Author Archives: remcmahan

Sacred Cycles

Nov. 17, 2021 I have been extremely fortunate this fall to see so much colorful foliage.  Here in the southern states, the leaves typically dry up, turn brown, and tumble away, but this year, perhaps due to all the summer rain, they transformed themselves into muted reds and vibrant yellows.  In New Hampshire, the autumnContinueContinue reading “Sacred Cycles”

Creative Community

Nov. 10, 2021 During the fall of 2020, in the midst of the ever-threatening Covid-19 pandemic, I enrolled in an online course with an emphasis on creativity and spirituality, based on Christine Valters Paintner’s book, The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom (https://abbeyofthearts.com/). This course tugged at my heart because after yearsContinueContinue reading “Creative Community”

For ALL the Saints

Nov. 1, 2021 “The essential work of religion is to help us recognize and recover the divine image in ourselves and everything else too.”  Fr. Richard Rohr I was born into a Roman Catholic family with devout (dogmatic) parents.  Yet what I remember most about All Saints’ Day, one of the major feast days inContinueContinue reading “For ALL the Saints”

On the Road

October 21, 2021 Greetings, friends.  It has been five weeks since I have posted a blog, which calls for some sort of explanation.  Here in the States, I have been traveling from one coast to the other.  In September, we were able to meet good friends in Sonoma, California, where we explored the wine countryContinueContinue reading “On the Road”

The Eyes of Wabi-Sabi

September 1, 2021 I recently was introduced to the Japanese Buddhist tradition of Wabi-sabi.  According to Leonard Koren, “Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.  It is a beauty of things modest and humble.  It is a beauty of things unconventional”  (Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, and Philosophers).  Wabi-sabi has an ancientContinueContinue reading “The Eyes of Wabi-Sabi”

An Invitation to Peace

August 26, 2021 In his book, The Music of Silence:  A Sacred Journey Through the Hours of the Day, Brother David Steindl-Rast recalls the story of attending the ordination of Bernie (Tetsugen) Glassman Roshi as Abbot of the Riverside Zendo in New York.  Zen teachers worldwide had gathered to celebrate this solemn ceremony, which wasContinueContinue reading “An Invitation to Peace”

An Invitation to See

August 19, 2021 I recently came across a quotation from John O’Donohue that made me stop.  He wrote, “Many of us have made our world so familiar that we do not see it anymore.  An interesting question to ask yourself at night is, ‘What did I really see this day?’” What did I really seeContinueContinue reading “An Invitation to See”