Being Fully Present with The Rev. Steven Paulikas

What absorbs your attention? Where do you find your ‘flow’? My good friend and esteemed colleague The Rev. Steve Paulikas doesn't use the word “flow" in our conversation, but it occurred to me afterward. As I listened to how he eloquently defines the work we priests do when we preside or as he says, “create a container” for people to be together in a unique way, I realized that full presence is not just about worship and it's not just for priests!

It’s a quality of attention we choose when we bring our full selves to where we are and who we are with – like an intentional conversation. Surely this way of being is part of what calls us into vocations, careers, and relationships, where we flow and find meaning. We also have great fun discussing friendship, drag queens, watershed moments, and how love just isn’t a big enough word for all the facets of what we think about that feeling. Enjoy!

The Rev. Steven Paulikas is the rector of All Saints’ Church in Brooklyn. His opinion writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, and others, and his essay on the political response to evil is featured in Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments: A Stone Reader. His doctoral work at the University of Oxford examines the theology of evil in the writings of Paul Ricoeur. Prior to attending seminary, Steven was a journalist based in Vilnius, Lithuania.