Sunlight streams golden through beech and maple canopy. We walk, three of us, mother, father, son, through a cathedral of light. Leaf mold tickles the nostrils, leaves crunch underfoot, and above us, sycamore leaves applaud the day. A wild flutter erupts in my chest as thousands of grackles take flight, flash purple and black against [...]
“I can teach you how to fly.” Those were the words, spoken to me in a dream last year, by a wise woman I call “Macrina/Judi.” Macrina is Macrina Weiderkehr, an author who has accompanied me on my spiritual journey for the past ten years. And Judi is Judi Dench, the actress. In this particular [...]
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12: [...]
As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me continually, “Where is your God?” I carry Bible [...]
“Conversion happens in the spaces between events.” Macrina Wiederkehr How I love spending time in the Word with Sister Macrina! Today, using her book Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God, I meditate on the conversion story of the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, as written in Acts 9. Saul, a [...]
“I can teach you how to fly.” These words were spoken to me in a dream last year, by a wise woman I call “Macrina/Judi.” Macrina is Macrina Weiderkehr, an author whose books have accompanied me on my spiritual journey for the past ten years. And Judi is Judi Dench, the British actress. In this [...]
I love lectio divina! For nearly ten years, every Wednesday morning, my contemplative prayer group has used this discipline to center our prayer time. Three times, we read through a short Scripture. We read aloud, slowly, meditatively. After the first reading, each person speaks one line or one word in the Scripture that speaks to [...]
Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Amazing, how such a small, controlled movement on my part puts the swing in motion. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. It’s a matter of moments before my heart rate matches the rhythm of the swing, my spinning thoughts calm, and my tense muscles relax. I’ve entered another realm. [...]
Don’t you love the way God sometimes brings a book into your life at the very moment you need it? A couple of years ago I picked up Joyce Rupp’s book, Praying Our Goodbyes, thinking I would give it to a friend who was grieving the loss of her mother. It ended up under a [...]
“We cannot go deeper unless we let go of the place we have known. To descend into the depths of ourselves we must be willing to risk losing the security and safety of that to which we have become so accustomed.” Joyce Rupp, in Praying our Goodbyes Letting go. Why is it so hard? What [...]