I wrote this poem in my journal on Sunday and discovered this morning that a former student died suddenly yesterday. I offer this here in honor of Rob and for all those who are grieving for a multitude of losses: ___________________________________________ *** Let it Be Winter Still Let it be winter a while longer, Let [...]
Posts in the Grief category
Pondering
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I have been feeling tired this week, unwell, my body feels tender and fatigued and so I am taking extra care of myself. My spirit is also feeling tender, in part because my body is vulnerable, but also because of the tragic events in Haiti, my mother-in-law's gradual decline with dementia, and some much smaller [...]
Blessing the Ancestors
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On the Death of the Beloved Though we need to weep your loss, You dwell in that safe place in our hearts, Where no storm or night or pain can reach you. Your love was like the dawn Brightening over our lives Awakening beneath the dark A further adventure of colour. The sound of your [...]
Altar of Remembering
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On Saturday a wonderful package arrived in the mail. It was a commission I ordered from artist Marcy Hall (see her Sacred Artist Interview) of my two beloved animal companions — Duke who died over two years ago and Tune who is of course alive and well. When I discovered Marcy's delightful art, I knew she would be [...]
What Endures
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'I learned that her name was Proverb.' And the secret names of all we meet who lead us deeper into our labyrinth of valleys and mountains, twisting valleys and steeper mountains– their hidden names are always, like Proverb, promises: Rune, Omen, Fable, Parable, those we meet for only one crucial moment, gaze to gaze, or [...]
Landscapes, Maps, and Pilgrimages
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A Great Pilgrimage I felt in need of a great pilgrimage so I sat still for three days and God came to me. -Kabir Tomorrow is my birthday and lately I have been longing for some retreat time. I was wise enough to block off the next few days to rest in some stillness at [...]
Grief
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I want to reflect here on two deaths that happened at the beginning of the year–within four days of each other–of two people whom I have never met. One is the great Irish poet and contemporary mystical writer John O'Donohue who died peacefully in his sleep on January 3, 2008. He was only 53 years old [...]
Feast of All Souls
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Today in the Christian church is the Feast of All Souls, the day when we remember our loved ones who have died. I did not write a post about this today, perhaps because I have been talking a lot about grief and darkness lately and that felt like enough. But then I read Rachelle's achingly beautiful [...]
The Thinnest Veil
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Last Saturday I attended a concert of the Seattle Choral Company called "Celtic Nights" which marked the upcoming feast of Samhain on November 1st. Samhain is the beginning of a new year in Celtic tradition and is primarily a celebration of ancestors and harvest. It is considered one of the great doorways of the Celtic year [...]
Ache and Delight
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The week before last was the fourth anniversary of my mother's death and I shared here before that I have been feeling called to walk willingly into some dark places. It turns out that the anniversary was also the day I had to end a friendship. Friendship to me has always been sacramental and so not [...]
