door of being, dawn and wake me, allow me to see the face of this day, allow me to see the face of this night, all communicates, all is transformed, arch of blood, bridge of the pulse, take me to the other side of this night, where I am you, we are us, the kingdom where pronouns are intertwined, door of being: open your being and wake, learn to be …. -Octavio Paz
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill Where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep. -Rumi
Beyond living and dreaming there is something more important: waking up. -Antonio Machado And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake. -Mark 13:37 The last few weeks I have been struggling with some medication I am taking. It has done a wonderful job keeping my migraines at bay but insomnia has been its worst side effect. While it is a gift to not have the migraines regularly I have been sleep-deprived for far too many days to make it worth it. So as I began to prepare for the Advent season and reflect on the readings I had
I just found this poem for the first time the other day. I like it because it is not an easy poem, it is an invitation to that fully human journey of holding both blessing and curse. Offering gratitude when life is going well is fairly simple. Giving thanks in the midst of uncertainty, sorrow, or suffering is another story entirely. Thanksgiving Blessings! Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings we are running out of the glass rooms with our mouths full of food to look at the sky and
Some of you have let me know that you are having trouble ordering my book Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness from Amazon (they indicate a 3-5 week delay) and Barnes and Noble indicates it being out of stock. I contacted Paulist Press and unfortunately they didn’t have any clear ideas about why this was happening, but I ordered a number of copies from them. If online ordering isn’t working you can order directly from Paulist Press. You can also order copies directly from me, now that I have enough on hand. I have to charge the full price of
Dearest friends, thank you so much for the prayers for Petunia’s surgery today. The surgery went well, the doctor thinks she was able to remove all of the growth. Tune has a four-inch scar up her belly but seems to be doing okay. Now we wait. The biopsy results could come in as early as Wednesday or in a week’s time. Sigh. In the meantime she’ll continue to be doted upon in the manner to which she has become accustomed.
Thanksgiving I have been trying to read the script cut in these hills— a language carved in the shimmer of stubble and the solid lines of soil, spoken in the thud of apples falling and the rasp of corn stalks finally bare. The pheasants shout it with a rusty creak as they gather in the fallen grain, the blackbirds sing it over their shoulders in parting, and gold leaf illuminates the manuscript where it is written in the trees. Transcribed onto my human tongue I believe it might sound like a lullaby, or the simplest grace at table. Across the
This has been one of those weeks where both joy and sorrow dwell together. It has been a week of wonderful news and opportunities, but it has also been a week where I have not been feeling that well. Even more difficult was to bring my sweet Petunia into the vet today because of a small lump we found in her chest the other day and find out she needs surgery on Monday to have it removed and biopsied because it is quite possible she has cancer. So yesterday I asked you to celebrate with me, and today I ask
If you are around today at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST and wished you could have heard Kathleen Norris’ great talk about Advent at the Seattle Art Museum a couple of weeks ago, you can catch her being interviewed online. You can listen either over the phone or via the web, the information is here. **ADDED NOTE ** You can click the link above to download the mp3 file and listen at your leisure (the sound doesn’t come on until just past the one minute mark, so be patient) :-)
Celebrate with me! I just received confirmation that my application for REACE status (Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator) was approved by IEATA (International Expressive Arts Therapy Association). It was quite an intensive and thorough application process that included a Masters degree in a related field, a minimum of 2000 hours of expressive arts work experience, 200 hours of expressive arts training, an autobiographical statement, a statement of philosophy, a portfolio of both personal process and of a case study (including visual elements), three professional letters of reference, a resume, an ethical guidelines statement, promotional material, and transcripts. I am quite honored to
