Taking Flight
As I began this year I had an encounter with a flock of pigeons which lifted my heart unexpectedly and then I found a feather on my doorstep. And so “Taking Flight” became my image for the year ahead. On my recent pilgrimage, winged ones – both avian and angelic – were significant symbols for […]
Mothers and Grandmothers
“And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see—or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read.” -Alice Walker, from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens Last week I shared an encounter which made me […]
Abbey Bookshelf: An Altar in the World (on the body)
Do you have a body? Don’t sit on the porch! Go out and walk in the rain! If you are in love, then why are you asleep? Wake up, wake up! You have slept millions of years Why not wake up this morning -Kabir “In a world where faith is often construed as a way […]
Wondering
I always find these end of summer days difficult. There is the last spate of hot weather which I really dislike. My sweet husband, a high school teacher, has summers off and so these slow days of spending time together will be coming to an end soon. And probably most significant (more so than I used […]
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 […]
Creating Personal Altars
Here is my latest article up at Patheos on Creating Personal Altars, enjoy!: ______________________________________________________ In the heart of every Catholic Church you enter you will find the altar, the place where we celebrate Holy Communion and break bread and drink wine together. It is where we experience God breaking into the community each week. Often around […]
Illuminated Manuscripts
My newest article is up at Patheos for the series on Art and Spirit in the Church: I fell in love with the Cloisters as a child. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the north tip of Manhattan, it is constructed as a reproduction of a medieval cloister. Its collection contains art […]