(all images Kate Kennington Steer) I am drawn to light, of all kinds, in all shapes. I am pulled towards the symbols and manifestations of the Great Light. And yet, paradoxically, through chronic ill health, I am often dragged into the most shadowed places within. The darknesses of depression are a constant companion lurking notContinue reading “standing still for solstice”
Tag Archives: darkness
psalms for passiontide: Easter Sunday Psalm 66.5
Whether it be in revisiting the victory song that is Psalm 118, or hearing the legends of exile recapped in Psalm 105 or 66, all of the Psalms the Lectionary nominates for Easter Day invite us to: Come and see what God has done (Psalm 66.5 NRSV) These psalmists also agree that all God’s deedsContinue reading “psalms for passiontide: Easter Sunday Psalm 66.5”
Christmas Day 2019
May all the blessings of the One who is Light and Dark in our dark and our light, be on you, this day and for evermore. Amen. Word whose breath is the world-circling atmosphere, Word that utters the world that turns the wind, Word that articulates the bird that speeds upon the air, Continue reading “Christmas Day 2019”
advent apertures 2019: Christmas Eve
I have learned that fences are for climbing to see if the grass really is greener on the other side; and that if I leave the house at night, and stretch high on the top of my tiptoes I might touch the quivering stars, play with the bright young moon. I have learned thatContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: Christmas Eve”
advent apertures 2019: day 23
Light and darkness, night and day. We marvel at the mystery of the stars. Moon and sky, sand and sea. We marvel at the mystery of the sun. Twilight, high noon, dusk and dawn. Though we are mortal, we are Creation’s crown. Flesh and bone, steel and stone. We dwell in fragile, temporary shelters. GrantContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 23”
advent apertures 2019: day 19
Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants. Otherwise the mornings before summer dawn would not be made so fine. The Bengal tiger would not be fashioned so miraculously well. The poor womenContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 19”
advent apertures 2019: day 18
If we could truly open the windows of perception, our lives would be infinitely richer, finer, truer to the possibilities of the soul. We would become considerably wiser, in understanding and in action. We could occupy the moment more fully, and employ more of our latent capacities. We might begin to genuinely respond to lifeContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 18”
advent apertures 2019: day 13
What little I know, I hold closer, more dear, especially now that I take the daily reinvention of loss as my teacher. I will never graduate from this college, whose M.A. translates “Master of Absence,” with a subtext in the imperative: Misplace Anything. If there’s anything I want, it’s that more people I love joinContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 13”
advent apertures 2019: day 12
Not the profound dark night of the soul and not the austere desert to scorch the heart at noon, grip the mind in teeth of ice at evening but gray, a place without clear outlines, the air heavy and thick the soft ground, clogging my feet if I walk, sucking themContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 12”
advent apertures 2019: Sunday 2
Awe imbues people with a different sense of themselves, one that is smaller, more humble, and part of something larger. Our research finds that even brief experiences of awe, such as being amid beautiful tall trees, lead people to feel less narcissistic and entitled and more attuned to the common humanity people share with oneContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: Sunday 2”
