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What the Trees Said – Stay Where You Are
Cedar Trunks © Sheila Creighton 2013 Imagery of LIght used with permission It is true. We are not going anywhere. “Stabilitas loci” as the monks say. How boring you think. But have you seen willow...
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“Burned Out on Religion?”
St. Clare of Assisi We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of...
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Black Friday Still Life
My 96 year old mother dozes in her chair toast half eaten on the tray. Frost last night, morning sun streams through icy windows. Refrigerator hums. Outside gnarly cedar silvered bark thick trunk when...
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Mary Full of Grace
Hail Mary full of grace, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen As I made my way...
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Leaning into Lent and Dancing All the Way
Photo by Sheila CreightonImagery of Light Epiphany has drawn to a close and now we are leaning into lent, a word, which originally meant spring and referred to lengthening days. Most of us are weary of...
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Practice, Prayer, and Peanut Butter
Food for Life For breakfast I always have toast (crispy) with peanut butter (crunchy), a good shake of cinnamon, and honey, smeared liberally to make a nice gooey mess. I cut my toast into four...
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Barefoot
“Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3: 5 The flap of skin hung limply as blood spilled from my big toe. I was always stubbing...
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Prayer that Hurts
He lay slumped on her lap like a great heavy mail sack stuffed with the cards and letters of creation’s lovelorn. They spilled from him with the blood. “Save me. Heal me. Help me. Love me. Save me....
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Slamming Doors, Punching Walls
We don’t teach meditation to the young monks. They are not ready until they stop slamming doors. – Thich Nhat Hanh to Thomas Merton in 1966. The Anglican priest across the table thought for a moment...
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Justice and the Buoyant
A River Named Justice thunders down canyons pounds cliffs crashes rock collapses sham shatters monuments scatters compassion seeps past storm doors up dusty floor vents splashes into bath water...
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Poets, Prayer, and Paradigms
Poets I lived with two poets all summer. They accompanied me to both coasts, places in between, and came along on a silent retreat. Amy Fleury and Brian Doyle are both accomplished and acclaimed...
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Feast
don’t wander down the dim halls of memory lost in a musty maze of dead ends don’t launch out into the future on the treacherous sea of pulp fiction trust this pulsing moment tawdry, tattered, or bright...
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Living in the Presence
When he is here, I see holiness. I tell you something different goes on between him and the Lord God. Sometimes I get to thinking that if the light was right, I might get a glimpse of God right beside...
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Advent Manna 2: On Mute
Advent Manna – Short Takes on the Themes of Advent Being Silent The most beautiful thing a person can say about God would be for that person to remain silent from the wisdom of an inner wealth. So, be...
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Like a Trap
You will find three invitations in this post, 1. A spiritual practice for the new year. 2. The new issue (Autumn 2018) of Holy Ground: Like a Trap. (Yes I know it is winter and now 2019. I have had a...
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Learning to Kneel
I fear that we are losing our capacity for reverence and wonder. From a perusal of headlines and social media it appears that the great American pastime is one of taking offense, being outraged over...
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Broken Hearts and Weary Souls
The Christian who knows his or her business is the Christian who has the freedom to return again and again into that silent unchanging presence – the hanged God, whose love, whose generosity, springs...
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Caring for Souls: The Call and the Cost
CHILDREN, HAVE YOU ANY FISH? Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” John 21:5...
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