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Prayer for Springtime

Earth our Mother, breathe forth life All night sleeping Now awaking In the east Now see the dawn Earth, our mother, breathe and waken Leaves are stirring All things moving New day coming Life renewing Eagle soaring, see the morning See the new mysterious morning Something marvelous and sacred Though it happens every day Dawn the child of God and Darkness -Pawnee Prayer Dawn is the Hour of the day that corresponds to springtime — the new light spreading across the sky after a long winter’s night.  What is awakening in you?

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March 27, 2009

Peeling Away the Layers

The last couple of days my body has asked for rest and so I have listened rather than pushed forward.  And in the quiet spaces I have been listening. Lent is doing its work on me.  Shadows are being illumined, layers of myself are being peeled back to reveal the depths of who I am, my grip is being loosened on unhealthy patterns.  Amazing work, often unnerving work, is moving within me.  I have had many moments of profound grace this season as well, and as a result I am being invited into some external and internal places I was quite certain

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March 25, 2009

Visual Meditation: Exploring the Shadows of Lent

When we stand in the light, we cast a shadow. Light and shade are to each other as breathing in is to breathing out. Some aspects of ourselves are in the light, visible to us and others. Other aspects, positive and negative, are in the shadow, unseen by us, even when seen by others. These are parts of ourselves that have been neglected, disowned, forgotten, judged, unrecognized or undeveloped. Some of the ways we can glimpse what is in the psychological shade include noting what we idealize or denigrate in others; recognizing our uneasiness about others’ perceptions about us (good

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March 19, 2009

Come and be Awakened!

Two months from today (May 17-22, 2009) a dozen or so participants will gather at the beautiful Hood Canal (see photo above) in the height of spring here in the Northwest for five days of creative awakening.  I have been co-teaching this program with the delightful Betsey Beckman for four years now (and a previous variation for those in ministry for five years prior) and it is one of my favorite things to teach. In the program we offer tools and experiences of entering into the arts — visual art, poetry, movement, storytelling, and song — to claim them for

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March 17, 2009

Altar for an Unknown God

Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests, an altar for an unknown God. -from Amiel’s Journal, translated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward The Novena of Grace is coming to an end today.  This was my first year coordinating this event and so I was unsure of what to expect.  I am

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March 12, 2009

The Saints in Walgreens

These have been very full days.  Last Wednesday the Novena of Grace began, which is a nine-day preached retreat in everyday life hosted by the Ignatian Spirituality Center where I work half-time as Program Coordinator.  Essentially there are two services each day, midday and early evening, and participants can choose one to attend in the midst of their everyday life.  As a part of this service we offer prayers at the end with relics, which are tiny fragments of the remains of Saints, in this case Ignatian ones such as St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola.  The Catholic tradition is nothing,

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March 9, 2009

Transfigured

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. -Mark 9:2-3 Today’s gospel reading is of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  A few years ago I wrote an article on beauty which explored certain movements in a spirituality that takes seriously the aesthetic dimension: longing, awakening, seeing, cultivating, and creating.  Those movements are all verbs, because our response to beauty prompts a dynamic process within us. (you can read the whole article here: “Responding

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March 8, 2009

Creative Blogger Award

Choral Girl at Choral Reef was kind enough to honor me with this blogging award. It has been a long while since I have done one of these memes, so here goes! My instructions are to list 7 things that I love and then pass the award on to 7 people…tagging them and letting them know they won! You can copy the picture of the award and put it on your sidebar. Seven Things I Love: 1. The muffled barking sound sweet Tune makes when she is fast asleep and dreaming of chasing squirrels. 2. Sabbath time with my beloved husband.

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March 7, 2009

Update on the Abbess

Thank you for the notes I have been receiving inquiring about the Abbess after her surgery last week.  She is recovering quite well, after a few days of extra sleepiness and soreness she returned to her usual spunky self.  Her stitches will be in for another week.  The medical report indicates that this tumor, like the one removed in late November, was indeed cancer.  But also like the previous one it is classified as low-grade with clean margins (meaning it looks like it was all removed).  My concern is, of course, that another mammary tumor developed so soon after the

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March 6, 2009

The Moment

The moment when, after many years of hard work and a long voyage you stand in the centre of your room, house, half-acre, square mile, island, country, knowing at last how you got there, and say, I own this, is the same moment when the trees unloose their soft arms from around you, the birds take back their language, the cliffs fissure and collapse, the air moves back from you like a wave and you can’t breathe. No, they whisper. You own nothing. You were a visitor, time after time climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming. We never belonged

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March 5, 2009