This is the fourth installment of a series on the color brown and seeing things as they really are. Read the other posts. I love lists. Groceries, errands, things to get done today, next week, this year…having things all spelled out in an orderly fashion soothes me. Checking things off my list is immensely satisfying. … Continue reading
This is the third installment of a series on the color brown and seeing things as they really are. Read the other posts. Not far down my street, I almost stepped in it. Dog poop. Bits and pieces of crumbly goose poop littered another spot on the walk. At one point I noticed some crap, … Continue reading
This is the second part of a series on the color brown and seeing things as they really are. Read the introduction to the series. With the first step out my door, I notice brown. Leaves, leftover debris from an unfinished fall cleanup, littered the snow. In fact I remembered my husband’s comment as he … Continue reading
Wedged in between the pristine beauty of winter and the glory of spring is a time that we in New England like to call Mud Season. Gone is the white beauty of snow; the bursts of life and color have yet to make themselves known. The brisk excitement of winter has become wearying, and the … Continue reading
Why so glum, Judas, I presume? Sitting at the table, such a lonely countenance You have only to lift your eyes to your friend, breaking bread with you; open your eyes to the very bread of life. Why so glum, Judas, I wonder? So near to love, yet with a pout and scowl You … Continue reading
Bark, tough and earthy under my palm thick skin – you’ve got a decade on me and scars, visible in each bump and crag. Eye and heart, drawn to a wound hidden gracefully in green boughs, wide enough for my finger and I cannot feel the bottom. Cracks radiate pain and consequence outward. … Continue reading
I had the opportunity to spend a one day retreat recently at the gorgeous Sisters of Notre Dame, in a lovely nearby town. I offer a few images from the day, and a thought on the importance of solitude from Henri Nowen. “True Christian discipline is the human effort to create the space in which the … Continue reading
I’ve been using a great book during Lent: Praying the Hours in Ordinary Life. It’s an amazing tool, beautifully written. There are poems and artwork, an easy about each of the “hours” (there are eight, the traditional hours that monks will stop and pray). It’s incredibly accessible, easy to use and it’s been a true companion recently. … Continue reading
The man who can articulate the movements of his inner life… is able slowly and consistently to remove the obstacles that prevent the Spirit from entering. -Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, as quoted in Praying the Hours in Ordinary Life (the essay on “Terce,” the Third Hour)
