Not a devotional.
An invitation.
Practices for the Curious Soul is a collection of ten contemplative practices designed for anyone who wants to go deeper with God — but who may have found that traditional devotional formats don't always make room for the way they are wired.
Each practice in this book draws from ancient spiritual traditions — Ignatian prayer, Lectio Divina, the Prayer of Examen, Eucharistic practice — and creatively reimagines them through the lens of stillness, imagination, and embodied experience. Some ask you to walk. Some ask you to breathe, or write, or simply watch. All of them ask you to slow down long enough to notice what is already present.
This book was written for two kinds of readers. The first is the spiritual director — someone who walks alongside others in their faith journey and is looking for fresh, creative practices to bring into that conversation. Each practice is designed to open doors, not close them, and to generate the kind of honest, embodied reflection that talking alone rarely produces.
The second is the everyday seeker — someone who doesn't have a spiritual director, who may not use the language of contemplative practice, but who knows there is more available to them and is curious enough to reach for it.
10 Contemplative Practices
Each practice includes a brief introduction, a scripture anchor, clear steps, and a closing question to carry with you.
Visio + Ekphrasis
Look at an image slowly enough to let it speak. Then give words to what you saw..
A New Communion
Take the elements outside. Receive communion under open sky, after an honest examen.
Immanuel Prayer
Use memory and imagination to encounter Jesus not as an idea, but as a presence.
Ruach Watch
Light three sticks of incense — one per person of the Trinity — and watch the Spirit move.
Slow, Still, See
A contemplative walking practice in three movements — slow, still, and open.
Expand
A breathing practice of opening your body and imagination to God's capacity within you.
Spiritual Exercise of Weeks
A four-week self-guided journey through the Ignatian movements of the soul.
Selah Candle
Bring one word to a candle's flame. Watch. Wait. Receive what comes in the stillness.
Dear Self
Write a letter to yourself from a high season, to be opened in a low one.
Worry Stone
Carry a stone. Meditate on what it holds. Walk to a stopping point and leave it there.
About the Author
Michael Denson is an artist and creative whose primary mediums are painting, drawing, and installation art. Encounter is at the center of everything he makes — his deepest desire is not simply to show people something beautiful, but to bring them into an experience of it. That same desire produced this book.
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Questions? Contact info@thecreatecommission.org