Prayer Is An Egg
Dear Friends – Today, I share with you the last seven lines of a poem, “Prayer Is An Egg,” interpreted by Coleman Barks from a translation of Mevlana Rumi. I will simply share some thoughts that have emerged as I’ve read the poem most recently. The version I have comes out of Risking Everything: 110 […]
What Is It With This Gentle Persistence Thing?
Dear ones– Some of you have heard me talk about gentle persistence and persistent gentleness for years. Sometimes I forget that not everyone knows what I mean when I talk about them, nor why they are so important to me. My “tagline,” if you will is “Change arises from gentle persistence and persistent gentleness.” Or […]
Praising the No We Receive
Hello, and welcome to what will be for some of you the first day of Making Hard Choices: The Art of Discernment. (Also typed there, “The Art of Deception,” and that is exactly what we DON’T want, so let’s not leave that there, shall we?) Our comrade, Jack Mandeville, sent me a note this week, […]
It’s Always Been Love
There’s still time, but not much, to register for Making Hard Choices: The Art of Discernment. If you want to gain more decision-making skills for the future or are facing down an important choice now, please click the link and see whether you’d like to join us August 3rd. Hello, dear friends and comrades – Those of […]
Next week in this space: SUPER exciting news – an invitation from The Way of the River. I’m so excited I’m doing a little dance in my chair! I had the most delightful email exchange with one of our comrades, and a colleague of mine, Rev. Rosemarie Newberry. She set me to thinking about all […]
The Hearts Welcome
Beloveds – today, I take us down a stroll through the archives of Reflections to a piece I wrote three years ago this spring. It’s about welcome, and so I ask you: What is welcoming for you? When you enter a space, what tells you that it was designed with you in mind? Think about all the people who get […]
Resting on the Star-Watching Rock
It’s a difficult and strange time. Do you feel as though your spiritual life is suffering, your practice is hard or nonexistent, you don’t have the community you need? Perhaps having a dedicated companion along the way would help. Consider my individual spiritual accompaniment, a monthly deep dive into what most matters to you. Would love to have a free […]
How Can I Withhold What is Not Mine?
We own nothing. Nothing is ours. Not even love so fierce it burns like baby stars. But this poverty is our greatest gift: The weightlessness of us as things around begin to shift. Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, from “Everything in its Own Time” Two weeks ago, I had an embarrassment of spiritual riches through my […]
What is not New at The Way of the River
I hope that you and yours are well. And if not—and I know that some of you are or have been struggling with illness, either COVID-0, chronic conditions, or allergies to spring trees—please know that I am holding you in my heart this week, as every week. There is never a week that goes by […]
The Way of the River is Here For You
Dear ones – I want to say, “I have not been well,” but I am as well in body as I ever am. So do not panic when I say that! I have had another time of difficulties of the mind. And, combined with the stresses the pandemic is putting on all of us, even […]