Karen Skalitzky is a speaker, writer, and spiritual director. A former educator, she has over twenty years of experience transforming underperforming schools into the kind of schools all children deserve. She believes we can find the sacred in everything and everyone, in any moment and any place. Her first book, A Recipe for Hope: Stories of Transformation by People Experiencing Homelessness, was featured on WGN-TV. Her essays have appeared in U.S.Catholic, Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking Mothers, and Northwestern Magazine. A graduate of Northwestern University, Karen lives in Chicago with her son. Her monthly column, GodisBig Reflections, is read across the country. Read more
You are an excellent presenter: lively, engaging, gentle and authentic.
Chicago Area Spiritual Directors
Speaking
Stories are my currency. My flow. My way of bringing the sacred into the light. As a speaker, nothing is more energizing (and awe-inspiring) than talking about how we can find the sacred in our everyday lives. I customize each program to meet the needs of the audience. My most popular topics include:
- God Is Big: How to See the Sacred in All Things
- God Is Big: The Theology of Rest and Self-Care
- Hide and Seek: The Art of Knowing God
- God Is Big: The Art of Letting Go
GodisBig Reflections
You make me laugh out loud, then cry. Your words open my heart.
In a desperate bid to catch up on the emails that have been whipping past me all day, I came upon yours—and felt a moment of peace.
Restoring My Faith
My front porch has become my sanctuary, my “altar in the world,” to quote theologian Barbara Brown Taylor. I like to sit on the ledge late at night, my back against the brick. Out here is where I talk to God. Sometimes I use words. Most nights, I sit in silence. Breathing in that fresh night air, something in me expands beyond myself and reconnects me to the larger world, beyond the limits of my mind.
Circle of Faith: How to lean back and trust
It’s been a long year and the summer is finally upon us. I am still wearing my grandmother’s wedding ring that was gifted to me from my mom. It is my daily reminder that God is faithful, opening our lives in ways unimagined. May this summer bring you unexpected gifts too. I’ll be back online in August.
Continue Reading Circle of Faith: How to lean back and trust
Stepping Out in Faith
On Easter Sunday, I finished the Camino de Santiago, an ancient 480.8 mile (773.9 km) pilgrimage across the northern part of Spain. It starts in a village in France and ends in the town Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Unlike the medieval pilgrims who first walked it, I did the Camino virtually.