This piece was originally written for the Godspace blog to be a part of their Advent theme Proclaiming Justice, Seeking Peace Through Advent. It was published on 21 December 2022 here. All images by Kate Kennington Steer. … And if, as autumn deepens and darkens I feel the pain of falling leaves, and stems thatContinue reading “Blue Christmas 2: light is in the horizon yet”
Tag Archives: silence
whole: Christmas Eve
BEAUTY CAN SAVE THE WORLD so says the magnet pinned to the front of my fridge. But what does it know clinging to its empty whitewashed tomb? But then as I drive beyond the endless fields of rabbit’s foot and wild rye, I pass a hillside of white tulips—their cotton petals flinging the sunlight backContinue reading “whole: Christmas Eve”
whole: Sunday 3
I understand now that I’m not a mess but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. I explain that now, when someone asks me why I cry so often, I say, “For the same reason I laugh so often – because I’m paying attention.” Glennon Doyle Melton FOR NOW WE SHALL SEE THROUGH AContinue reading “whole: Sunday 3”
whole: Sunday 1
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight I got from looking through a pane of glass I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough And held against the world of hoary grass. (from ‘After Apple-picking’, Robert Frost) For the last few years I have been trying to change the way I think and talkContinue reading “whole: Sunday 1”
gospel 5. be. here. listen.
I AM the leap. I AM the ice cold air you gasp in on take-off. I AM the muscles which lift you, the limbs which bend, flex and fly free. I AM the gravity which holds you safe and brings you back down to earth. I AM the same whether this leap springs from yourContinue reading “gospel 5. be. here. listen.”
gospel 3: Peace. Be Still.
Do you really not know that I AM With You – always – even to the end of time? I AM with you when you feel you are drowning, sinking, perishing. I AM seeing your fears, and your fear of fear itself. I AM hearing your shouts, your screams, your silent, desperate cries which allContinue reading “gospel 3: Peace. Be Still.”
Ash Wednesday March 2 2022: what is a lectio soul collage?
Since joining the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks in 2014, I have been intentionally trying to make my sabbath distinctive from other days of the week. My illness often makes one bed-bound day merge into another, and prevents me attending church (even virtual church), this is harder than one might think. There are practical disciplinesContinue reading “Ash Wednesday March 2 2022: what is a lectio soul collage? “
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”
standing still for solstice
(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”
we each hear in our own language (Acts 2.8, Pentecost 2020)
How do I hear the Holy Spirit speak to me? In soughing grass, in crashing wave, in a child’s cry, in an elder’s laugh? In sunlight on my lifted face, in moonlight on my crumpled bed? In an urgent prod that begins in my gut and lies heavy on my solar plexus? In another’s singing,Continue reading “we each hear in our own language (Acts 2.8, Pentecost 2020)”
image into ikon 