In the Andy Williams song, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” there is a line that, to many, seems out of place. “There’ll be scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago …” To understand what the song is referencing, one must remember that many Christmas traditions grew out…
What is it about this time of year— this season of late fall— that invites rest and reflection? I am given quiet mornings among pines and golden grasses Will I accept the invitation? Will I sit and listen? Will I rest and reflect? I might. I might get swept away with business and to-do lists…
Healing childhood trauma is the vocation of many gifted mental health professionals who I have encountered and collaborated with over the years. Wounds from our childhood stay hidden in our bodies (or not-so-hidden) for the rest of our lives, manifesting as many forms of cancers and blood disorders, headaches, digestive issues, cardio-vascular or neurological dis-ease,…
Neither Out Far Nor In Deep The people along the sand All turn and look one way. They turn their back on the land. They look at the sea all day. As long as it takes to pass A ship keeps raising its hull; The wetter ground like glass Reflects a standing gull The land may vary more; But wherever the truth may be– The water comes ashore, And the people look at the sea. They cannot look out far. They cannot look in deep. But when was that ever a bar To any watch they keep? —Robert Frost Those of us who identify as seekers know the struggle. Life continually presents the opportunity to awaken to a higher nature or purpose. It takes a conscious effort to combat inertia.…
During the pandemic, there have been many moments of unexpected blessing. For me, one of those blessings was the opportunity to host the Prairiewoods Knitters & Stitchers on Zoom during the months when meetings were virtual rather than in person. I so enjoyed the conversation that goes along with knitting together and stitching side by…
COP26 is happening Oct. 31–Nov. 12, 2021! COP stands for Conference of the Parties. The Parties include the 196 countries and the EU who signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty in 1994. That treaty established an international, environmental agreement to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system,” committing to…
“Can love, in its unaccountable weirdness, hope to overcome a culture of individualism built on denying all our millions of kinships and dependencies? That is our central drama now. It’s the future’s one inescapable story, and we are the characters who will steer that conflict to its denouement.” —Richard Powers, “A Little More than Kin”…
Mindful by Mary Oliver Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It was what I was born for— to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world— to instruct myself over and over in joy,…
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556 C.E.), famous for his “Spiritual Exercises,” was the Roman Catholic counter-Reformation founder of the religious order known as the Jesuits. He knew well the vagaries of the human heart. He recognized patterns of spiritual fluctuation ranging from periods of “consolation” to “desolation.” Experiences of consolation, marked by inner peace and…
In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground … A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now. —Wangari Maathai, Nobel Lecture, Oslo, Dec. 10, 2004…