December 18, 2023 What If . . . we turned down the noiseof Holiday Traditionsclosed the email accountswith all of those varioussources that encourage usto do Adventrightset aside the plethoraof spiritual bookshoping to guide us intoa valley of perfectwaitingand tuned outthe spiritual guruseager to revealthe promise ofimpeccablestillness.What ifit were enoughinsteadto sitwordlessjust as we arein aContinueContinue reading “Advent 3: What if . . .”
Author Archives: remcmahan
Advent 2: Hagar
December 12, 2023 We don’t often (ever?) think of Hagar during Advent, yet her story (Genesis 16) epitomizes Emmanuel: God with Us. El Roi and Ishmael, God who sees and God who hears, are with her. Her story is one of despair and of salvation, of being considered a nobody by Abraham and Sarah andContinueContinue reading “Advent 2: Hagar”
Advent One: A Story
December 2023 When I was a child, I was mesmerized by the Advent Season. Mesmerized is a powerful word, and completely accurate. I still see that sense of rapt wonder on the faces of children watching candlelight, and I hope it still shows on my own. Advent, which means coming, is the four-week period inContinueContinue reading “Advent One: A Story”
A Different Perspective
October 24, 2023 When the entire world seems to be crumbling apart, perhaps what we need to practice is simply a different perspective, a turn of our lens. When we can slow down enough to become observant; when we choose to listen to what beckons; when we pay attention to what has been trying toContinueContinue reading “A Different Perspective”
Vermont Night
October 12, 2023 Vermont Night “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Somewhere outside of Montpeliermiles from the lights of townwith autumn approachingbut not yetI stand under the night skyand gaze up.Such a simple actraising my face to nightmy sight to lightafterContinueContinue reading “Vermont Night”
At the Table
September 27, 2023 I’ve been doing a bit of study lately on our shadow sides, those parts of us that we often consider negative or painful, and so we stuff them down into the depths. We all have them, and over our lives, from time to time, we struggle with fragmentation, knowing in our heartsContinueContinue reading “At the Table”
Hydrangeas in September
September 22, 2023 One of our greatest gifts is the ability to be surprised by wonder . . . and to pay attention to it. Hydrangeas in September You don’t expect itnot in September when the leavesare beginning their turningand hummingbirds prepareto migrate south.You don’t expect itwhile red squirrels scurryto bury nutsin your summer pottedContinueContinue reading “Hydrangeas in September”
Brothers of Joseph
O Joseph, favored son of the radiant colored coat,see how all your brothers gather againin these strained and foreign days.Watch them tear at your garment, again,shredding it apart in their frenzied envy,destroying what they do not want othersto possess. They turn their backson ancient Jacob in his grief, their handssplattered with blameless blood.Joseph, your brothersContinueContinue reading “Brothers of Joseph”
Reinventing Self
June 30, 2023 Some years ago, when I was active clergy and had been at my church for thirteen years, I found myself in a time of discernment about my future. A fellow clergy person with a thirty-year stay at his church suggested that the key to a long-term, fruitful ministry was to “reinvent” oneselfContinueContinue reading “Reinventing Self”
Summer Solstice Sunrise
June 21, 2023 Sun Poem Shouldn’t there be a ritual for the rising of the suneach daywith candles lit and dancing,hands upheld in welcome,songs lifted in praise?Watch how the sky prepares itselfswathed in azure and violethow the trees await, limbs liftednaked and unashamed.The hilltop holds itself steadyas the first sliver of light appearsbehind it andContinueContinue reading “Summer Solstice Sunrise”
Spirit Reflections 