Speaker & Writer on
SPIRITUALITY
Michael’s Public Talks and Workshops focusing on SPIRITUALITY include:
• The Mindfulness for Families Workshop (Co-taught with Michael’s spouse Ali)
• Fresh Green Blessings: Reading the Judeo-Christian Bible through a Buddhist Lens with Mother Earth Eyes
• Compassionate Story Listening
• Spiritual HomeSchooling from K to 12: Thirteen Years of Growing (Co-taught with Michael’s spouse Ali)
• Zen and the Art of Storytelling: The Pure Awareness of Nowness
• Are you a Buddhist Christian? Plurality & “Double Belonging” in the 21st Century
For pricing, scheduling, or further details on these Public Talks and Workshops, CONTACT US.
SPIRITUALITY is at the base of all that Michael does. While this may be expected in Michael’s role as parson, the spiritual is also ever present in his public roles as speaker, writer, storyteller, and educator. Ruth Sawyer, in her 1942 classic The Way of the Storyteller, writes that the most important practice for the true storyteller is “the building of spiritual background.” Following Sawyer’s lead, Michael devotes time each day to that building of spiritual background. He also aspires toward the SPIRITUAL in his personal roles as husband, father, 
son, grandfather, family member, friend, neighbor, acquaintance, stranger, and fellow Earthling, but he jokes, “What’s most embarrassing in all this is how slowly I learn! After a quarter century of this work, we might hope a person would make a bit more progress on the spiritual path than I have!” Despite his limitations, Michael offers his public talks, lectures, seminars, and workshops on SPIRITUALITY trusting that others will find inspiration and encouragement through the many teachers, teachings, mindfulness practices, stories, rituals, and traditions that touch and inspire him. Plus, Michael’s SPIRITUAL programs are often improved through his collaboration with his life partner Ali.
MORE ABOUT MICHAEL AND SPIRITUALITY: Michael is a student of the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (aka Thay). Michael and his family have been attending Mindfulness Retreats with Thay going back to the 1990s and, at the personal level, Michael aspires to follow the vows of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
Thich Nhat Hanh is recognized as one of the leading voices of Buddhism in the West, second only to the Dalai Lama. Nhat Hanh integrates Spirituality, Culture, Tradition, Ecology, and Lore through his teachings, aspiring to help build the “Beloved Community” envisioned by his friend Martin Luther King, Jr. Thay works to build bridges between religious traditions and heal cultural divides,
writing books on Buddhism and Christianity, and offering special Mindfulness Retreats for groups such as Vietnam Vets, People of Color, and American Police Officers. Thay shares the wisdom of Vietnamese folk tales, and he also challenges us to change our thoughts and actions, to truly love our Mother Earth, in the face of Global Climate Change. Culture, tradition, ecology, and lore meet in the spirituality of Thich Nhat Hanh – providing Michael, and all of us, with an excellent model of mindful integration and wholeness.
Flowing out of his spiritual work and mindfulness training, Michael and his wife Ali co-founded an emergent church in 2009, The Buddhist Christian Mother-Earth Church, grounded by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings.
And in 2017, Michael the Storyteller officially became Michael the Parson, completing his seminary training at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio with a Master of Divinity degree. Throughout seminary, Mišhko Mícheál focused on EcoTheology, EcoSpirituality, EcoJustice, and Chrisitanity’s interface with Buddhism, adding richness, depth, and new variety to his Storytelling Programs and Public Talks.
Along with focusing on SPIRITUALITY, Michael also offers Seminars, Workshops and Public Talks that focus on:
For pricing, scheduling, or further details on any of these programs, as well as Michael’s Storytelling Programs, and One-on-One Mindfulness Coaching, CONTACT US.