For years, I lived caught between purpose and exhaustion—serving others while quietly unraveling inside. It wasn’t until a season of deep burnout led me to the sacred stillness of spiritual practice that I began to rediscover what it meant to truly live free.
In that space of burnout, I met a Tibetan Buddhist nun during my doctoral studies at Claremont School of Theology. Her presence taught me what it meant to lead with silence, to embody compassion without striving.
That friendship helped shape the birth of Selah Center for Refuge and Renewal—a place where the pause is holy, and the breath is enough.
My journey through ministry, motherhood, academic rigor, and spiritual deconstruction taught me this: healing doesn’t happen when we work harder—it happens when we come home to ourselves and to God.
Now, I walk alongside others—clergy, seekers, students, parents, and soul-tired leaders—helping them find sacred rhythms of healing, reflection, and renewal. Whether through the CPR program I designed for youth, spiritual direction in Soul Coaching, interfaith gatherings, or contemplative practices my work is rooted in one call: to create safer spaces for a pause between life’s verses. It is in the pause where we find freedom!
What happens when a Tibetan Buddhist nun inspires an ordained Christian pastor to start a new type of Faith Community?
Let’s Find Out Together!
Beginning September 2025
Join us on Sunday evenings from 5-6pm CST for contemplation and meditation.
Have you been hurt by your faith community? Do you desire to explore healing in your mind and body? Do you seek a deeper connection to the source of All Compassion, yourself, your neighbor, and those who are challenging to love? Are you longing to embody more JOY?
Here is the format for our gatherings:
- Open with Gratitude
- Facilitated Discussion on Holy Hurt by Hillary McBride
- Contemplative Reading of Sacred Text
- Meditation
- Reflection
Amber Mattingly 