Hi, I’m Sarah,
Welcome to The Selah Letters where you’ll find poems, practices and prayers.
In the Psalms, "selah" means to rest or breathe. These letters provide a moment for you to pause and reconnect with God in the midst of your everyday life.
My first love has always been to tend to the deeper places of the human heart. Over the years, this took the form of college ministry, community development, teaching, pastoring, and most recently, spiritual direction.
Sitting across from someone, creating a quiet atmosphere for listening to God and to their own soul is one of my greatest joys. And that is what I intend to offer here too— in written form.
With each post, I hope to provide you with a few keys to unlock the deeper places in your heart. This will usually include a poem I’ve written from a unique angle, a reflective spiritual practice I’ll guide you through, and an honest prayer you can borrow if your own words falter.
I find that this combination unearths parts of us that can often remain under the surface or out of reach.
I write from the lens of a spiritual director. You may try reading these letters in a contemplative or lectio divina posture— slowly, meditatively, and simply waiting for one phrase or prompt to capture your soul's attention and allow you to hear God in a fresh way.
Feel free to explore the archives of previous Selah Letters, or here’s a few favorites:
DO NOT BE AFRAID
THIS TOO IS PRAYER
WHAT IF GOD IS BETTER?
With each of these letters, I hope I can be a soul companion, with you on the roundabout way of Jesus. May we together explore the deeper parts of our hearts.
Check out a new addition for my Selah community!! Over on Prayer & Practice, I host a live monthly zoom session for reflection, imaginative prayer, journal prompts, listening exercises and space to meet with God. It’s your time to be with God, not just talk about God. I would love to have you join us in these conversations with Jesus. Learn more and subscribe to Selah Prayer & Practice here.
And now for a little more about me and how I accidentally became a poet. Oops! ;)
I never intended to write poetry. But global pandemics will do strange things to you.
Living alone in New York City in March of 2020, I picked up my journal and tried to make sense of the chaos in and around me. The prayer pouring out felt surprisingly poetic, even prophetic, as if God was writing to me instead of the other way around. I woke up to see that this poem I posted about the virus ironically went viral overnight.
This surprisingly launched me into a year of writing and sharing numerous other pieces capturing our collective experience of loss, lack, and longing—the very things I had personally experienced over the years prior. These 50ish poems were eventually compiled as a collection of Pandemic Prayers and Poetry. Two of the pieces received a first place award for poetry from the Evangelical Press Association in 2020 and 2021.
I’ve continued to write words for the soul around themes of waiting, longing, hope, rest, fragile faith and God’s faithfulness. My newest works include poetic guides for Advent and Holy Week.
Recently, I’ve enjoyed offering spiritual direction both individually and for groups. My approach includes meditation on Scripture, times of silence, prompts for deep reflection and guided listening prayer.
I hold a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary and love teaching, mentoring, and caring for ministry leaders so they can do their good work without losing their souls.
By the mercies and miracles of God, I married my husband Paul at the age of 40 and we received a double portion of surprise twin boys, Luke and Judah, a year later. We love calling Columbus, Ohio home.
Welcome again to The Selah Letters. I’m so glad you’re here. I would love for you to say hi and tell me how you came my way!
