 – Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly
Feb 10 – Deepen your Relationship with God
Feb 11 – God Will Always Be a Mystery

Week Seven: Dark Night / Cloud of Unknowing

Feb 12 – My Mind is Left Barren
Feb 13 – God Dwells in Darkness
Feb 14 – The Dark Will Be Your Womb Tonight
Feb 15 – Every Saint Experienced the Dark Night
Feb 16 – Light Shines in the Darkness
Feb 17 – God is in Both Darkness and Light
Feb 18 – Trusting the Work God Does in the Darkness

Week Eight: Discerning God’s Will

Feb 19 – Finding the Way Forward
Feb 20 – The Still, Small Voice
Feb 21 – Finding the Faint Path
Feb 22 – There’s Not One Path
Feb 23 – Trust God Enough to Take a Step?
Feb 24 – Separating Signal from Noise
Feb 25- Your Life is Guided by God

Week Nine: Discipleship

Feb 26 – The Blessing of Accountability
Feb 27 – Apprenticeship to Jesus
Feb 28 – Invitation and Challenge
Mar 1 – The Learning Circle
Mar 2 – Living What We Believe
Mar 3 – The Cost of Discipleship
Mar 4 – Becoming Like the Teacher

Week Ten: Divine Indwelling

Mar 5 — God Within: The Mystery of Divine Indwelling
Mar 6 — Made in God’s Image
Mar 7 — Christ in You
Mar 8 — The Indwelling Spirit as Guide
Mar 9 — God’s Presence in the Ordinary
Mar 10 — God’s Presence in All
Mar 11 — Living From the Indwelling Presence

Week Eleven: Driven vs Drawn

Mar 12 – Driven vs. Drawn
Mar 13 – The Illusion of Busyness
Mar 14 – Free to Choose, Not Compelled
Mar 15 – Drawn by Love, Not Fear
Mar 16 – The Energy of Grace
Mar 17– Choosing Rest Over Hurry
Mar 18 – Drawn Into God’s Presence

Week Twelve: Equanimity

Mar 19 – The Power of a Non-Anxious Presence
Mar 20 – God Comes Disguised as Reality
Mar 21 – Accepting Life As It Is
Mar 22 – Non-Anxious Presence
Mar 23 – Letting Go of Control
Mar 24– Holding Joy and Sorrow Together
Mar 25 – The Practice of Equanimity

Week Thirteen: Eyes to See

Mar 26 – The Lens of the Heart
Mar 27 – The Healing of Blindness
Mar 28 – The Slow Softening of Vision
Mar 29 – The Courage to See What’s There
Mar 30 – Eyes to See the Sacred in the Ordinary
Mar 31– Softening to Receive Truth
Apr 1 – Walking in the Light

Week Fourteen: Failing, Falling, Into the Abyss

Apr 2 – The Abyss in the Bathtub
Apr 3 – Falling into the Arms of God
Apr 4 – Every Level Down is a Level Up
Apr 5 – The Descending Way of Jesus
Apr 6 – Grace Seeks the Lowest Place
Apr 7 – Recovering the Treasures of Life
Apr 8 – The Path of the Fall and the Path of the Return

Week Fifteen: Faith vs Works

Apr 9 – Faith Alone, Grace Alone
Apr 10 – The Idol of Good Works
Apr 11 – Faith That Acts
Apr 12 – Every Structure is a Self-Salvation Structure
Apr 13 – The Wall Grace Builds
Apr 14 – Grace First, Works Follow
Apr 15– Trusting the River

Week Sixteen: False Self / True Self

Apr 16 – The Masks We Wear
Apr 17 – Early Wounds and the Creation of the False Self
Apr 18 – Achievements, Approval, and the False Self
Apr 19 – The True Self: Who We Are in God
Apr 20 – Letting Go of the False Self
Apr 21 – Living from the True Self
Apr 22 – Returning to the Ground of Being

Week Seventeen: Fear, Shame & Guilt

Apr 23 – Fear Structures: The Monster Under the Bed
Apr 24 – Fear Beneath the Anger
Apr 25 – Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Apr 26 – When Shame Whispers “Not Enough”
Apr 27 – The God Who Does Not Shame
Apr 28 – From Guilt to Grace
Apr 29 – Living Unashamed Before God

