Known By What Is Absent
Suffering is not a sign of being punished by God. At the other end of the spectrum, keeping oneself free of all suffering is not a sign of pleasing God. The Galileans who suffered under the cruelty of Pilate, Jesus says, are no worse sinners than the rest of us. Suffering happens. Rain falls on […]
Songbird
It’s the first thing I see each morning as my feet hit the floor. A watercolor print of a great mother bird sheltering someone underneath her wings. It is unclear what kind of person it is. What is clear is the look of fear and desperation on their face, hidden within a safety so tenuous. With reverence, I stand each […]
Greening Power
I am still reflecting on the silent retreat day at Dayspring this week. An unseasonably warm late-winter day, our time began with an overcast sky, a soft, warm breeze and bright birdsong. The cloudy sky was like a vast blanket of cotton balls scudding west across meadow and forest. Hildegard’s poem about the ever-creating Source of all […]
Timeless Wonder
“Is it possible to have a call – a wake-up experience – at a very young age?” The question came in the chat box on a Zoom retreat that I was leading. “Yes,” I said, “I think children do have these experiences, but usually don’t have language for them.” And I went on with my […]