My son, Justin, had died three weeks earlier. It was Valentine’s Day, 2006, and I stood in his bedroom, gazing at his bookshelf, in early afternoon light. I selected a book, pulling it from a tight shelf, and another paperback simultaneously slid out, fell, landed on the floor. I put…
It’s late. Driving home from work my cell phone rang, and I spontaneously said yes to an unexpected dinner invite with friends dear and visiting. I did hesitate knowing what I had planned to accomplish at home, but made a choice to turn around and head to their place. I’m…
Poetry evokes spaciousness in me. In a university writing class, our weekly assignment was to choose a poet (from a provided list) read his or her poems, choose three, and hand write them into a journal in order to hear the cadence and rhythm of the lines. Mary Oliver was…
When I was 29, I lived for one month at a monastery in the woods of Nova Scotia, Canada. At the time I was leaning into knowing God by personal experience, and discovering the meaning of earthy mysticism. A personal relationship with God–Christ–grew in me. (I didn’t like the word…
I’d forgotten author and guide Edward Hays. If anything, in this odd 40 day journey of authors with significance to me and my life story, I’m grateful to re-meet this wild holy man. His book, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim (1989) is dog-eared. For years, decades, I shared his poems…
“So my thread is spinning new course. And my thread, like my dreams, never lies, never leads me astray. Still I cannot stop thinking how brave I will have to be to follow it.” — Sue Monk Kidd The Secret Life of Bees introduced me to author Sue Monk Kidd. Next…
“If we look at Jesus–if we truly see what Jesus is about–we will see what God is about. God has to do with love and connection and freedom and compassion and service and reaching out. God is about inclusivity and joy-filled life. God is for healing and forgiveness and reconciliation…
March 5, 2014, Ash Wednesday I did not go to Mass today. I wanted too–it’s been awhile. Recalling decades back, 1987 perhaps. That’s 27 years ago. That Lent I returned to communion. Faced myself full-on in the mirror. Maybe it was a year before, or later, God knows. Time is…
“The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground of our own feet, and learn to be at home. It is…
“Today, take a bubble bath,” instructed Paula D’Arcy, the retreat facilitator. Seventeen of us sat circled in dynamic stillness. Morning light breezed through windows, dancing upon the hardwood floor. Vivid pink protea flowers and scattered plumeria blossoms brought elegant island artistry and focus. In a yurt, I gazed at my…