“Life is difficult.” That three-word truth is the sentence that opens The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck’s well-known book integrating spiritual and psychological insights. It doesn’t sound like a welcoming beginning, though it certainly sets the stage for an exploration into spiritual and psychological growth. Admit it. Life is difficult. Once we have admittedContinueContinue reading “Showing Up When Life Gets Hard”
Category Archives: poetry
Let There Be Light
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. So begins the story of creation in the Judeo-ChristianContinueContinue reading “Let There Be Light”
Adjusting to Life After COVID-19
The novelist Alice Walker writes, “Look closely at the present you are constructing. It should look like the future you are dreaming.” I find myself reflecting on her advice as I come out of a year of enforced hibernation and squint at the sun in my eyes. Here in the States, and in particular myContinueContinue reading “Adjusting to Life After COVID-19”
Interrupted by the Cat
Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. Genesis 28:16 Interruptions can be the bane of life. How many times have you been engrossed in a task or been working against the clock only to have someone call, text, or show up, needing your attention now? How did you respond?ContinueContinue reading “Interrupted by the Cat”
Each New Day
At the beginning of each day,after we open our eyesto receive the lightof that day, As we listen to the voicesand the soundsthat surround us, We must resolve to treat each houras the rarest of gifts,and be gratefulfor the consciousnessthat allows us to experience it,recalling in thanksthat our awareness is a presentfrom we know notContinueContinue reading “Each New Day”
Returning
Metanoia is a Greek word we Christians hear much about, especially during the Lenten Season when our focus is intentionally on the journey which Christ took and on how faithfully we are following. The word itself basically means a change of direction, turning around, or turning back towards, and so we look for places inContinueContinue reading “Returning”
Ash Wednesday During a Pandemic
And we are put on earth a little spaceThat we might learn to bear the beams of love. William Blake No matter where we have lived this past year, we all have one experience in common: the pandemic. We all know how it feels to have our personal freedom and choices and pleasures denied asContinueContinue reading “Ash Wednesday During a Pandemic”
Asking for Guides
Stand at the crossroads and look; and ask for the ancient paths where the good ways lies and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. Jer. 6:16 I enrolled in an online course this past fall that explored the interplay between contemplative practices, such as meditation and prayer, and the creative arts. WeContinueContinue reading “Asking for Guides”
The Vespers and a Poem for Advent
Many of us are familiar with the Advent hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, composed as we know it in 1861 but with roots sunk as far back as the Roman Catholic monastic life of the 8th century. Not as many of us are familiar with the ancient O Antiphons, on which the hymn isContinueContinue reading “The Vespers and a Poem for Advent”
Loneliness at Christmas
Speaking for myself, two of the loneliest moments in my life occur annually: when I put the Christmas tree up and when I take the Christmas tree down. It wasn’t always that way, not when I had our two children in the house. We had a regular method of getting the tree ready: my husbandContinueContinue reading “Loneliness at Christmas”
Spirit Reflections 