Chapter 9: “ONLY A FEATHER”: Contemplative Organizational Life¹

A circle of chairs greeted me as I walked into the warm and welcoming library, a candle burning on a small table in the center. As the circle of eight people gradually assembled, we fell into prayerful silence. Katy, whose turn it was to lead prayer and staff meeting that day, opened with a reading and then invited us to join her in 20 minutes of silent prayer. Intercessory prayer, aloud or inward, followed. When our prayer ended, staff meeting began, continuing in the spirit of prayer with which we had begun. We went around the circle, each sharing what s/he was working on that week that impacted the whole. “What needs to be shared for the good of the whole?” served as our guiding principle for how much to speak. Altogether, the meeting lasted about an hour, half of that time spent in prayer. My first day of orientation for my new job as executive director at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, I knew I had come home.