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Tag: presence and awareness

The Gifts You Never Saw Coming

Hands planting seeds in garden soil with a wooden marker labeled lettuce carrots
June 3, 2026June 2, 2026 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Five years ago, I started a podcast by accident. At least that’s how it feels when I look back on it now. In the fall of 2021, I was serving as chaplain to a group of seven young adults involved with Appalachia Service Project. Brendan, Gabi, Haley, Katie, Manon, Megan, and Mollie invited me into … Continue reading The Gifts You Never Saw Coming

Ripening Along the Path

March 11, 2026March 10, 2026 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

The spiritual life is often described as a journey. That image has been on my mind lately—the sense that we are walking a path that continues for as long as we draw breath, and perhaps beyond. Along that path there are stopping places. Sometimes we sit on a bench along the side of the road … Continue reading Ripening Along the Path

When the Mind Wanders

January 7, 2026January 5, 2026 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about presence—what it really means to be present, and what it might mean when we find that we’re not. Over the past several weeks, life has been full. The end of the year, the beginning of a new one, gatherings, worship, conversations, responsibilities—good things, meaningful things. And yet, in … Continue reading When the Mind Wanders

When Life Feels Out of Control

December 17, 2025December 16, 2025 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

There are moments when life feels overwhelming—when the pace is too fast, the demands too many, and the sense of order we rely on slips through our fingers. These moments rarely arrive at a convenient time. They show up in the middle of busy schedules, unfinished projects, family tensions, or unexpected disruptions. And when they … Continue reading When Life Feels Out of Control

The Sacred Ordinary

October 29, 2025October 29, 2025 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Each day offers us countless opportunities to encounter the sacred—if only we have the eyes to see and the heart to notice. Too often, we assume that holiness is reserved for mountaintop moments, silent retreats, or the stillness of a chapel. But what if the sacred is right where we are, hidden in plain sight, … Continue reading The Sacred Ordinary

Embracing Endings: Living Each Moment with Reverence

May 31, 2025May 29, 2025 ~ James ~ Leave a comment

Recently, I’ve been reflecting a lot on endings—those that we see coming and those that catch us by surprise. Both have shown up side by side in my life over the past six months, each carrying its own blend of beauty and challenge. When something we know ends, and we don’t yet know what’s coming … Continue reading Embracing Endings: Living Each Moment with Reverence

  • Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React
  • A Creed of Holy Mystery
  • Ripening Effort: Gentleness in What We Bring
  • A Grace-filled Creed
  • A Sabbath Creed
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You are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.

James Henry

Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React - Infinitely Precious

In week seven of the Ripening series, James Henry turns to one of the quieter but most transformative dimensions of spiritual growth: ripening awareness. Building on the series' central metaphor — that transformation is less like achievement and more like a fruit slowly receiving what it needs to become what it already is — James explores what it means to notice a reaction rising in you before it becomes your automatic response.Drawing on his own practice of Centering Prayer, James describes how sitting in twenty minutes of silence, releasing thoughts as they arise, trains the same muscle needed in everyday conversation: the ability to catch a reaction — anger, defensiveness, the urge to walk away — in the split second before it takes over. He talks candidly about the amygdala's role in this process, the evolutionary logic of fight-or-flight, and why so many of our modern reactions aren't actually about survival at all, even though they feel that way in the moment.This episode offers a gentle, practical invitation: you don't have to react to everything that rises in you. Through simple practices like breath and pause, James shows how ripening awareness creates space — not to suppress what we feel, but to choose, with more freedom and presence, what we do with it.In This Episode:Why James chose the word "ripening" over "growth" for this seriesHow Centering Prayer trains the mind to notice and releaseThe role of the amygdala in reactive, self-protective responsesThe difference between needing to react and wanting to reactA simple breathing practice for creating space before respondingHow ripening awareness deepens presence with others
  1. Ripening Awareness: The Space Before We React 12:18
  2. Ripening Effort: Gentleness in What We Bring 12:53
  3. Ripening Release: Loving Without Grasping 16:02
  4. Ripening Enough-ness: I Am, and That's Enough 13:02
  5. Ripening Action: The Ripple You Never See 12:46
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