Rev. Catharine Is Currently
On Medical Leave

Bright Blessings on Summer Solstice

Brightest blessings for the (Northern Hemisphere) summer solstice, sometimes called Litha! I enclose here my little video blessing and contemplation for you – just something short, spontaneous, and (I hope you think) sweet! I had a great time doing it. It is really another love letter to YOU, with some of my evolving thoughts about […]

Don’t Always Go Forward

I am not fully healed. I am not fully wise. I am still on my way. What matters is that I am still moving forward. –Yung Pueblo   Dear ones – I am definitely not fully healed. I am definitely not fully wise. I am indeed on my way. And I am not at all […]

No Glitter in My Ashes Part III

Who’s Repenting? Another Problem Solved by Truth-Telling So ashes aren’t a problem. Glitter itself may not even be the problem. Blending is a problem. And there is another problem yet. The problem of singling out. In the article to which I am partly responding, the author makes two suggestions:  One, have a glitter + ashes […]

No Glitter in My Ashes, Part I

“You’re the most Catholic UU I’ve ever met,” now-Reverend Madelyn Campbell said to me across the aisle in the seminary lecture hall. And in many ways, she was right, and she’s still right. My wife says I’m Episcopalian in the winter (awesome Advent!), Catholic in the spring (tune-up of Lent), more aggressively Pagan in the […]

Brigid and the Power to Change

NB: I wrote another piece before the events of the weekend of 28 January. As a result of the horrors entwining themselves around our government and around our nation, I have rewritten this post to point out that one of the ways Imbolc, the Pagan holiday just past, is often celebrated is with power and politics. Imbolc […]

Brigid Lady of Fire and Water

NB: If you’d like to see the recorded class/discussion from last night, please join The Way of the River Community Facebook Group. You can search “The Way of the River Community” in the upper left-hand corner of your Facebook page to find us. It’s a private group, so you’ll need to ask to be added, […]

Hope Against Hope

(For those looking for Turning the Wheel, see the bottom of this post.) Today is the second day of Christmas, the third day of Chanukah, and the first day of Kwanzaa. Oh, and the Feast of St. Stephen and Boxing Day. The sun is rising earlier and setting later. The holidays just keep coming. And […]

Boundaries: Yes is No

I am thinking of the concept of the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Some people add a fourth at beginning or in the middle, but the triplet is the most common. I am thinking on the Crone. The Hag. The Ancient One who stands at the Crossroads and demands that you choose your way. That one […]

Christmas Thoughts on Spiritual Practice

spiritual practice can be just resting before the fireplace...

  It is Christmas Day. My wife and I are having a simple, quiet day together before the fire. Reading to one another from new books, wearing newly gifted clothing, spending time with our sweet animal companions…it’s a nice day. For us, Christmas is a quiet moment between our observance of Solstice and the celebration […]

Collaborations of the Winter Solstice

solstice sunrise with snow and tree

Sometimes—and today is one of those times—I think, How great it is to have colleagues and comrades in spiritual community. Or, if you will, for the Psalm-loving among us, How blessed it is when we live together in unity! I am just happy and feelings fortunate, so I thought I’d share my heart’s gratitude with […]