Archive for July, 2009

Mandalas

My newest article at Patheos on Mandalas (Part 1 of 2): (photo of rose window at Notre Dame © Kayce Hughlett) Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle and the great psychologist Carl Jung called it an “archetype of wholeness.” Archetypes are those basic patterns and symbols which repeat across cultures and traditions, emerging from a [...]

Invitation to Poetry: Summer's Sweet Slowness

Welcome to our 38th Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add them in the comments section and a link to your blog (if you have one).  Make sure to check the comments for new poems added and I encourage you to leave encouraging comments [...]

Abbey Updates and Links

Life has been full here at the Abbey this summer.  I am very hard at work this week getting ready to teach an intensive class on Contemporary Expressions of Monastic Spirituality for the School of Theology andMinistry next week.  I am so delighted to immerse myself in the coming days in discussion and exploration of the [...]

Monet Refuses the Operation

Doctor, you say there are no haloes around the streetlights in Paris and what I see is an aberration caused by old age, an affliction. I tell you it has taken me all my life to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels, to soften and blur and finally banish the edges you [...]

Summertime Slowness

It's summertime which means an invitation to indulge in some of summer's pleasures.  Despite the fact that I have been hard at work writing a second book and preparing to teach, I still take breaks for some of summer's finer gifts.  Let’s celebrate slowness.  Some things that should be done s-l-o-w-l-y: Taking a long swim in [...]

this week's winner is . . .

. . . Elizabeth at Mind Whisperings!  Send me your snail mail and I will get your copy of Sacred Poetry: An Invitation to Write in the mail to you.   Everyone else can order your very own copy at the Abbey Shop.  Andy Wilkes at A Man Breathing has some very lovely things to say about this newest edition of [...]

Call for Art Submissions: Muse Cubes

A friend forwarded this Call for Art Submissions on to me and I explored the links to discover the lovely and whimsical creations called MuseCubes. Gretchen Wegner is the inspiration behind these and they look like so much fun!  She is in need of photo submissions to use on her future editions of the MuseCubes, [...]

Creating Personal Altars

Here is my latest article up at Patheos on Creating Personal Altars, enjoy!: ______________________________________________________ In the heart of every Catholic Church you enter you will find the altar, the place where we celebrate Holy Communion and break bread and drink wine together. It is where we experience God breaking into the community each week. Often around [...]

Invitation to Photography: Listen With the Ear of Your Heart

Welcome to the our second Abbey Photo Party!  This is a new experiment and sort of a twist on the regular Poetry Parties.  Instead of my selecting a theme and image and inviting you to respond with words, I select a theme and poem and invite you to respond with images.  Since you can’t post images directly in the comments section [...]

The Four Directions

"The perceptions that the cardinal points have distinct qualities that can be called forth to shape the outcome of human effort has been common to societies throughout history. . . "But for those humans who do see the sun rise from the darkened bed of the earth in the East as they arise from their [...]