Every year I wonder whether to write something to mark Beltaine, the Celtic feast which celebrates a cross-quarter day in the year’s wheel, the end of the dark half of the year and the beginning of its half of light. I celebrate the waxing of the arc the sun’s path makes across the little sliceContinue reading “furled fire (a Beltaine Birthday Blessing)”
Tag Archives: vision
be the epiphany
A miraculous event unfolds when we throw the lead of our personal story into the transformative flames of creativity. Our hardship is transmuted into something golden. With that gold we heal ourselves and redeem the world. As with any spiritual practice, this creative alchemy requires a leap of faith. When we show up to makeContinue reading “be the epiphany”
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: Blue Christmas
Evening says to night: “Are you always this beautiful under your clothes?” Night says to the moon: “All day I dreamed of you but I couldn’t bring myself to call.” The moon says to sleep: “There are doorways in the dark.” Sleep says to dawn: “As if forward were the only direction!” Dawn says toContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: Blue Christmas”
advent apertures 2019: day 20
A moment when sound and vision were inverted themselves, torn inside out and filled my attention to capacity. A moment when everything else dropped away and the experience of seeing, of sensing, became so overwhelming, so all encompassing, that the very idea of interpretation did not, could not, exist. Uta Barth Sister Maggie RossContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 20”
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 16
It has frequently been remarked, about my own writings, that I emphasize the notion of attention. This began simply enough: to see that the way the flicker flies is greatly different from the way the swallow plays in the golden air of summer. It was my pleasure to notice such things, it was a goodContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 16”
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: day 7
Mercy, there have been revelations. Grace, there has been realisation. Still, you must travel the path of time and circumstance. The further you go, the more it comes back to paying attention. The rough skin of the tallowwood, the trade routes of the lorikeets, a sky lifting behind afternoon clouds. Staying close to theContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 7”