Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven’t time–– and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. -Georgia O’Keeffe I walked up to Volunteer Park today after the morning rain had abated, to take time to really see the flowers and capture the beauty of the dahlias in full bloom. -Christine Valters Paintner
Scroll down past the photos for Part One. I have lost 51. both of my parents (I am reminded here of that Oscar Wilde line: “to lose one parent may be regarded as a misforture, to lose both looks like carelessness.”) 52. my innocence. 53. my sweet animal companion. 54. friendships I thought would never end. 55. all four of my grandparents. 56. faith in moments of despair. 57. my ability to move my wrists freely. 58. my connection to my body and then over many years slowly re-discovered it again. 59. my Austrian citizenship (I had dual citizenship as
Very few words want to be spoken today. Just some images to share from a wondrous hike this morning at Discovery Park in Seattle.
Wendy invited me to participate in this meme called “100 Things.” It has prompted lots of good reflection, although I have only worked my way through half. Knowing that the rest may take another few days, I share here what I have written so far in response. I invite others who read here and blog to give it a try. Let me know if you do! I have lived 1. in an apartment in midtown Manhattan, eight blocks from the United Nations, the place of my upbringing. 2. in an apartment in Vienna during summers of my growing up, visiting my
I love to celebrate and support the work of women artists who reveal the sacred in their expressions. This image is called “Blessing” by Martina Shapiro. Visit her website for many lovely images celebrating Shabbat and other Jewish themes (thanks to Wendy for featuring her) Miska is an artist who lives in Issaquah and does a whole series of wonderful Madonna icons in contemporary style. I first discovered her art at St. Placid Priory bookstore and have a couple of reproductions of her work. Julie Barrett Ziegler lives in Olympia and is trained as a calligrapher and icon artist. This is a violin she
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world,
The woman who sat in the chair opposite me looked understandably frightened. It was her first day there, what would become part of her routine over the next several weeks. Her husband sat beside her holding her hand, stroking her skin gently, reassuringly, as if to say, I am here with you in this and through this. The nurse sat fixed before them, taking her time to explain the whole process of receiving treatment for cancer, what she should expect, how she would feel. Of course, any words can never do justice to the experience of allowing chemicals to flow through your veins in the quest
All occupants have the terrifying tendency to think artistic thoughts, be out-spoken, intelligent, pro-active, outside-box thinkers and other dangerous habits. If you can read and are a pro-crastinator, close-minded person and such stuff, YOU MUST STAY AWAY. Prolonged exposure to the personalities of the colony’s inhabitants can lead to coating surfaces in colors, mimicking sounds and voices, impersonating other people and losing oneself in the thoughts of fictional and non-fictional characters. FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, STAY AWAY. This great warning was shared at our Gathering last Friday by Anna Curtiss, daughter of Lew, who was also in attendance. It was
I suppose in some ways there will always be a part of me that is a New Yorker. I was born in New York City hospital and grew up in midtown Manhattan, about nine blocks from the United Nations where my father worked as chief of television and radio. He had grown up in Vienna and when he moved to NYC he never learned to drive because he never needed to. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I finished college and at 21 was heading across the country for a new adventure in California. I never thought I would miss the
I have been asked if I would make my recent article in Presence (the journal of Spiritual Directors International) available. It is on Using the Arts in Spiritual Direction and Discernment, and you can read it here. Also, Christian Century posted a great article about the RevGalBlogPals, a webring I am a part of. You can read that one here.
