Reflections

The phrase “apprentice to beauty” keeps coming up in my prayers and journaling time.  I think that captures, at the very heart, this call to which I keep responding.  Whether as writer, artist, spiritual director, teacher, dream-tender, wife, or friend, in crafting the art of my life I seek the wisdom and guidance of the Great Beauty of the world that beats through the heart of God.  Beauty calls to us, wakes us out of our routine, surprises us, holds us in the present moment, fills us with awe, immerses us in the world of the senses, bridges us to

One of my favorite quotes comes from Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet:  “There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question

Maria Thompson’s comments on my post earlier about my koala dream and the playful nature of God, reminded me of the Hindu concept of lila (or someties leela) which means the playful creativity of God.  It is a concept that Stephen Nachmanovitch discusses in his wonderful book titled Free Play: The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts.  He explores the ways in which the delights of improvised art are doorways to the delights to be found in everyday life.  He is essentially talking about the practice of play as essential to the Sacred Art of Living, with which

I was on retreat this weekend at St. Placid Priory, a wonderful Benedictine women’s community in Lacey where I am an Oblate.  It was our annual oblate weekend retreat.  The retreat theme was inspired by the feast of Pentecost which Christian churches celebrated yesterday. I had an interesting prayer experience connected to my previous post on dreaming.  We opened on Friday night with a group praying of lectio divina with a passage from Joel.  The line that stopped me was from 2:28: “and the old shall dream dreams.”  I let myself be with that image for a while and the first

If in the Judeo-Christian tradition we believe that we were created in the image of God, a God who is continually at work bringing to birth the Universe and the God who “makes all things new” then why isn’t creativity something that gets more attention in our church communities? I think, in part, it is because creativity is threatening to institutions and to the status quo. Also, from working extensively with persons in ministry, church culture can be just as consumed with busyness as the rest of the culture and creativity takes time and space to nurture and nourish.  It

I am driving around Vienna looking for the home of an old friend. I keep stopping the car to look at the map closely and find my way and then search again. At one of the stops two koala bears jump through my open window into the car and begin playing. They try to get my attention away from the map I am holding so I can give them some attention. I had this dream last fall while in the midst of some serious discernment. The last couple of years have been a time of deep listening for me as

For the last nine years I have had the privilege of sharing my life with a wonderful dog named Duke. We adopted Duke from the SPCA in Sacramento, CA when he was one year old and already 85 pounds (he is now 105, bigger than a supermodel!). I would pay good money to see photos of his puppy stage, all head and paws I imagine. We get asked all the time what breed he is and my favorite answer is that he is part polar bear (he is big and white) and part dragon (think of Falcor the luck-dragon in