“And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” —Luke 2:12, New American Bible The signs of the times are all around us. They offer a message that’s open to interpretation and they also call us to respond in some way. Sometimes it…
DetailsI have a lot of milkweed in my wildflower garden and around my yard. Milkweed seems to exhibit a kind of faith growing where they go, persevering, relinquishing what is not needed, and bringing joy like caterpillars and butterflies! My plants had their start with one of the FSPA sisters, and I would like to…
Details“People are hard to hate close up. Move in.” —Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness Abandoning hatred allows, or rather, demands a look closer at the lives and experiences of people who have beliefs much different than our own. Can I really be a good person because I’m compassionate and then decide that someone else is…
Details“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof.” —Barbara Kingsolver This may sound strange, but 2020 has been a year in which…
DetailsWhat are you doing later this afternoon? Around 4:30ish. Would you like to watch the sunset? Wherever you are, let’s look to the west and meet at the evening golden hour. Let’s say shortly after 4 p.m. we’ll settle in and stay until shortly after 5. We could be outside on a hilltop. We could…
DetailsWe’re emerging from a darkening, liminal space in the last month of 2020, when it seems crucial to read the signs of the times. Advent is a natural retreat opportunity to reflect on the many signs presented to us and to determine which ones we need to see and hear with new eyes and ears,…
DetailsAs many begin the season of Advent and, together, we rest in our longing to celebrate the Winter Solstice, we pray this blessing encouraging one another to bear the light. Blessed are you who bear the light in unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when…
DetailsEmotions are energy, moving in motion through our physical and spiritual bodies. As we learn to work with both positive and negative emotions without grasping to one or the other too firmly, we are aligning our energies to support the emergence of our highest self. So, with sore backs and open hearts, we pray, meditate,…
DetailsDec. 5, the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day, was special in my childhood home. My five siblings and I would be in front of the television set or otherwise engaged in the family room when the door into our kitchen would be thrown open and a shower of candy tossed inside. All six of us…
DetailsOne of my favorite ways to hold gratitude is by writing it down! I’ve kept a journal since I was a ten-year-old kid, but seven years ago I dedicated one whole journal to gratitude. This was my special “Gratitude Journal,” and I even wrote that intention on the cover page. It has been meaningful to…
DetailsProphets, storytellers, sages, spiritual writers, poets and artists are calling us to the wild side! It is time to launch ourselves into the arms of the Beloved, to allow our full sensorium to embrace the numinous world (David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World, 1996). Spiritual author Cynthia Bourgeault has reminded us…
DetailsOn this day after Thanksgiving, we pray with one of our favorite scripture scholars and Spirituality in the 21st Century speakers, Walter Brueggeman. In this evocative prayer, Walter risks naming the truth about us, about the world, and about the generous God within whom we pray. May this prayer pray us. The gratitude we intend…
DetailsWagging dogs and insightful blogs. Loving mothers and significant others. Bumble bees and willow trees. Fine wine and reading time. Arts and crafts and emotional life rafts. This Thanksgiving, and every day, I am grateful for the big and little things that make up my life. This practice of gratitude was instilled in me at…
DetailsOne of my favorite books of all time is Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue. He writes that “time as a rhythm of soul has an eternal dimension where everything is gathered and minded. Here nothing is lost. This is a great consolation: The happenings in your life do not disappear.…
DetailsA virus that attacks respiration has many of us focusing on our breath. In his recent essay on “The Meaning of Air,” Boyce Upholt takes us through a journey of the chemical composition of air, its place in natural and cultural evolution, and the disproportionate and deleterious effects of Industrial Era pollution on communities of…
DetailsIn the weeks ahead as we move through the holiday season, “What really matters most?” may be one of the most critical questions we need to pose to ourselves. When we pause and remember what really matters most, we host the potential to re-vision and respond with connection, compassion and love. Sensing the choice and…
DetailsIf you’re like me, you have that one friend or relative who doesn’t seem to be constrained by what others think, about looking cool or being perfect. They cultivate gratitude and joy and are compassionate with themselves and others. They are truly happy. Dr. Brené Brown calls them “the wholehearted.” She is a researcher, professor,…
Details“Attention is the beginning of devotion.” ―Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays When I first moved to Minneapolis in 2013, I knew three people in the metropolitan Twin Cities and knew very little of the city I suddenly called home. After a few weeks of feeling alone and overwhelmed, I decided to engage in a project…
DetailsWhile on the Spiritual Renewal Day, I was walking at Prairiewoods on the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2020, and as always when I’m there, the beauty of God’s Creation struck me. I had every intention of going to the labyrinth and walking the labyrinth, one of my favorite things to do. However, God had something…
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