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

There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy,a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of time this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.  The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open;whether you choose to take an art class,keep a journal, record your dreams,dance your story

I am currently co-writing a book with Sister Lucy of St. Placid Priory, on the ancient prayer practice of lectio divina for Paulist Press.  The deadline for the completed manuscript is November and the publication date will be spring of 2008 – yes indeed, the publishing wheels turn slolwy. This process has been a gift to me.  I get to write about a topic I love — cultivating the contemplative life through a particular practice.  I have a writing partner who has wonderful research and notes, and we have fruitful conversations before each chapter about how to shape it.  Writing can

I have been feeling very introspective lately, probably the result of having some sort of virus with a rash and fever that caused me to retreat to my bed for the last four days (the prescription-strength Benadryl helped that along quite a bit!)  Or maybe it is because summer is waning, and while I am probably one of the few folks in Seattle who actually tires of sunny weather all the time (I adore cool rainy days and curling up by a fire with a book), summer also means lots of time with my husband who is on break from teaching.  Early

“What is serious to human beings is often trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as ‘play’ is perhaps what God takes most seriously. God plays…in the garden of creation, and, if we could let go of our obsessions with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear God’s call and follow God in God’s mysterious, cosmic dance. “We do not have to go very far to catch echoes of that dancing. When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating

I adore my husband and know I am blessed to count him as my closest friend.  Even with that gift in my life, I hunger for the friendship and support of other women. My dear friend Michelle lives in Vancouver now and with me in Seattle, we have to be intentional about spending time together and nurturing our friendship. We met almost three years ago at a church young-adult Christmas party that we were both just about to leave. Somehow we got onto the subjects of Walter Brueggemann, Denise Levertov, and Mary Oliver within the first few minutes of our conversation

A story from the desert fathers: Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and said: Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and, according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: now what more should I do? The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said: Why not become fire? Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves and gravity, we shall harness for God energies