Rev. Catharine Is Currently
On Medical Leave

Guest Post | Befriending Death: A Meditative Spiritual Practice

My Unitarian Universalist colleague, Karen Johnston, has graciously agreed to post on The Way of the River. Her wisdom and compassion—born of a committed Buddhist practice—consistently impress and inspire me. I commend her to you and hope you will check out her blog, linked at the bottom of the page. Blessings!   As this sound […]

May We Be Reconciled?

Forgiveness is something I—like many of you—struggle with. In my case, mostly, it’s not because I don’t forgive people. It’s because I forgive people—or what I then think is forgiving—too easily. I have allowed people who have hurt me to hurt me again and again out of some kind of misplaced sense of “compassion.” Fierce […]

Watched By Every Human Love

from “Lullaby” by W.H. Auden Beauty, midnight, vision dies: Let the winds of dawn that blow Softly round your dreaming head Such a day of sweetness show Eye and knocking heart may bless, Find the mortal world enough; Noons of dryness see you fed By the involuntary powers, Nights of insult let you pass Watched […]

What Does Courage Look Like Today?

I am frustrated and stressed out by my own internal concerns:  Writing, friendships, family matters. A dear friend is dying of rapidly progressing cancer, and I am in anticipatory mourning. PriceWaterhouseCoopers—of all institutions!—says that we are twenty years away from catastrophic climate and habitat change. Under the eye of eternity, I asked myself this morning, […]

What Is Spiritual Practice?

It occurs to me that I spend a lot of time around this place talking about spiritual practice, as though everyone knows what that is, what counts, or what it’s for. I’m sorry. I have exhibited bad manners in this regard. Allow me to correct my error. When I began what I think of as […]

Are You At a Crossroads?

The event was Four Quarters Drum and Splash, a veritable feast of dancing, drumming, singing, and swimming, all over the US Independence Day weekend. I don’t remember the year, but it’s some time ago now. Ten years? Twelve? A long time ago. The ritual team had talked for a long time about this ceremony, main […]

Blessed Routine

Today’s blog may resonate with you or it may not—in a way, that’s always true. Today, I am aware of it because I feel vulnerable writing about this topic. I begin (below) with boredom, but really the topic is chaos. The felt need to have chaos in order to be interesting, worthwhile, unique, special… But… […]

Kindness May Not Be Nice

I have heard recently that according to the Gottman Institute, the single most important characteristic in marriage stability and longevity is kindness. Kindness when arguing, for sure. And kindness in thoughtfulness, cheerfulness, helpfulness. Did I mention kindness in arguing? Kindness is one of my favorite things. The choice to be kind connects us with other […]

Gentleness, But Discipline, Too

Sometimes the very thing that has inspired this ministry—spiritual practice—gets undermined by my working on the ministry. Silly? Yes. Common? Yes, that too. There is some dispute as to who made the following wise remark—I’ve heard it attributed to at least three spiritual or religious leaders:  If I am busy, I must pray for an […]

Altars, Altars Everywhere!

I am looking at the rickety wooden table to the left of my desk. It was given to me by Maria, my first lover, then roommate, then ex-roommate, now reconnected friend. Maria gave me this small, wooden table she painted sky blue. She gave it to me to be an altar, a place to center […]