Both poems preach slowing down ... Sister Joan Chittister and Franciscan friar Richard Rohr among her spiritual guides, though she does not attend church. She lives with her husband, five dogs ...

At the time it was very hard to find a venue for spiritual poetry because everybody assumed it would be about trying to push religion on people, which wasn’t the case at all. There are so many ...

But another favorite of the Jesuits, I have learned, is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mary Oliver, 80 this year, who is of no declared religion, but whose poems are all about the spiritual quest.

Poetry transcends individual identity and serves as a vessel ... thoughts on the temporal experiences of life on Earth and the ability of humans to grow “spiritual muscles.” “I’ve come to the ...

Here is a sampling of where our readers find spiritual comfort, from poetry to gardening to gazing out into the ocean. These have been edited for length and clarity. Honestly, the most spiritual ...

Ó Tuama has become a shepherd in the shambolic tradition of contemporary spirituality, treating poetry as a form of agnostic prayer. “My interest in prayer is where it comes from, not where it ...

She was 83. Oliver won many awards for her poems, which often explore the link between nature and the spiritual world; she also won a legion of loyal readers who found both solace and joy in her work.