My teaching days were filled with good energy and a sense of exploration.  I love teaching this program and the women who participate so freely and joyfully.  The focus of this session was visual art and the first day we explored “gush art” and art journaling methods, using clay and drawing materials in a free and spontaneous […]

Posted in Seasons | 8 Comments »

I discovered this wonderful reflection by Ron Rolheiser at Antony’s blog: Coming to the Quiet.
During my last years of seminary training, I attended a series of lectures given by a prominent Polish psychologist, Casmir Dabrowski, teaching at the time at the University of Alberta. He had written a number of books around a concept he called “positive disintegration.”
Positive disintegration. […]

Posted in Advent, Seasons | 3 Comments »

When we moved to Seattle the winters became more pronounced.  I didn’t think moving 600 miles north would make such a difference, but we easily have three hours more darkness in the winter than when we lived in Northern California.  It also feels more perceptible because the sky is often gray and the sun that much […]

Posted in Advent, Seasons | 13 Comments »

Classes are canceled across Seattle today, my husband got the phone call at 5:00 a.m. notifying him (he teaches high school) and Seattle University posted their announcement soon after.  Apparently even though there hasn’t been much snowfall in the city, the low temperatures have made for icy and dangerous driving conditions.   Snow and below freezing temperatures are unusual […]

Posted in Resources, Advent, Seasons | 12 Comments »

Painting is “Waters of Baptism” by Tim Mooney
Tim audited a class I co-taught while living in Berkeley.  A good friend and I received a grant from the Practicing Our Faith people to teach a class on creativity as Christian spiritual practice (you can read a summary here) in the spring of 2003.  It was a great experience, […]

Posted in Advent, Seasons | 6 Comments »

Advent begins next Sunday, the start of a new year in Christian calendars.  The word Advent comes from the Latin Adventus meaning coming.  It is a season of waiting with anticipation for the coming of Christ and the incarnation, God made flesh, culminating in the season of Christmas.  
In Advent we are invited to be present to […]

Posted in Advent, Seasons | 9 Comments »

I just had to share two more things before I head to the airport.  I awoke early and so had time to discover a stunning post on Jen Lemen’s blog today about Love and another poem from Panhala, again by Lynn Ungar (according to Amazon her book is out of print, I think I need […]

Posted in Poetry, Seasons | No Comments »

One of the things I love about Thanksgiving is that it is one of those holidays that has escaped a lot of the consumer frenzy (except as a preamble to one of the biggest shopping days of the year).  I also love that it is a secular holiday centered on feasting and gratitude.
I have so very […]

Posted in Poetry, Seasons | 7 Comments »

God’s World 
O World, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists, that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour!  That gaunt crag
To crush!  To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known a glory in […]

Posted in Seasons, Nature and Creativity | 4 Comments »

Today is one of those great turning points of the earth, the summer solstice. I am aware here in Kauai, that being near the equator, there are not any noticeable shifts in light from season to season. Much unlike my home in Seattle where summer days stretch out long and light and winter days are […]

Posted in Creativity, Seasons | 2 Comments »