I rested into a quiet weekend which did my spirit good.  It is challenging to slow down after a long period of fullness and so I am being present with curiosity to all those internal judgments about the value of my downtime — where do those voices come from?  Living a contemplative life is at the heart of my call in the world and so I laugh when I am confronted again with those same voices many of us struggle with in an ongoing way.  My father was a workaholic, allowing multiple compulsions to numb him from his pain.  I

Spring is the season when the earth awakens after her long slumber. It is the season associated with the element of air and breath.  That moment of inhale, of breathing in the fullness of divine life, is the moment of dawn when the sun scatters the long night and the day begins. It is always such a privilege to do this work.  I am so incredibly blessed to be able to offer this kind of transformative space for others, to have wonderful women with whom I work and facilitate, and to welcome in participants longing to dive deep and discover what

Last weekend I attended the Northwest Women’s Convocation which was a pretty amazing event with almost 2000 attendees.  There were speakers like Riane Eisler, Ivone Gebara, Edwina Gately, Brian Swimme, and Margaret Wheatley (insights gleaned will be featured here soon).  I had an exhibit table next to St. Placid Priory where I am a Benedictine Oblate. They had this wonderful sign up (see above) — how honored I am to have the book I co-wrote with Sister Lucy Wynkoop to be in between Sister Laura Swan’s wise book on Benedictine tradition and Roy DeLeon’s wonderful new book on bringing body prayer

“It is this activity of working through disintegration that I consider to be at the core of the creative and therapeutic processes. I call this act “poesis” (following Heidegger’s use of the Greek word for poetry), and consider it to be at the center of human existence. “It is essential to human being to fall apart, to fragment, disintegrate, and to experience the despair that comes with lack of wholeness. To what can we turn, then, ion this moment of crisis? I believe it is at this critical moment that the possibility of creative living arises. If we can let

I am catching up on emails this morning and not sure what this says about me, but one of the notes that excited me most was from Rich at Pilgrim Path who sent me this link about a new book on relics called Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead.  Some of you may remember that I had some recent encounters with relics during Lent (Meeting the Saints in Walgreens and Altar for an Unknown God) and I am delighted to see well-reviewed writing exploring this practice across religious traditions.  The author, Peter Manseau, writes: “These bones — fragile,

For those of you in the Seattle area, you are warmly invited to join me on one of the two retreat programs I am leading in the next month. Saturday, April 25, 2009: A Mini-Retreat for Young Adults (age 21-35) Exploring a Rhythm of Contemplation & Creativity We will explore the ancient practice of lectio divina and creative expression.  We gather from 9:30-1:00 for a taste of retreat in the midst of everyday life. (sponsored by the Ignatian Spirituality Center — click link for more information and to RSVP) ************************* May 8-10, 2009 Transitions Weekend Retreat: Engaging the Seasons of Change

Two months from today (May 17-22, 2009) a dozen or so participants will gather at the beautiful Hood Canal (see photo above) in the height of spring here in the Northwest for five days of creative awakening.  I have been co-teaching this program with the delightful Betsey Beckman for four years now (and a previous variation for those in ministry for five years prior) and it is one of my favorite things to teach. In the program we offer tools and experiences of entering into the arts — visual art, poetry, movement, storytelling, and song — to claim them for