The 2020s have been a doozy so far – and 2023 has been no different. As we close out the year, I wanted to pause and reflect on the inner work resources, practices, and tools I’ve developed over the past 355-odd days. Reflection is, after all, an inner work practice in and of its own. To that end, below is a list of inner work resources (mostly free) I’ve created this year. I hope the practices, worksheets, and articles here... Read more
As an experiment, I’ve recorded an audio version of this article (plus a little extra) for you. If you’re on-the-go or just prefer listening, check it out! My mom is a storyteller. Growing up along the I-5 corridor, she would constantly tell stories to explain why drivers were dipping and darting through the lanes of traffic. Why is that driver speeding? Maybe someone is in labor and they’re trying to get to the hospital. Why did that driver just flip that other... Read more
In 2019, following several years of engaging centering prayer and other forms of Christian meditation as my primary spiritual formation practice, I began to feel a call toward a broader understanding of contemplative practice. Whereas my Centering Prayer teachers, led by Cynthia Bourgeault, made that practice seem like the end-all, be-all, I was becoming more assured by my own experience that there was more to “inner work” than just meditation – and that a contemplative life is about far more... Read more
Happy Friday, everyone! This is a bit of a promotional post because the eBook version my book, Unmasking the Inner Critic: Lessons for Living an Unconstricted Life, is currently on sale for $.99 through Amazon for just one more day! “In Unmasking the Inner Critic, Andrew Lang has created a beautiful and accessible guidebook to help you do the inner work central to the act of being human.” —Brian D. McLaren, author, activist, and teacher with the Center for Action and... Read more
I’m uncomfortable being in church spaces. And over the past few years of leading workshops, I’ve been asked again and again what I mean when I say that. “Why don’t you attend church?” “Is it because of the priest scandals, because that’s just the Catholic Church.” “What can we do to get young people like you?” Ugh. The truth is, most of my workshops are filled with folks from institutional Christianity – active or past members of churches and faith... Read more
In 1955, psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham developed a framework for mapping our awareness and self-awareness called the Johari Window. Because spirituality is all about connectivity and relationship, this is a powerful tool for folks engaging in the spiritual life. From pastors to personal practitioners, the Johari Window is a really wonderful framework for understanding what we are currently aware of, things we need to work on, spaces in our life we need to soften in and process further,... Read more
Over the past five years, almost every workshop I’ve led has involved, in one way or another, something called “shadow work.” I’ve written a longer explainer on my own approach to shadow work and somatic shadow work, in particular, but here’s the gist of it. As you read, I invite you to pause and think about how this is connecting with your own life experiences, stories, and desires. 1. We all have shadows – this is not a bad thing.... Read more
The way we gather says a lot about us, whether it’s for Sunday worship or a Thursday night small group. Richard Rohr has a saying: “true prayer or contemplation is a leap into commonality and community.” Or to turn it around: the ways we engage commonality and community expose the quality and depth of our prayer and contemplation. Is the way we gather in community filled with a deep appreciation for humanity and good-enough-ness or is it a hierarchical force... Read more
I was recently asked by a friend what “running on autopilot” means to me. Here are some of the words and phrases that came to mind: Mindless Status quo “What’s the point?” “Skimming the surface” “Just keep on keeping on” “Going through the motions” “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” But even more than these words, I thought of the following framework: This is how we typically operate when we’re running on autopilot: Stimulus → Reaction → Reflection... Read more
There’s a certain fluidity to the spiritual journey for most progressive Christians I’ve met (and certainly myself). Often in the midst of deconstructing experiences and images of a whitemalegod (and the doctrines that were weaved together with it), the spiritual journey becomes exploratory and necessarily liminal. We find ourselves testing the waters and sensing for what connects with us and our experience and story of the Divine. And without clear answers being fed to us by the institutional church, it... Read more
Becoming Faithful Questioners and Social Poets
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