Have mercy on me, Mother Earth, according to your steadfast love and abundant benevolence. Wash each of us thoroughly while the dreamers awaken from their slumber. I know I have transgressed. I see before me the ways I have gone astray from your beauty and goodness. Create in me a clean heart, Mother [...]
There are a few words I have had “allergies" to over the years. Words like discipline, obedience, and accountability. Some have a more intense allergic reaction than others, such as difficulty breathing, maybe getting itchy or nauseous. Of course I jest, yet they are words that have produced some measure of tension in [...]
Meister Eckhart was a medieval philosopher, theologian and one of the great Christian mystics. His writings and teachings created quite a stir, and eventually he was accused of heresy by the church. Yet, like all good boat rockers, he has lived on - and with greater influence today than when he lived 700 years ago. [...]
Say these words out loud - I AM BLESSED. Now say it again with a pause in between each word. I. AM. BLESSED. Now one more time with a longer pause, and with your most powerful voice - I… AM… BLESSED. Even as I write the words, a smile emerges slowly across my face, my [...]
It might sound strange, but Muppets are necessary for me at this time in my life, because they remind me there is hope. You see, there are places in my mind and heart - doorways really - full of such sorrow that I do not want to enter. Yet these doors get blown open over [...]
“To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.” -William Blake Whenever there has been a snowstorm I love to awaken early and sit quietly looking out the window at a world of white that [...]
As I look back on the last four weeks of writing this series and reading each entry multiple times, one question keeps popping up: Now what? Since I have put my thoughts on paper, gained a little more clarity, expanded the capacity of my own spiritual practice of gratefulness and thankfulness, where do I go [...]
“I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills ...” This is the opening sentence of the book Out of Africa, and it’s probably one of my most cherished lines from any book. From one sentence that says so little, my attention is caught and my imagination kicks in. I begin [...]
The other morning I had a meltdown. By meltdown, I mean I was crying so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. This kind of intense crying isn’t something new; I have experienced it during the most painful times of my life. The difference, though, on this morning was that I was weeping in celebration. I [...]
I have often heard the phrase, “In all things, we give thanks.” I must confess that from time to time when I have heard these words, I have silently wondered, “Really? All things?” I don’t know about anyone else, but I have been met by plenty of people and experiences where giving thanks or extending [...]
