Welcome to Prayer Threads

Life is a tangled mess of so many things that it can be hard to hold each thread. I’m not a seamstress or even really good at stitching in a straight line. I don’t have the answers. (I know. Sorry. I’m bummed too.) I can ask really good questions and share in the wonder if what it all means.

That’s what this spiritual direction in your inbox is all about. My hope is to encourage you to delight and cherish all the Holy Threads that God might be offering you right now.

I’m so glad you’re here

My life is a tangle of things too. I am interested in pulling at the threads and asking all of the questions to understand and make meaning in this great story of being alive. I am rooted in the Christian tradition where stories are at the center of our worship and imagination and it is those stories that we turn to when life doesn’t make sense — and life often doesn’t make sense, doesn’t it?

We are all trying to pull at the knots and snarls to find meaning and hope so that I have a keen interest in working with those struggling with change and transformation that emerge from moving, changes in career and family and the threads of grief that linger for years after loss. Change is so hard and we need to find compassion for ourselves which can be hard to do alone.

There might be a lot more to say about me but I hate talking about myself. It also seems I don’t like being in pictures. This is the last picture of myself not wearing sunglasses which was during the pandemic doing churchy things. Oh well. You can find out more about me here.

Spiritual Direction with Elsa Cook

What you’ll find here

This newsletter offers spiritual practices to ground your practice each month as well as retreats and other seasonal resources to explore the tangled threads of this life. Most of the offerings here are to notice the threads all jumbled together. We sit with the questions and treasure the wonders just by paying attention.

There are always questions. There are lots of questions that we are all trying to answer as find ourselves in God’s great story. If you choose to subscribe, I’ll invite you into those questions right away with a free downloadable gift.