whole: day 11

The truth of what we call our knowing is both light and dark.  Men are always dying and waking.  The rhythm between we call life … I walk in the dark feeling darkness on my skin.  Dawn always begins in the bones. ‘Hymn to Ra’, The Egyptian Book of the Dead As I am beginningContinue reading “whole: day 11”

whole: Sunday 2

But for God to reach us, we have to allow suffering to wound us. Now is no time for an academic solidarity with the world. Real solidarity needs to be felt and suffered. That’s the real meaning of the word “suffer” – to allow someone else’s pain to influence us in a real way. WeContinue reading “whole: Sunday 2”

Epiphany 2021

Once upon a time, when women were birds,  there was the simple understanding that  to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk  was to heal the world through joy.  The birds still rememberwhat we have forgotten,that the world is meant to becelebrated. Terry Tempest Williams I wonder if I can help ‘heal the worldContinue reading “Epiphany 2021”

watchnight 2020

The water is one thing, and one thing for miles. The water is one thing, making this bridge Built over the water another. Walk it Early, walk it back when the day goes dim, everyone Rising just to find a way toward rest again. We work, start on one side of the day Like aContinue reading “watchnight 2020”

Christmas Day 2020

O Colors of Earth, anoint me and robe me with all the attributes I need for my life work: purple for wisdom, meditation, transformation and spirituality; red for passion, energy and courage; blues and greens for calm restfulness, balance, healing, hope, serenity, and contemplation; golden yellows for optimism and joy, lucidity, compassion and illumination, andContinue reading “Christmas Day 2020”

Christmas Eve 2020

Here, where the rivers dredge upthe very stone of Heaven, we name its colors—muttonfat jade, kingfisher jade, jade of appleskin green. And here, in the glitteringhues of the Flemish Masters, we sample their wine;rest in their windows’ sun warmth,cross with pleasure their scrubbed tile floors.Everywhere the details leap like fish— bright shardsof water out ofContinue reading “Christmas Eve 2020”

day 25

I was afraid that with their blocks of concrete the skyscrapers might wound the dawn. But you ought to see how sensitive they are to the morning light, how they disarm and lose their cutting edge and steely soul! They too are caught in the irresistible spell of the holy hour when the whole naturalContinue reading “day 25”

day 24

This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,I fell in love with a wrenand later in the day with a mousethe cat had dropped under the dining room table. In the shadows of an autumn evening,I fell for a seamstressstill at her machine in the tailor’s window,and later for a bowl of broth,steam rising likeContinue reading “day 24”

Blue Christmas 2020

The twilight turns from amethyst  To deep and deeper blue,  The lamp fills with a pale green glow  The trees of the avenue.  The old piano plays an air,  Sedate and slow and gay;  She bends upon the yellow keys,  Her head inclines this way.  Shy thought and grave wide eyes and hands  That wanderContinue reading “Blue Christmas 2020”

Sunday 4

Joy is hidden in compassion.  The word compassion literally means ‘to suffer with’.  It seems quite unlikely that suffering with another person would bring joy.  Yet being with a person in pain, offering simple presence to someone in despair, sharing with a friend times of confusion and uncertainty … such experiences can bring us deepContinue reading “Sunday 4”