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Reflections

Category: Cycles and Seasons

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“Everywhere I look I see fire”

In the dead of night he suddenly beheld a flood of light shining down from above more brilliant than the sun, and . . . the whole world was gathered up before his eyes in what appeared to be a single ray of light. –The Life and Miracles of Saint Benedict by Pope St. Gregory the Great, If the landscape reveals one certainty, it is that the extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances . . . The whole

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A Midwinter God

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” -Theodore Roethke “Wisdom comes with winter.” -Oscar Wilde I love the bare branches of winter trees spread across the muted sky.  Those aching arms that have been stripped of encumbrance to reveal the bones. When autumn comes I am dizzy with delight at the release of fluttering jeweled prayer flags settling to the ground to become the compost for next spring’s flowers.  There is an excitement I experience at the change of each day’s landscape, a parade of colors, always something new revealed.  It can be easy to forget that this is

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Season of Paradox

Autumn is my favorite season with winter a close second, so we are entering the time of year that makes my heart sing.  The season ahead is a season of transition.  While summer and winter have more of a sense of sameness to them, spring and fall remind us that the world is constantly in flux and everything changes. For me, the heart of autumn’s gifts are its twin energies of relinquishing and harvesting.  It is a season of paradox that invites us to consider what we are called to release and surrender, and at the same time it invites us to gather

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Frozen Earth

Remember to come back on Monday for our next Poetry Party!     (Leaves discovered on the ground outside my hermitage this morning.) May your weekend bring you the still gifts of winter’s release and rest. -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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Autumn Day

Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by. Now overlap the sundials with your shadows, and on the meadows let the wind go free. Command the fruits to swell on tree and vine; grant them a few more warm transparent days, urge them on to fulfillment then, and press the final sweetness into the heavy wine. Whoever has no house now, will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening, and wander along the boulevards, up and down, restlessly, while the dry leaves are blowing. -Rainer Maria Rilke

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Full Moon Blessings

About a month ago I shared a dream I had about renting an art studio space with wide windows onto the sea.  My spiritual director said my psyche was insisting on more space for my art.  I wasn’t sure how to respond.  I love making art out of my home and as I did a cursory search of art studio spaces in Seattle I knew that didn’t feel like the spacious response my soul was longing for.  Then somehow I came across a listing for a beach cottage near Poulsbo, about an hour away, in part by ferry, right on the Hood Canal.  The

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Equinox Blessings

Tess’ Sunday Collection is all about autumn, so head on over to read a number of wonderful links! Bette has blessed me this day with the kindest and most gracious words.  Bette has been reading my blog since almost the beginning and has become a wonderful online friend who has inspired me in many ways, not the least of which was getting me to begin carving my own rubber stamp images! I posted some reflections on autumn last week and several of you added your own suggestions and resources.  Last year’s autumnal equinox I posted one of my favorite fall

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