Week Eighteen: Freedom vs Obligation

Apr 30 – Obligation as Works Righteousness
May 1 – When “Should” Replaces Love
May 2 – The Heavy Yoke of Religious Duty
May 3 – Freedom as God’s Gift, Not Our Achievement
May 4 – The Freedom to Say Yes and No
May 5 – Freedom to Live in the Present Moment
May 6 – The Freedom to Follow God’s Leading

Week Nineteen: Gratitude & Generosity

May 7 – The Dawning of a Grateful Heart
May 8 – Born Halfway Up the Mountain
May 9 – Grace as the Source of Gratitude
May 10 – Gratitude in the Present Moment
May 11 – From Gratitude to Generosity
May 12– Gratitude in Scarcity
May 13 – The Mutual Dance of Giving and Receiving

Week Twenty: Hope

May 14 – The Undercurrent of Hope
May 15 – Hope Before Belief
May 16 – Hope vs. Blind Optimism
May 17 – Hope Through Suffering
May 18 – Hope as an Anchor
May 19– The Subversive Nature of Hope
May 20– Hope in the Now and Not Yet

Week Twenty-One: Humility vs Ego

May 21 – The Strength in Weakness
May 22 – The Trap of Self-Importance
May 23 – Humility as Truth-Telling
May 24 – Letting Go of the Need to Win
May 25 – Learning from the Least of These
May 26 – Ego’s Fear of Surrender
May 27 – The Freedom of Humility

Week Twenty-Two: Judgmental, Dualistic Thinking

May 28 – What Is Dualistic Thinking?
May 29 – The Seven C’s of Dualistic Delusion
May 30 – Dualism in Our Image of God
May 31 – The Cost of Taking Sides
Jun 1 – Dualistic Thinking in Religion
Jun 2 – The Trap of Meritocracy
Jun 3 – Living Without Certitude

Week Twenty-Three: Non-Dualistic Thinking

Jun 4 – The Third Way
Jun 5 – From Either/Or to Both/And
Jun 6 – Living in the Naked Now
Jun7 – Paradox at the Heart of Faith
Jun 8 – Boundaries Dissolved in Oneness
Jun 9 – The Cost of Opposition
Jun 10 – Wisdom in Holding Both Sides

Week Twenty-Four: Lectio/ Audio/Visio/Eco Divina

Jun 11 – Lectio Divina, Step 1: Lectio (Reading)
Jun 12 – Lectio Divina, Step 2: Meditatio (Meditation)
Jun 13 – Lectio Divina, Step 3: Oratio (Prayer)
Jun 14 – Lectio Divina, Step 4: Contemplatio (Contemplation)
Jun 15 – Audio Divina: Music as Prayer
Jun 16 – Visio Divina: Seeing the Sacred
Jun 17 – Eco Divina: Praying with Nature

Week Twenty-Five: Letting Go / Surrender/Kenosis

Jun 18 – The Call to Release Outcomes
Jun 19 – Learning the Descending Way
Jun 20 – The Practice of Holy Surrender
Jun 21 – Kenosis and the Emptying of Self
Jun 22– Living with Open Hands
Jun 23 – Detachment and Freedom
Jun 24 – Transformation Through Loss

Week Twenty-Six: Loving / Being Loved

Jun 25 – Knowing You Are Loved
Jun 26 – Overcoming False Images of God
Jun 27 – Vulnerability as the Gateway to Love
Jun 28 – Unconditional and Conditional Love
Jun 29– Loving Yourself as God Loves You
Jun 30 – The Flow of Divine Love
Jul 1 – Love as the Engine of Transformation

Week Twenty-Seven: Mirror / Face of God

Jul 2 – Seeing the Divine Image in Yourself
Jul 3 – Encountering God in the Face of the Other
Jul 4 – Mirrors of Mercy and Grace
Jul 5 – Removing the Veil
Jul 6– The Eyes of Love
Jul 7 – Becoming What We Behold
Jul 8 – Living as God’s Reflection in the World

