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Feast of All Souls

Today in the Christian church is the Feast of All Souls, the day when we remember our loved ones who have died. I did not write a post about this today, perhaps because I have been talking a lot about grief and darkness lately and that felt like enough. But then I read Rachelle’s achingly beautiful post about remembering her own lost son and I knew I had to mention this day’s significance and urge you to go read over at Magpie Girl. And while you’re there you might also hop over to her Etsy store and pick up one of

November 2, 2007

Wisdom of the Sand

(I believe this photo is of otter prints I discovered in the sand, I have only seen these wonderful creatures fleetingly. The photo below is of Tune’s paw prints.) One of the great gifts of my time at the hermitage is being able to walk along the beach at low tide. Because the tides shift from day to day I keep a tide table to guide me each day as to when I can break from my work and allow the words and images that have been swirling around my mind to settle into my body. A walk always brings me some

November 2, 2007

Beauty of Broken Things (continued)

For the last Poetry Party I invited you to reflect on the theme of the “beauty of broken things.” Your poetic responses were marvelous, spanning a wide spectrum of possibility and exploration. Many of the images moved me, such as “I am the hidden underside of things” and “ice so cold it is also fire” from Tess, “fierce winds sprung from God’s deep lungs” from Rich, and “swampy depths of truth” from Kievas, or the stark simplicity of Kayce‘s poem: “dark / broken / desperate… / still / i reach for the heavens.” Many of the poems offered probing questions

October 31, 2007

The Thinnest Veil

Last Saturday I attended a concert of the Seattle Choral Company called “Celtic Nights” which marked the upcoming feast of Samhain on November 1st. Samhain is the beginning of a new year in Celtic tradition and is primarily a celebration of ancestors and harvest. It is considered one of the great doorways of the Celtic year which is divided into the seasons of dark and light and is connected to the holidays we may celebrate today — Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. The music was sublime and one piece in particular moved me deeply called An Caoineadh, which is

October 30, 2007

Prayer for Evening

The image is my view from the hermitage over the Hood Canal toward the Olympic mountains. -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

October 29, 2007

Sacred Arts Ring

I have been neglectful of my lovely web ring lately, not making the rounds to see what creative things are happening in the blogosphere. So I hereby resolve to make this a more regular part of my reading and blogging activity. Look for an every-other-week highlights (alternating with the Poetry Party) of what is happening among these artist friends. Do you want to join the fun? The ring description says: “This ring welcomes artists of all mediums who are rooted in a faith tradition or spiritual practice and who use the arts to explore mystery and meaning. You might be

October 29, 2007

Ache and Delight

The week before last was the fourth anniversary of my mother’s death and I shared here before that I have been feeling called to walk willingly into some dark places. It turns out that the anniversary was also the day I had to end a friendship. Friendship to me has always been sacramental and so not something I treat lightly. This friendship had actually been over for some time, but it took until now for us to realize that we each still have old wounds that have never been healed, despite our previous efforts. It feels good to have some closure, but it was a

October 27, 2007

The Color of Silence

***Make sure you visit this week’s Poetry Party either by scrolling down past this post or by clicking here — as usual it is an amazing array of sacred words that keeps growing*** “Hear blessings / dropping their blossoms / around you. ” -Rumi -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts (photos of the dahlias at Volunteer Park in Seattle)

October 25, 2007

Tea Time

***Make sure you visit the Poetry Party either by scrolling down past this post or by clicking here*** “Come along inside… We’ll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place.” –The Wind in the Willows I love the tradition of tea in the afternoon, especially high tea. Something about taking time to slow down, sip tea, and talk with friends is so counter-cultural that I think making time for tea can be a revolutionary act in our world of busyness and fast food. Bill Huebsch in his lovely book A New Look at Grace: A Spirituality of

October 24, 2007

Invitation to Poetry: Beauty of Broken Things

Welcome to our 6th Poetry Party. These are posted every other Monday. 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 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 post the poem along with my image below on your blog with a link back to this post. Please invite your readers to come join the party too! I’ve

October 22, 2007

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Reflections

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Feast of All Souls

Wisdom of the Sand

Beauty of Broken Things (continued)

The Thinnest Veil

Prayer for Evening

Sacred Arts Ring

Ache and Delight

The Color of Silence

Tea Time

Invitation to Poetry: Beauty of Broken Things

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