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chrisaltrock

Chris Altrock is an author, spiritual director and preacher, serving as the Senior Minister at the Stamford Church of Christ. He and his wife Kendra are parents to Jordan and Jacob.

Ten Minute Mystic: Practice the Examen

Just ten minutes of spiritual practice won’t make you a mystic any more than just ten minutes of running will make you a track star.  However, a handful of brief spiritual habits, engaged in throughout the day, can make a remarkable difference.

One of those brief habits is The Examen.  It comes from Ignatius Loyola and his “Society of Jesus,” also known as the Jesuits.  And the heart of Jesuit spirituality lay in two practices: Spiritual Exercises and The Examen.  The Examen is a structured form of prayer and meditation.  It consists of five steps.  In about ten minutes you can move easily through the five steps.  Loyola urged people to practice The Examen twice daily.  I strive to engage in The Examen at lunchtime and during my drive home.

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When God Says No: The Unanswered Prayer of Paul

In March, 1997 Newsweek magazine ran a cover-story on prayer.  The article included three prayer stories.  The first story concerned Mimi Rumpp.  Mimi’s sister Miki needed a kidney transplant.  So Mimi and her family started praying.  Less than a year later, Miki got a new kidney, courtesy of a bank teller who was so moved by Miki’s plight that she had herself tested and discovered she was a perfect match.  Her family prayed.  And a kidney was provided.Read More »When God Says No: The Unanswered Prayer of Paul

Simplify: A Word from the Sand About Cutting the Chaos and Complication of Life


Last year results were released from a significant study on simplicity.[i] Father and son Thom and Art Rainer asked more than one thousand Americans about their pace, their schedules, and their quality of life.  The Rainer’s found that a vast majority of us are longing for simpler lives.  We long for more balance and less busyness, for increased flexibility and decreased complexity.  We yearn for time to just enjoy life.  We long for simplicity.Read More »Simplify: A Word from the Sand About Cutting the Chaos and Complication of Life