One of the most beloved books of my middle-school years was Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, written by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimborough about the hilarious (at least in retrospect) trip they made to Europe following their graduation from Bryn Mawr in 1920. Which, if you have never read it, is still quite …
I was born not far from the ocean and have lived most of my life within an hour of one of the two huge bodies of water that give our planet its distinctive color from space. Anyone who has spent any length of time along a coastline knows that drowning is not something that happens …
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is upon us. On December 21 at 4:03 MST, the North Pole reaches the point at which it is tilted furthest – 23.5 degrees – away from the Sun. One breath later, we begin to tilt slowly back toward the light, toward warmth, toward longer days and shorter …
Samhain is a rich spiritual season, comprising a panoply of holy days that vibrate with psychological paradox and dare us to risk confronting our deepest fears, most violent demons – and greatest hopes. The winter solstice is a month away, one of the highest of high holy days. For the community of faith that calls …
During my silent retreat — while I am disconnected from the internet — I have chosen three blogs from the past year to adapt and pre-post. This one is updated from the final Wednesday Reflection in Beltane (late July 2014). It is equally valid as a reflection during the liminal time passing from Lughnasadh into …
My apologies for the broken link in my last blog mailing. There was an error in copying the URL. Six days ago, I set out from Denver by car to visit my daughter in St Paul. Our schedules have been such that we have not seen one another in person for several months and …
Who do you think you are? Seriously. How do you describe yourself? How would you describe yourself if you were as close to totally honest as it is possible for a person to be? Really. And one of my favorite questions, What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail? [ As …
Someone I know is getting ready to leave her home of almost four decades. She knows that it is time to move into a new stage of life and the possibility that she will not be quite as independent as she has been until now. She is wrestling with grief and loss at the same …
We are very close to the end of the spring quarter in the ancient calendar of the northern hemisphere. Next Wednesday will mark the final Imbolc meditation for 2014. So we are in a transition time, gathering up the lessons and tasks of this part of the life cycle and following our spirits forward on …
Life is a journey. It can be a plodding journey undertaken in inattention. It can be a scattered journey as our attention is constantly pulled from one thing to another. It can be a tunnel journey focused on a single goal to the exclusion of all else. Or it can be a journey of continual …