Archive by Category "Reflections"

“There is a road from my Soul to my Heart. My Heart stays awake, keeps this road open.”
–Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, translation by Dr. Nevit O. Ergin

There is so much coming at us right now. Spiritual leaders have pointed to the awareness that the mind can’t always handle rapid change and being bombarded by new information for years. The wisdom offered by Rumi reminds me of my source of calm and moments of clarity.

If I set my intention to keep the road between my soul and my heart open, I can trust I will receive the wisdom I need when I need it. Of course that assumes I make time to feed my soul, open my heart, and listen for the wisdom I need.

What helps you create and maintain an open road between your soul and your heart? Closing my eyes, putting my hand on my heart, and pausing to consciously breathe deeply helps me. Right now it feels like a lifeline and I can’t do it often enough.

May the road between your soul and your heart be open and may you heed the wisdom and grace that travels along it.

The Untroubled Quietude

“Shalom is not a utopian destination; it is a constant journey.”
–Randy S. Woodley

When I saw this image of a sunset in Big Bend National Park in Texas, I felt my whole body relax and my breathing slow. It felt just right for supporting our constant journey toward shalom, including peace, at this stressful time in the world.

At times like these, simple steps toward the peace and sense of completeness or wholeness shalom offers seem best. A gorgeous sunset, a beloved poem or prayer, and spending time with animals all offer me support on this journey. What brings you peace or a sense of wholeness? How can you bring more of it into your life right now?

May you find moments of peace to light your path and guide your way on the journey to shalom.

The Most Beautiful Offering

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
–Desmond Tutu

I was saddened to hear of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s passing on December 26th. He did more than a little bit of good for so many. While his wisdom will be missed, I like to think it lives on in the memories people like me have of him.

Blessed to see and hear him preach at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle over twenty years ago, I still get goosebumps when I think about his words.

Stepping away from the pulpit to emphasize his point, Archbishop Tutu opened his arms wide and then wider still as he proclaimed “All, all are welcome here.”

Having done so much work to end apartheid in South Africa, Tutu could have only focused on ending racism – certainly a big enough challenge.

Yet, he stretched beyond to include his support for those in the LGBTQ community seeking welcome in the church. That’s why he came to Seattle. He was supporting our new Dean, Robert V. Taylor (emigrated from South Africa and the highest-ranking openly gay priest in the Episcopal Church in 1999).

With Omicron dampening spirits as we begin 2022, it feels like we’re being asked to stretch beyond ourselves once again to find more resilience, more compassion, and more kindness to support ourselves, each other, and those suffering the most (the children?) from the continued upheaval of the pandemic.

I will do my best to honor Tutu’s memory by being more welcoming this year of people, experiences, and opinions different from my expectations. And along the way I intend to do a little bit of good. What good can you do today?

May you give and receive a little bit of good each day in 2022 and look back at the end of the year to realize the profound difference your small acts of good made in the lives of others.

At Our Best

“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” –Meister Eckhart.

Even though 2021 wasn’t nearly as positive as I hoped it would be, I can’t help but dream and hope my way into the new beginning the transition into 2022 will bring.

With the pandemic and divisiveness staying center stage in the national conversation, it feels really important to keep hoping and taking action to do my part on moving my hopes — big and small — into reality.

What are you hoping for in 2022? How can you prepare yourself to be more open to receive the blessings you hope for and more resilient in your faith when some of those blessings don’t appear?

One thing I’m hopeful for is more peace in my life. I’m thankful our programming theme for 2022 is shalom. It will help me become more rooted in peace as I help shepherd our programs throughout the year.

May hope spring eternal in your heart and may you lavishly hope for and welcome in a better 2022.

A Leap of Faith

“I am listening to the season of contemplation, to the urgency of our world’s need for reflection.
I am listening to all that waits within the earth, to bulbs and seeds,
to deep roots dreaming.
I am listening to the sacred, winter rest.

I am listening.” –Macrina Wiederkehr, excerpt from Listening to Winter.

With the arrival of the winter solstice today, winter is officially here and the light begins to grow once again.

As Macrina Wiederkehr reminds us, it is the “season of contemplation,” inviting us to pause often, look within, and rest in silence.

Sometimes though it is really hard to slow down out of fear of what will be revealed in the silence. Many are struggling with mental health challenges because of the long winter they already feel like they’ve been in.

One of my favorite quotes to pair with the winter solstice is:

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. – Albert Schweitzer

We all take turns being the one needing the light of another or being that light. As you read this, please pause, take a breath, and send or invite in the light of another. Together, we can rekindle hope, peace, and love in the hearts and minds of those in need.

May you receive all the light that you need to have hope this winter and may you send light out when you can, trusting it will reach those in need.

Take Back the Night

What defines a good life? I imagine each of us would come up with a unique definition, while including some common themes.

Love, laughter, community, and knowing you’ve made a difference in someone’s life might make many lists.

Thinking about my yo-yo emotions this holiday season, being true to oneself is now part of my definition. It means honoring that I’m sometimes giddy with joy knowing I’ll be visiting my sister and her family for Christmas and then deeply saddened by the horror of the tornadoes, the senseless murders reported in the nightly news, and the twists and turns of the pandemic.

Yesterday I decided to surrender and trust how I was feeling in the moment. No worrying that I would sink in despair or dance in denial — just feeling. What a gift! I felt the easing of tension immediately since I was no longer fighting with myself.

Are you feeling this swing of emotions now too? Perhaps the best way to honor those lost or suffering and the gifts of this season of light is to be good to ourselves and welcome in what we’re feeling —just as we would welcome in beloved family and friends and the Holy One.

May you commit to living a good life and may it include honoring and accepting how you feel in any given moment.

