December 19, 2025 O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, freeThine own from Satan’s tyranny;From depths of hell Thy people save,And give them victory o’er the grave. One of my favorite activities is hiking, and one of my favorite objects to observe while hiking is trees. Trees amaze me, from their intricate root systems to theContinueContinue reading “O Antiphons of Advent: Root of Jesse”
Author Archives: remcmahan
Advent’s O Antiphons: Adonai
December 18, 2025 O come, O come, great Lord of might,who to your tribes on Sinai’s heightin ancient times did give the lawin cloud and majesty and awe. On the West Bank, Palestine, in the city of Bethlehem, lies the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the Church ofContinueContinue reading “Advent’s O Antiphons: Adonai”
Advent’s O Antiphons: Wisdom
December 17, 2025 O come, O Wisdom from on high,who ordered all things mightily;to us the path of knowledge showand teach us in its ways to go. This last week before Christmas Day has always been mystical to me, a thin place of sorts, where we move willingly or not toward the Winter Solstice, theContinueContinue reading “Advent’s O Antiphons: Wisdom”
The Gift of Samhain
November 6, 2025 In the Celtic tradition, the last day of October ushers in the season of Samhain which simply means November but holds a great deal of mystery. During the period of October 31 through November 24, the Celts believed the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest, allowingContinueContinue reading “The Gift of Samhain”
Come August
(Photo credit Turner Matthews) October 5, 2025 Come August Swathed in crimson & emerald, the hummingbirdreturns, again, his delicate, cool tongue sippingthe nectar in preparation for his long journeyahead. With just a turn of his head,his glistening gorget changes from red to blackin the shifting lightbefore he buzzes away, to reappear in a few briefmoments.ContinueContinue reading “Come August”
At the Turning: A Poem
September 26, 2025 At the Turning It is the turning seasonwhen oaks and hickoriesrising skywardflutter leavesgreen and stubbornwhile maples and dogwoodsslip on red, russet, and goldand the last of the hummingbirdssip from the nectarand one by onethe last of the firefliesflit by the half-opened windowand the last of the sunflowersbrilliant and brightfade like starsin aContinueContinue reading “At the Turning: A Poem”
Resistance and Resilience: Offering
September 23, 2025 For the past few months, this blog has been focused on works of creativity as acts of resistance to the powers that be and a means of resilience that remind us we are not alone even as the world turns upside-down and inside-out. This morning’s post will be the last in thisContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Offering”
Resistance and Resilience: Hope
Hope, painting by George Frederik Watts, 1886 September 16, 2025 Thank you to all who have contributed and commented on my recent blog series’ ‘”Resistance and Resilience” which has focused on the ways that the creative arts can become instruments of both pushback/reminders as well as invitations to grounding and stillness. Contributions can be foundContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Hope”
Resistance and Resilience: Stillness
Photograph (c) Lois Justrabo “Be still and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10) In these tense months since Donald Trump became President and his administration began shredding the Constitution, I have walked a constant tightrope between despair and hope. In trying to maintain that impossible stance, I’ve come to realize that now, more thanContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Stillness”
Resistance and Resilience: Birds
Photo credit (c) Turner Matthews August 3, 2025 “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26 Since the beginning of time, humans have turned to nature to find silence, centering, rejuvenation,ContinueContinue reading “Resistance and Resilience: Birds”
Spirit Reflections 