“I need to be silent / for a while”
All beings are words of God, His music, His art. Sacred books we are, for the infinite camps in our souls. Every act reveals God and expands His being. I know that may be hard to comprehend. All creatures are doing their best to help God in His birth of Himself. Enough talk for the […]
Invitation to Poetry: Words for the Heart
Welcome to our Poetry Party #43! 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 (ie, you can break the “rules” suggested below) and then post the image and invitation on your blog […]
The Exquisite Tenderness of Bodies
This article also appeared over at Patheos (click on the link and to the right of my piece you can see a whole list of articles for their discussion this week on religion & the body): Here I am. This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped. I live here. This is my soul’s […]
Invitation to Poetry: Sharing Our Deepest Joy
Welcome to our Poetry Party #42! I am posting this week’s Poetry Party since the third week of Advent begins today! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add them in the comments section and a link to your blog (if you have one). Make sure to […]
Advent: Uncovering What Has Been Hidden
Every year for the first Sunday of Advent we read a version of Jesus’ description of the end of days. In the Gospel reading from St. Luke this week, Jesus’ language is filled with apocalyptic images of fear and trembling and signs “in the sun, the moon, and the stars.” The word apocalypse essentially means […]
Happy Feast of St. Hildegard
Hildegard of Bingen was my doorway into the Benedictine life. While in graduate school I was studying for my “History of Christian Spirituality” comprehensive examination (a fearful and awesome task if there ever was one) and actually had a slight disdain for those ancient monks. My spirituality up until that point had been quite infused […]
Mandalas
My newest article at Patheos on Mandalas (Part 1 of 2): (photo of rose window at Notre Dame © Kayce Hughlett) Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle and the great psychologist Carl Jung called it an “archetype of wholeness.” Archetypes are those basic patterns and symbols which repeat across cultures and traditions, emerging from a […]