Trust Yourself

“Sit in stillness and listen to what your heart prays.” –Ruth Jewell

After seeing the quote above, a friend felt called to spend a major birthday (transitioning into a new decade) in quiet contemplation yesterday, weaving in moments of stillness.

There is a softness to the light that shines for fewer hours at this time of year that invites this inward gaze. And this opportunity to hear “what your heart prays” as well as receive what is given in love feels especially important this month.

Always a mixed blessing for many, the roller coaster of emotions the holiday season brings feels more intense now. We have all been through a lot. A moment or two or three of stillness opens us to receive Divine support when we’re just not able to welcome in peace, love, and joy. It’s as if that moment of stillness opens a window inside us to let the light in.

May you find moments of stillness in this season of light to listen to what your heart prays and receives.

Rest in Stillness

“Allow nature to teach you stillness.” —Eckhart Tolle

Moving Stillness

“Being still does not mean don’t move. It means move in peace.” —E’yen A. Gardner

“The places and people that make our world are [ever] changing; the present slips from us with growing rapidity, but the birds are ever with us.” –Frank M. Chapman (Source: Audubon 2021 Calendar).

Frank Chapman spoke about the rapid pace of change and the comfort he took in nature, especially birds, in National Geographic magazine in 1913.

Over 100 years later his words give me hope. So much darkness the world has gone through and come out of in that time – with birds in so many glorious forms accompanying us, offering delight and wonder when we paused to watch and listen.

Before the holiday season kicks into high gear next week, I invite you to pause for an hour or two to “root” yourself in the rhythms of the natural world. Whether it’s being among birds, trees, or squirrels or gazing at the moon one evening, let nature hold you through this holiday season. And sometime during a carved out sacred hour, you might acknowledge all of the changes you’ve come through and witnessed this past year.

May you become present to the gift of nature and your own inner strength to guide you through this ever-changing world.

A Celtic Prayer

God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.

God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.

God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my soul,
God in my heart.

God in my sufficing,
God in my slumber,
God in mine ever-living soul,
God in mine eternity.
–Carmina Gadelica III, edited by Alexander Carmichael.*

*Featured in Listening For The Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell.

“Reverence each hour
as a small stepping stone
on your pilgrimage
through the day.
Receive the gift
of seven sacred pauses.
Practice waking up
seven times a day.” –Macrina Widerkehr, O.S.B.

This past Saturday Cathey Capers shared her passion for honoring the hours for the unique qualities they offer us, as some monastic traditions do, in a day event, Time’s Sacred Flow.

While reminded of the trust needed to pause during busy days or full evenings, the gifts of clarity, peace, and inspiration possible on the other side of these pauses stood out. I was reminded of the unseen help available to us at any given moment. All we need to do is pause and welcome it in.

Usually I finish writing this during Terce (the 3rd hour in Latin). Cathey shared it is a time for inspiration and acknowledging blessings. My note to myself during our time of reflection was “In this sacred time of Terce, may I be kind to the “doer” within, gently easing in a pause, a breath, and a moment of gratitude for the tools that support my work.” What might you do as a sacred pause mid-morning tomorrow?

Or, you may be reading this at the time we send it, None (Latin for 9th hour), and choose to honor the waning day and begin to wind down and seek forgiveness for anything that happened earlier.

May you pause often each day to connect to the wisdom of the hours and be rewarded with priceless gifts of peace, inspiration, and clarity.

O Pilgrim of the Hours

Each morning
night’s curtain
opens on a new day.
You are invited
to join the great opening.
Open your ears.
Open your heart.
Open your eyes
to the sacred path
you travel every day,
the path of the hours.

Greet the hours
with joyful awareness.
Greet the hours
with faithful presence.
Greet the hours
with a reverential bow.
Greet the hours
with a sacred pause.

Reverence each hour
as a small stepping stone
on your pilgrimage
through the day.
Receive the gift
of seven sacred pauses.
Practice waking up
seven times a day.
–Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B.*
*From Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day by Macrina Wiederkeher, O.S.B.

“The stones speak to me of the endurance of things and how nature will persist. When I spend time among the granite and limestone, I remember all of the prayers uttered by the generations of people living in these sacred landscapes. I find myself aware of being part of a great lineage of people trying to live well and find meaning.” –Christine Valters Paintner

After hearing many times that everything is energy and alive in ways we can’t always understand, it makes perfect sense that Christine Valters Paintner says “the stones speak to me.” The perceived solidity and endurance of stones offers a show of quiet strength after unsettling news stories about climate change and politics.

In her book Earth, Our Original Monastery, Paintner goes on to invite us, out among the stones and trees, to lay our heavy burdens down. She calls the stones “an icon of grace; they reveal to me a face of the Divine that endures and is ever-patient with the world’s unfolding.”

Are you carrying any burdens like worrying about the future of the planet or the health of a loved one? Why not let the stones around you, even a small rock in a garden, speak to you of endurance, perseverance, and quiet strength? It can’t hurt and it just might bring you peace and an awareness that you’re not alone.

May you lay your burdens down among the stones and may their presence give you strength.

Study the Stone

Be yourself. And if what this means
is unclear to you, look around at

the things of this earth. Study the stone
which always does what it was made

to do: it doesn’t always fall in the
same way, sometimes resting in hight

places and at other times finding its
rest where the earth allows it to lie,

but its purpose is to move downward,
and in this the stone loves God in the

way it can, singing the new song
which God gives each creature and thing—

and also you who read this and at times
wonder what to do and how to be.

–Meister Eckhart*
*Featured in Earth, Our Original Monastery and from Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart: Meditations for the Restless Soul by Jon Sweeney and Mark Burrows.