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Sacredness of All Things

I love poetry that speaks of the holiness of the ordinary, the sacredness of all things. We make artificial divisions between sacred and secular, between what is worthy of our awe and gratitude and what is not. This is one of the elements I love most about Benedictine spirituality. In the Rule, Benedict wrote that “all utensils and goods of the monastery” are to be treated as “sacred vessels of the altar.” (RB 31:10-11) Esther DeWaal writes that Benedictine life “simply consists in doing the ordinary things of daily life carefully and lovingly, with the attention and reverence that can

January 18, 2007

Snowy Wonder

Last Wednesday night it snowed and then the temperatures dropped down below freezing so schools were closed because of icy roads and Thursday my husband and I had the surprise gift of a day off together. We walked up to Volunteer Park and delighted in snowy wonder. It is unusual for Seattle to get any snow at all so people are unprepared when it happens, although this is the second time in a month and a half we have had this front of arctic air move in, and the third time for unusual and severe weather patterns. So I finally got

January 15, 2007

Epiphany

Friday and Saturday is our next Awakening the Creative Spirit session and so I will be very busy the next couple of days and then recovering! We are exploring visual art this time and I am the lead teacher (Betsey and I switch back and forth depending on the art form we are exploring). I am eager to be with the wonderful women in our group again. Sunday is the Feast of Epiphany in the Christian Church. I love the story of Epiphany: Strangers following a star in the hopes of a sacred encounter, trusting their intuitions, allowing God to be so

January 4, 2007

We Have Not Come to Take Prisoners

We have not come here to take prisoners, But to surrender ever more deeply To freedom and joy. We have not come into this exquisite world To hold ourselves hostage from love. Run my dear, From anything That may not strengthen Your precious budding wings. Run like hell my dear, From anyone likely To put a sharp knife Into the sacred, tender vision Of your beautiful heart. We have a duty to befriend Those aspects of obedience That stand outside of our house And shout to our reason “O please, O please, Come out and play.” For we have not

January 2, 2007

The Promise of New Beginnings

Sometimes the light of the new day feels faint like the late December sun rising over Chesterman Beach in Tofino (above). There is mist around us, we can’t quite make out the shape of the future, but we place our hopes in the faint glow making its way upward across the sky. While I have some mixed feelings about the celebration of New Year’s, I also find hope in it as a way for people to recollect and renew. Like Thanksgiving, I appreciate the importance of secular holidays that celebrate important values like gratitude and remembering. While resolutions often seem to lead to unrealistic

December 31, 2006

The Fire of Endings

We had a lot of rain while up in Canada, but one evening was particularly beautiful and the world was on fire for a brief window of time. We often think of endings as only sad, but I find there is a beauty to them as well. Against the fierce edges of life, things around us suddenly become more vivid. Endings can bring us gifts of awareness we did not have before. I am thinking about limits and endings a lot these days. My father-in-law was just diagnosed with Parkinson’s and has heart disease, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with

December 30, 2006

Returning

I am back from my trip to Tofino, it takes about 9 hours to travel back between the 3-hour drive to the ferry, waiting for the ferry, the 2-hour ferry ride, the 1-hour wait at the border and then another 2 hours home. But it is so worth it because Tofino feels wild and remote. I had a wonderful time: walking along the beach, taking lots of photos, doing lots of art (I am hooked on carving, Bette!), reading, writing, reflecting on directions for my sabbatical time, gazing at stars on clear nights, eating wonderful food, and just being with

December 28, 2006

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