Week Twenty-Eight: Mysticism

Jul 9 – The Personal Encounter with God
Jul 10 – Eyes to See: God in the Everyday
Jul 11 – The Silence that Transforms
Jul 12 – Stages of the Mystical Journey
Jul 13 – The Integration of Contemplation and Action
Jul 14 – Union with God: The Endpoint of Mysticism
Jul 15 – Living a Mystical Life in the World

Week Twenty-Nine: Now and Not, the Kingdom of God

Jul 16 – Glimpses of the Kingdom in the Everyday
Jul 17 – Living in Liminal Space
Jul 18 – The Already and the Not Yet in Scripture
Jul 19 – Anchored in Hope
Jul 20 – Practicing the Examen in the Now and Not Yet
Jul 21 – Saint and Sinner: Living the Paradox
Jul 22 – Kingdom Living in Two Worlds

Week Thirty: Pathways to God

Jul 23 – The Path with a Heart
Jul 24 – Scripture as Lamp for the Journey
Jul 25 – Discovering Your Calling
Jul 26 – The Practice of Presence
Jul 27 – Pathways Through Creation
Jul 28 – Companions on the Journey
Jul 29 – The End of the Path: Union with God

Week Thirty-One: Peace of God / Joy

Jul 30 – The Gift of Peace and Joy
Jul 31 – Peace that Passes Understanding
Aug 1 – Joy, the Infallible Sign of God’s Presence
Aug 2 – Sorrow and Joy Together
Aug 3 – Joy as Witness
Aug 4 – The Peace of Christ in Community
Aug 5 – Eternal Joy

Week Thirty-Two: People-Pleasing

Aug 6 – The Snare of Approval
Aug 7 – The Root of People-Pleasing
Aug 8 – Trusting God’s Approval
Aug 9 – Boundaries as Freedom
Aug 10 – Fear of Man vs. Fear of God
Aug 11 – People-Pleasing in Relationships
Aug 12– Living from the True Self

Week Thirty-Three: Person of Peace

Aug 13 – Sent Like Lambs
Aug 14 – Work with the Willing
Aug 15 – Seasons of Planting and Harvest
Aug 16 – Shaking the Dust Off
Aug 17 – Persons of Peace in Scripture
Aug 18 – Freedom from Manipulation
Aug 19– God Provides the Team

Week Thirty-Four: Power of God / Power of Grace

Aug 20 – Power in Creation
Aug 21 – Strength in Weakness
Aug 22 – Flow of Grace
Aug 23 – Power Through Powerlessness
Aug 24 – Grace in Suffering
Aug 25 – The Indwelling Christ
Aug 26– God’s Power for Mission

Week Thirty-Five: Prayer of the Heart

Aug 27 – Mind in the Heart
Aug 28 – Nanoseconds of Grace
Aug 29 – Silence and Solitude
Aug 30 – Purity of Heart
Aug 31 – Fire in the Heart
Sep 1 – Christ Dwelling Within
Sep 2 – Sept 2 – A Heart at Rest

Week Thirty-Six: Prophetic Voice

Sep 3 – Called to See Differently
Sep 4 – Edge of the Inside
Sep 5 – Francis and Clare: Living Prophecy
Sep 6 – Soft Prophecy, Not Condemnation
Sep 7 – Mystics as Prophets
Sep 8 – The Cost of Prophecy
Sep 9 – The Practice of the Better

Week Thirty-Seven: Psycho / Spiritual Work

Sep 10 – Purifying the Pond
Sep 11 – Shadow and Self-Acceptance
Sep 12– The Mirror of Awareness
Sep 13 – Solitude and Inner Chaos
Sep 14 – Wounds and Transformation
Sep 15 – Hidden Wholeness
Sep 16 – Instruments of Peace

Week Thirty-Eight: River / Divine Flow

Sep 17 – Wellspring of the Soul
Sep 18 – Beside Still Waters
Sep 19– Streams of Living Water
Sep 20 – Peace Like a River
Sep 21 – The River of Delight
Sep 22 – The Flow of Mercy
Sep 23 – Surrender to the Current

Week Thirty-Nine: Shadow

Sep 24 – Meeting the Shadow
Sep 25 – Projection and the Log in Our Eye
Sep 26– The Gift in the Shadow
Sep 27 – Relationships as Mirrors
Sep 28 – Shadow and Forgiveness
Sep 29 – Shadow, Ego, and Grace
Sep 30 – Owning the Shadow, Finding Peace

