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Invitation to Poetry: Stirring in the Belly

This is the 31st Poetry Party!  I select an image and suggest a title and invite you to respond with your poems, words, reflections, quotes, song lyrics, etc. Leave them in the comments or email me and I’ll add them to the body of the post as they come in along with a link back to your blog if you have one (not required to participate!) Happy Feast of Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, and Groundhog Day! Imbolc is a Celtic feast that is cross-quarter day, meaning it is the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  The sun marks

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Out Sick :-(

I started coming down with a cough/cold thing that is going around on Wednesday and despite my best efforts and a full arsenal of resistance — Wellness Formula, Immunity Tea, raw garlic, and rest — I am fully sick today.  Sigh.  The worst part is that Betsey Beckman and I had a wonderful retreat day planned for tomorrow on Mary Magdalene.  Since hacking and sneezing my way through the day doesn’t sound very pleasant for the participants or me, we are postponing it until Saturday, February 21st and I will be spending the weekend in bed practicing the necesary humility of

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Sacred Artist Interview: Katharine Houk

I was first introduced to the work of Katharine Houk by Tess at Anchors and Masts. I love it when people point me to their favorite artists (hint hint) because I always discover someone with tremendous grace and beauty in service to others. Katharine is a textile artist who creates these beautiful and tactile ritual pieces including garments, stoles, and banners.  She was so gracious to take time to respond to my Sacred Artist Interview questions and offer us a window into her creative process and spiritual path.  So read on for more wisdom: _____________________________________________________ Are you rooted in a particular faith

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Now is the Time

Now is the Time Now is the time to know That all that you do is sacred. Now, why not consider A lasting truce with yourself and God. Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child’s training wheels To be laid aside When you finally live With veracity And love. Hafiz is a divine envoy Whom the Beloved Has written a holy message upon. My dear, please tell me, Why do you still Throw sticks at your heart And God? What is it in that sweet voice inside That incites

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Sacred Artist Interview: Mary Kolb

When one of my readers suggested Mary Kolb for the Sacred Artist Interview series I thought it might be fun to explore an “artist of the inner life” instead of my usual focus on visual artists, poets, and musicians.   I love that phrase, after all, are we not all invited to co-create the architecture of our inner selves?  And in that dynamic process we also help to create the world.  Read on for more wisdom from Mary and her insights into an intriguing and revelatory process. ___________________________________________________________ I consider myself an artist of the inner life. I teach self-awareness and growth tools

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Invitation to Poetry: Wings

This is the 30th Poetry Party!  I select an image and suggest a title and invite you to respond with your poems, words, reflections, quotes, song lyrics, etc. Leave them in the comments or email me and I’ll add them to the body of the post as they come in along with a link back to your blog if you have one (not required to participate!) Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog and encourage others to come join the party! My image for the New Year is “Taking

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The Abbey is back!

I was away for the weekend attending a workshop and returned last night to find my website down. After some long holds and frustrations with my hosting company and then the intervention of my web guy things are back on track now.  Apparently my site got hacked which a pretty unsettling idea.  There may be a few bumps still to smooth out, but look for the Poetry Party here shortly. Thanks for your patience!

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Cycles of Creativity

“A major obstacle to creativity is wanting to be in the peak season of growth and generation at all times . . . but if we see the soul’s journey as cyclical, like the seasons. . . then we can accept the reality that periods of despair or fallowness are like winter – a resting time that offers us a period of creative hibernation, purification, and regeneration that prepare us for the births of spring.” (7) -Linda Leonard, from Call to Create : Celebrating Acts of Imagination One of the greatest gifts of the seasons to me as a writer

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Sacred Artist Interview: Marybeth Leis Druery

Marybeth Leis Druery is another one of the wonderful artists I have had the privelege to encounter through my art editing work with the Presence Journal for the spiritual direction community.  Her website Contemplative Art is filled with her luminous watercolors and purchase of her beautiful cards and prints goes to support Student Open Circles. I always feel a sense of kindredness to the artists who so willingly share their wisdom here, and in a particular way with Marybeth.  Not so much her religious upbringing, as the influences on her ways of being now.  So read on for more illumination! _________________________________________________________ Are

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A Midwinter God

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” -Theodore Roethke “Wisdom comes with winter.” -Oscar Wilde I love the bare branches of winter trees spread across the muted sky.  Those aching arms that have been stripped of encumbrance to reveal the bones. When autumn comes I am dizzy with delight at the release of fluttering jeweled prayer flags settling to the ground to become the compost for next spring’s flowers.  There is an excitement I experience at the change of each day’s landscape, a parade of colors, always something new revealed.  It can be easy to forget that this is

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