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A Prayer to Begin

I’m the secret fire in everything, and everything smells like Me. The living breathe My sweet perfume, and they breathe out praise of Me. They never die because I am their Life. I flame out—intense, godly Life—over the shining fields of corn, I glow in the shimmer of the fire’s embers, I burn in the sun and the moon and the stars. The secret Life of Me breathes in the wind and holds all things together soulfully. This is God’s voice. -Hildegard of Bingen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fiery Spirit, Source of all creative power, Kindle your Holy Spark within me, Breathe into

April 6, 2009

Patterns and Imaginary Walls

Last week I had the joy of going to hear Michael Meade speak. He is a mythologist who weaves folktales, myths, drumming, and singing into his wise talks about navigating complex times. As always, as I listened to his words much stirred in me, some of which I am sure will appear in this space. One story he shared was extraordinarily simple but has been living inside of me in surprising ways: A woman once had a goldfish bowl and she enjoyed watching the fish swim around in its small space. One day the goldfish bowl needed to be cleaned

April 2, 2009

Summer Retreat and Fall Online Course Explore Benedictine Spiritual Practices

This summer I will be in Berkeley leading a weekend retreat on Praying the Hours at the Episcopal seminary CDSP. I will follow it up with a fall online course on Benedictine spirituality. Consider joining me for one or both! Here are a short interview and article about them: Summer Retreat and Fall Online Course Explore Benedictine Spiritual Practices In the midst of busy lives, time is often seen as an ever-diminishing resource, a constraint on our ability to do all that we might like to get done. But, “time can become a gift,” says Christian spirituality scholar Christine Valters

April 1, 2009

“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

March 29, 2009

Prayer for Springtime

Earth our Mother, breathe forth life All night sleeping Now awaking In the east Now see the dawn Earth, our mother, breathe and waken Leaves are stirring All things moving New day coming Life renewing Eagle soaring, see the morning See the new mysterious morning Something marvelous and sacred Though it happens every day Dawn the child of God and Darkness -Pawnee Prayer Dawn is the Hour of the day that corresponds to springtime — the new light spreading across the sky after a long winter’s night. What is awakening in you?

March 27, 2009

Peeling Away the Layers

The last couple of days my body has asked for rest and so I have listened rather than pushed forward. And in the quiet spaces I have been listening. Lent is doing its work on me. Shadows are being illumined, layers of myself are being peeled back to reveal the depths of who I am, my grip is being loosened on unhealthy patterns. Amazing work, often unnerving work, is moving within me. I have had many moments of profound grace this season as well, and as a result I am being invited into some external and internal places I was quite certain

March 25, 2009

Visual Meditation: Exploring the Shadows of Lent

When we stand in the light, we cast a shadow. Light and shade are to each other as breathing in is to breathing out. Some aspects of ourselves are in the light, visible to us and others. Other aspects, positive and negative, are in the shadow, unseen by us, even when seen by others. These are parts of ourselves that have been neglected, disowned, forgotten, judged, unrecognized or undeveloped. Some of the ways we can glimpse what is in the psychological shade include noting what we idealize or denigrate in others; recognizing our uneasiness about others’ perceptions about us (good

March 19, 2009

Come and be Awakened!

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

March 17, 2009

Altar for an Unknown God

Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the plowshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring, and reserve a nook of shadow for the passing bird; keep a place in your heart for the unexpected guests, an altar for an unknown God. -from Amiel’s Journal, translated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward The Novena of Grace is coming to an end today. This was my first year coordinating this event and so I was unsure of what to expect. I am

March 12, 2009

The Saints in Walgreens

These have been very full days. Last Wednesday the Novena of Grace began, which is a nine-day preached retreat in everyday life hosted by the Ignatian Spirituality Center where I work half-time as Program Coordinator. Essentially there are two services each day, midday and early evening, and participants can choose one to attend in the midst of their everyday life. As a part of this service we offer prayers at the end with relics, which are tiny fragments of the remains of Saints, in this case Ignatian ones such as St. Francis Xavier and St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Catholic tradition is nothing,

March 9, 2009

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A Prayer to Begin

Patterns and Imaginary Walls

Summer Retreat and Fall Online Course Explore Benedictine Spiritual Practices

“Everywhere I look I see fire”

Prayer for Springtime

Peeling Away the Layers

Visual Meditation: Exploring the Shadows of Lent

Come and be Awakened!

Altar for an Unknown God

The Saints in Walgreens

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Give Me a Word Reviewed by Library Journal!

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jill Ore

Joy and Rest + Prayer Cycle Podcast Day 5

Monk in the World Guest Post: Veronica Spasaro

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