Week Forty: Stillness & Silence

Oct 1 – The Sound of Silence
Oct 2 – The Silent Land
Oct 3 – Holy Silence
Oct 4 – Be Still and Know
Oct 5 – Hesychia: The Prayer of Stillness
Oct 6 – The Mirror of Still Waters
Oct 7 – The Peace of the Eternal

Week Forty-One: Solitude

Oct 8 – Called into the Desert
Oct 9 – The Gift of Solitude
Oct 10 – Solitude, Furnace of Transformation
Oct 11 – Alone, Yet Not Lonely
Oct 12 – Courage to Enter the Desert
Oct 13 – Interior Solitude
Oct 14 – Solitude as Mission

Week Forty-Two: Soul Yearnings, Thirst for God (Add Link)

Oct 15 – The Restless Heart
Oct 16 – Longing as Prayer
Oct 17 – Thirst in the Wilderness
Oct 18 – The Path with a Heart
Oct 19 – Tasting the Infinite
Oct 20 – Hiddenness and Desire
Oct 21 – Fulfilled Longing

Week Forty-Three: Suffering, Death & Dying

Oct 22 – The Gift Hidden in Suffering
Oct 23 – Wounds that Become Our Calling
Oct 24 – The Fellowship of Christ’s Suffering
Oct 25 – Death as Our Ally
Oct 26 – Passing Through the Fire of God
Oct 27 – Dying as Fruitfulness
Oct 28 – Living and Dying in Hope

Week Forty-Four: Teaching / Proclaiming / Witnessing

Oct 29 – Preach the Gospel at All Times
Oct 30 – Words that Heal
Oct 31 – Teaching the Next Generation
Nov 1 – Witness in the Everyday
Nov 2 – When Words Are Given
Nov 3 – Sent to the Ends of the Earth
Nov 4 – Living Testimony

Week Forty-Five: Transformation / Divinization / Fire

Nov 5 – God as Consuming Fire
Nov 6 – Tested by Fire
Nov 7 – Becoming by Grace What God Is by Nature
Nov 8 – Changed Into Me
Nov 9 – The Fire of Divine Love
Nov 10 – Union as Transformation
Nov 11 – Transformed People Transform People

Week Forty-Six: Testing Strengthens

Nov 12 – Faith Like a Muscle
Nov 13 – Tested in the Wilderness
Nov 14 – Refined in the Fire
Nov 15 – Not Overcome
Nov 16 – The Dark Night
Nov 17 – Perseverance and Joy
Nov 18 – Strength Through Struggle

Week Forty-Seven: Trinity

Nov 19 – The Dance of Love
Nov 20 – Father of Compassion
Nov 21 – The Son Revealed
Nov 22 – The Spirit Within
Nov 23 – The Flowing Fountain
Nov 24 – The Balance of Three
Nov 25 – Entering the Mystery

Week Forty-Eight: Trusting God

Nov 26 – A Lamp for the Next Step
Nov 27 – Letting Go of Control
Nov 28 – From Fear to Trust
Nov 29 – Stepping Into the Void
Nov 30 – The Slow Work of God
Dec 1 – Trust as Relationship
Dec 2 – Resting in God’s Faithfulness

Week Forty-Nine: Union / Unity / Oneing

Dec 3 – Shining Like the Sun
Dec 4 – I and the Father Are One
Dec 5 – The Path of Theosis
Dec 6 – Julian’s Oneing
Dec 7 – Union in All Creation
Dec 8 – Union Beyond Division
Dec 9 – Becoming One with Love

Week Fifty: Vulnerability & Weakness

Dec 10 – The Gift of Weakness
Dec 11 – Learning to Be Vulnerable
Dec 12 – God’s Preference for the Lowly
Dec 13 – Sharing Our Wounds
Dec 14 – The Weakness of God
Dec 15 – Courage in Fragility
Dec 16 – Strength Through Surrender

Week Fifty-One: Wilderness / Nature & the Human Soul

Dec 17 – The First Bible
Dec 18 – Awe as Prayer
Dec 19 – The Healing Power of Wilderness
Dec 20 – Reading the Book of Creation
Dec 21 – Union with All Life
Dec 22 – When Creation Groans
Dec 23 – Thin Places

