Ryan J. Pelton | Hints of Hope

Topic

Spiritual Formation

A collection of 14 issues

Countercultural Practices

“Dwelling, lingering, pondering, listening, praying- these are all countercultural practices. They slow us into a silence that has to be reclaimed, sometimes with fierce intention, from the noise and haste and forward momentum of daily life. Many of us have normalized busyness to the point of chronic overload. Staying with,

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery

Our Vocation of Communion, Love, and Service

“We all have a vocation, and our vocation has fundamental commonality. It’s a vocation to live in communion with God and neighbour, to love God and neighbour, to serve, to uplift, to be mutually life-giving.” -Borys Gudziak

Learning to Say Nothing

“Unlucky is the man who is born with great expectations, and who finds nothing in life quite up to the mark... One of the best things a man can bring into the world with him is a natural humility of spirit. About the next best thing he can bring, and

How to Build an Attention Collection?

David Dark in his book Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious suggests we all have and need attention collections. What is an attention collection? Dark said in an interview: “That we all have songs, memories, anecdotes, maybe books, maybe films, that we treasure for good reason,

Stop Pretending You're Not Religious

“I'm never not worshiping. I'm never not confessing my faith in one way or another. And, if I may be permitted a return to the plural, understanding ourselves to be just as religious as any and everyone else might afford us time, space and vision with which to see ourselves

A Litany of Humility

Today marks Ash Wednesday on the church calendar. With all going on in the world, and our souls, a confession to help center our hearts on what matters. This "litany of humility" was adapted and shared by C.S. Lewis in one of his books (forget reference). Lord Jesus. Meek

Trojan Horse for the Human Heart

Bestselling Sci-Fi author Hugh Howey said this about stories: “Stories are a Trojan Horse for the human heart. Rather than repel them, we gladly bring them inside where they change us from within. The best stories then are the ones that contain truths we would reject in any other form.

Blogging as a Means of Grace

Austin Kleon mused about blogging being a forgiving medium compared to social media. Artists talk about particular mediums being unforgiving like pastels because they have a permanence hard to undo. You better get it right on the first go, or else. Blogging, not so much. Blogging runs on grace. I

The Lies of Anger

Anger is a platform to sell politics, religion, products, and propaganda. It’s championed as necessary and righteous and unavoidable. But history and our own souls would tell us a different story. It feels right in the moment and typically ends nowhere good. Frederick Buechner said anger ends up turning