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Re-membering

I practice yoga at a beautiful place, it is a non-profit studio in Seattle thoroughly committed to making yoga accessible for everyone.  They do amazing work bringing yoga to persons dying of AIDS, to veterans and refugees, to persons with disabilities.  They also are wonderful at integrating yoga philosophy into their regular classes.  Each month has a specific theme and instructors talk a bit about it at the start of class and then weave it throughout our practice together.  I find that the principles of yoga consistently deepen my practice of Christian contemplative and monastic spirituality, opening new doors for me into the

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October 19, 2010

“Surge like an ocean, don’t scatter yourself like a storm”

Search the Darkness Sit with your friends, don’t go back to sleep. Don’t sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea. Surge like an ocean, don’t scatter yourself like a storm. Life’s waters flow from darkness. Search the darkness, don’t run from it. Night travelers are full of light, and you are too: don’t leave this companionship. Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish, don’t slip into the dirt like quicksilver. The moon appears for night travelers, be watchful when the moon is full. -Rumi We are moving toward the dark half of the year, and unlike

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October 11, 2010

Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire is a “Best Spiritual Book”!

I was very honored to find out yesterday that Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements was included on Spirituality and Practice’s list of Best Spiritual Books of 2010 (scroll down to Nature category).  Their website says: Every year from the more than 300 books we review on this website, we choose 50 “best spiritual books.” These are the titles that have most impressed and inspired us, and since we only review books that we want to recommend to you for your spiritual journey, this selection actually represents the best of the best. Our full

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October 8, 2010

Invitation to Poetry: Ode to Animal Wisdom

Welcome to Poetry Party #47! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections.  Scroll down and add your responses in the comments section below. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post) Today is the Feast of St. Francis, the wonderful mystic who saw the wonder of God in all of creation. 

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October 4, 2010

Monk Manifesto now available in Spanish

I am very grateful to Nicolás Crespo for translating the Monk Manifesto into Spanish! Click here for a PDF version of the Manifiesto del Monje.  Please feel free to pass it along to friends who might appreciate this. Manifiesto del Monje ¿Quieres unirte a mí para comenzar la revolución del monje? ¡Difundamos un compromiso con la contemplación, la compasión y la creatividad a lo largo y ancho del mundo! Monje: Del griego monachos, que significa solo o solitario, un monje en el mundo no vive apartado, sino inmerso en la vida diaria con una presencia plena y sin reservas, esforzándose siempre

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October 3, 2010

Spiritual Directors International 2011: Cultivating Compassion

Registration for the Spiritual Directors International 2011 Conference on Cultivating Compassion in Atlanta April 28-May 1, 2011 is now available! There are always lots of wonderful reasons to attend.  This year Betsey Beckman and I will be presenting the Friday night Plenary Session on Cultivating the Elements of a Compassionate Heart: The elements of earth, wind, fire and water have long been celebrated by sacred traditions as expressions of the divine. Join Betsey Beckman, MM, and Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, to actively participate in a variety of hands-on expressive arts experiences—both reflective and playful!—such as movement, song, image, story, and

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October 3, 2010

“The Still Heart That Refuses Nothing”

Lake and Maple  I want to give myself utterly as this maple that burned and burned for three days without stinting and then in two more dropped off every leaf; as this lake that, no matter what comes to its green-blue depths, both takes and returns it. In the still heart that refuses nothing, the world is twice-born – two earths wheeling, two heavens, two egrets reaching down into subtraction; even the fish for an instant doubled, before it is gone. I want the fish. I want the losing it all when it rains and I want the returning transparence.

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October 1, 2010

Join me in Oregon October 29th (last day for early registration)

Spiritual Directors Fall Seminar Shalom Prayer Center, Queen of Angels Monastery, Mt Angel, Oregon Friday, October 29, 2010, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: Bringing Encounters with Nature to Spiritual Direction & Soul Care When we consider the spiritual direction relationship we often think about the director, the directee, and the Spirit. This workshop will invite us to enlarge our vision of spiritual direction to include the matrix of creation within which our lives are supported and our becoming is nurtured. Join us for an experiential seminar exploring ways to integrate awareness of, and encounters with,

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September 29, 2010

How Does God Keep from Fainting?

The wonder of water moving over that rock in the stream justifies existence. The swish of a horse’s tail – again I am stunned by the grandeur of the unseen One that governs all movement. I resist looking at the palms of my hands sometimes. Have you ever gotten breathless before a beautiful face for I see you there, my dear. There is a wonderful problem waiting for you that God and I share: how to keep from fainting when we see each other. In truth: how does God keep from fainting looking at Himself all day? Light is moving

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September 28, 2010