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Reflections

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Winter Solstice

I discovered this wonderful reflection by Ron Rolheiser at Antony’s blog: Coming to the Quiet. During my last years of seminary training, I attended a series of lectures given by a prominent Polish psychologist, Casmir Dabrowski, teaching at the time at the University of Alberta. He had written a number of books around a concept he called “positive disintegration.” Positive disintegration. Isn’t that an oxymoron? Isn’t disintegration the opposite of growth and happiness? It would seem not. A canon of wisdom drawn from the scriptures of all the major world religions, mystical literature, philosophy, psychology, and human experience tells us that the journey to

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December 21, 2006

Carving

**I added some information below on the tools I used for the stamp carving I have been really captivated by rubber stamp carving these days.  Bette got me started and now I keep thinking of things I want to carve.  I love making a design and then carving away the excess until only the form remains.  It becomes very meditative as I am fully mindful and present to what is before me.  I also love the look of the metallic ink on black paper:    I love trees, so of course had to carve one!   This cross is from

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December 19, 2006

Things I Love (Part 2) and True Confessions of a Cover Girl

What fun that so many of you jumped in on the “Things I Love” meme, I had as much fun reading yours as I did writing mine!  Here are those who participated (click on their names to go read a celebration of gratitude!): A for Kayce at Diamonds in the Sky with Lucy B for Antony at Coming to the Quiet C for Krina at Queen Heroical E for Chartreuse Ova F for Lisa at Groggy Froggy H for Bette at B’Oki Journal I for Rachel at Swandive M for Me at Those Northern Skies N for Trish at Story Midwife  (coming) P for

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December 19, 2006

Vessels

I measure my life in vessels.  They trace the contours of my days.  Teacup, bowl, oil lamp, pitcher, baptismal font, Communion chalice, basin, bathtub.   I sleep in the belly of night and wake under a downturned bowl of blue. I ponder their shapes as I begin to understand my own longing: wanting to be held, fighting against being contained.Teach me, I say.  Tea, food, oil, water, wine, stars, sky.  Teach me how to gracefully, powerfully fill my space.from Jan Richardson’s Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas Below is a bowl I designed with mosaic several years ago.  The

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December 19, 2006

Awakening

There are many metaphors for spiritual transformation: birthing, unfolding, awakening to name just a few.  I love the image of waking ourselves up from the ways we have been asleep to our callings and to the nature of the world.  Milton at Don’t Eat Alone posted a wonderful poem by Antonio Machado who writes: Beyond living and dreaming there is something more important: waking up. Milton describes Machado as a “poetic alarm clock calling us to awake, look, and listen.” I was reminded of one of Michael Meade’s lectures I was listening to in which he asked, why do we insist on

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December 18, 2006

Things I Love

This is a “Things I love” meme that I found at Cathy’s blog.  She assigned me the letter T.  A little holiday fun and a good time to reflect on some of the things that mean a lot to me. Ten things I love beginning with T: 1. Tea with cream and sugar, although I mostly drink decaf now because I find the caffeine aggravates my migraines.  Right now I am drinking Ginger Peach Decaf from The Republic of Tea.  My husband and I love the tradition of High Tea and the best one we have had is at the

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December 17, 2006

Begin

This is now.  Now is, all there is.  Don’t wait for Then; strike the spark, light the fire. Sit at the Beloved’s table, feast with gusto, drink your fill then dance the way branches of jasmine and cypress dance in a spring wind. The green earth is your cloth; tailor your robe with dignity and grace. -Rumi I feel my creative fires continuing to kindle and spark.  How lovely to have some time this week to simply craft and play.  I share below my initial experiment with lettering, carving stamps, and using pastel and paint.  Unfortunately the vibrancy of the silver and gold

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December 15, 2006

Windows

The window above is from the Shafer Baillie Mansion and the window below is from the Conservatory in Volunteer Park (this photo is turned on its side and then duplicated in mirror image to create a mandala).  I walk by both of these lovely buildings almost every time I go for a walk in my neighborhood and I have never before taken photos of the windows, never really noticed their beauty.  For some reason on this particular morning their shapes intrigued me, inviting me into reflection and playing with new perspectives.  I am feeling drawn to get some photo coloring pens and highlight the patterns with colors. I

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December 14, 2006

Revealing the Bones

As I walked this morning, I became aware of the bareness of winter branches and the beauty of naked tree limbs dark against the sky.  The questions of winter stirred in me.  This year a new one is emerging:  When I let go of all the embellishments of my life, what is the core that remains?  What constitutes the bare bones of my life?  I am reflecting on this question in a number of ways.  Part of it is the literal level of the question.  I have felt the impulse to make space lately in my home for something new that is emerging

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December 12, 2006

Preparing

This season beckons me to ask, what am I preparing for?  What is the way that is being prepared within the wilderness of my life?  What does it mean for my own life to become a path, a way of welcome for the Holy One?  How do I give myself time to notice the ways that the path unfolds before me and within me?  What are the acts of preparation that bring delight to my daily life?  Whom do I ask or allow to help me prepare?-Jan Richardon, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas Today I really

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December 12, 2006