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God in 100 Words or Less

I was invited to be a part of Patheos‘ new Theoblogger Challenge – God in 100 Words or Less.  (Patheos is a multifaith website where I occasionally write for the Catholic and Mainline Protestant Portals.) One of their regular features is the Public Square, and this week the subject is God.  They decided to reach […]

Ash Wednesday: Practice Truth-Telling

** Stop by this week’s Poetry Party on Entering the Desert’s Fire ** The reflection below is a slightly edited reprint of something I wrote a few years ago for Ash Wednesday which still calls me to respond to its invitation: _____________________________________________________ Today we leave ordinary time to enter into the journey of Lent through […]

Invitation to Poetry: Entering the Desert’s Fire

Welcome to our 44th Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add your responses in the comments section.  Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others […]

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are […]

Ancient Wisdom of the Heart – A Practice for Lent

Listen to the long stillness: New life is stirring New dreams are on the wing New hopes are being readied: Humankind is fashioning a new heart Humankind is forging a new mind God is at work. This is the season of Promise. -Howard Thurman A week from Wednesday the Lenten journey begins. On Ash Wednesday […]

Stirring in the Belly

Monastic practice offers me the gift of paying attention to the seasons of the day and the year.  February 1st is a potent time.  On the Celtic wheel of the year it is Imbolc (meaning “stirring in the belly”) which is one of the cross-quarter days falling between the Solstice and the Equinox.  Imbolc marks […]

Visual Meditation: A Place of the Heart

I grew up in New York City where my father worked for the United Nations.  He was half Latvian (father’s side) and half Austrian (mother’s side) and at age 12, during World War II, he had to flee Riga where he was raised to go to Vienna and live with his grandparents.  For my entire […]