Week Fifty-Two: Wisdom Within

Dec 24 – The Spark of Wisdom
Dec 25 – The Gift of Holy Foolishness
Dec 26 – Listening for the Inner Voice
Dec 27 – Wisdom in Community
Dec 28 – The Way of Presence
Dec 29 – The Fruits of Wisdom
Dec 30 – The Humility of Wisdom
Dec 31 – The Fulfillment of Wisdom

A Closing Word: Walking the Faint Path Together

Dear friends,

Fifty-two weeks ago, we set out together on a journey. Each week invited us into a theme—trust, silence, resilience, vulnerability, wisdom—and each day gave us space to reflect with scripture, the saints and mystics, and the stirrings of our own hearts. The path was sometimes steep, sometimes hidden, sometimes faint. Yet step by step, God has been faithful.

As I look back, I realize this year has not been about producing words or filling pages. It has been about presence—God’s presence meeting us in silence and stillness, in weakness and wonder, in wilderness and in community. My prayer has been that you would not just read these devotions, but find yourself accompanied, strengthened, and surprised by grace along the way.

The mystics remind us that wisdom is not something we achieve but something we uncover, for the spark of God is already within. Each devotion, in its own way, has pointed us back to that truth: you are God’s beloved, and the Spirit is guiding you, often by the faintest of paths.

Thank you for walking this year with me. May the road ahead continue to unfold with mystery and mercy. And may you always find, even in the hidden ways, that the One who created you, loves you, and sustains you is near. Let me leave you with this lovely prayer, ”Lord, that I might see you in this and every passing moment of my life." — James Finley, Healing Path, p. xii

Blessings,

Gregg

Bibliography: Contemplative Readings

Cynthia Bourgeault: Heart of Centering Prayer, Wisdom Way of Knowing, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Eye of the Heart
Marcus Borg: Reading the Bible again for the First Time
Walter Brueggemann, Prophetic Imagination
Carmen Butcher: Trans, Cloud of Unknowing
Ilia Delio: Christ in Evolution
Anthony De Mello: The Way to Love, One Minute Wisdom
Denis Edwards, Jesus and the Cosmos
Gregory Ellison II, Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman
Helen Exley: And Wisdom Comes Quietly
James Finley: Christian Meditation, The Contemplative Heart, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, Prayer; Finding the Heart's True Home, Life with God
Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics, 365 Readings and Meditations
Christian George: Sacred Travels
Guigo II: The Ladder of Monks
Phileena Heuertz: Mindful Silence
Barbara Holmes: Joy Unspeakable
St John of the Cross: Dark Night of the Soul
Robert Johnson, Owning Your Own Shadow
Thomas Keating: Intimacy with God, Open Heart, Open Mind
Thomas Kelly: A Testament of Devotion
Martin Laird: Into the Silent Land, An Ocean of Light
Sandra Maitri: Spiritual Dimension of the Enneagram
Carl McColman: Christian Mystics-Seekers, Saints and Sages
Bernard McGuinn: Essential Writings of Christian Mystics
Brian McLaren: Great Spiritual Migration, The Galápagos Islands: a spiritual journey, Do I Stay Christian
Thomas Merton: Seven Storey Mountain, Thoughts in Solitude, New Seeds of Contemplation, Wisdom of the Desert, A Year with Thomas Meron, Interior Experience
Julian of Norwich: Complete Julian of Norwich
Henri Nouwen: Out of Solitude, Way of the Heart, Reaching Out, You are the Beloved, Discernment
Parker Palmer: On the Brink of Everything
Basil Pennington: Lectio Divina
Ira Progoff: trans Cloud of Unknowing
Richard Rohr: Falling Upward, Divine Dance, Immortal Diamond, Universal Christ, Enneagram, Naked Now, A Spring Within, On the Threshold of Transformation, Yes, and, Eager to Love, Essential Teachings on Love, The Wisdom Pattern
Kathleen Singh: The Grace in Aging, The Grace in Dying, The Grace in Living
St Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle
St Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul
Howard Thurman: With Head and Heart
Thich Nhat Hanh: The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching