We see (and hear, and feel) a lot of what many might call 'ugliness' and acting out these days. While that's far from a new phenomenon, there are also spikes, or "Monstah Muck Waves," of it. Here's an interesting way... Continue Reading →
I wrote recently on the 'power word' benediction, and today it's blessing and welcoming hospitality that arise, deliciously, for reflection. In the February message from Friends of Silence, the reflection theme was friendship, but moreso a quality of blessing and... Continue Reading →
It's a rich and wonderful contemplative and spiritual practice to invite a word or theme for reflection. Each word has a frequency or a power or a 'mood' of its own, which is why certain words and themes are more... Continue Reading →
“Architects and planners use the term “desire paths” to describe the shortcuts taken by people for whom the laid-out pattern doesn’t fit their lives. But, in one sense, all paths are desire paths, the marks of human longing or need.”... Continue Reading →
"We that are here now are touched in some mysterious way with the ability to change and make the future. Those who wake to the wonder of this magic moment, who wake to the possibilities of this charged conjunction, are... Continue Reading →
"Let the stream follow its course, it will know the way among the mountains. Watch, and it will lead you to the ocean with gentle certainty -- unforced. Have faith in your direction." David M. Bell, Spirit of Nature: The... Continue Reading →
"We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see." - Taoist Proverb I've always found calm, and sometimes clarity, too, in these very Taoist, natural-element bits of wisdom, especially water-related ones.... Continue Reading →
"Listen and attend with the ear of your heart." ~ St. Benedict Who doesn't want to step out of the perpetual spin-cycle of fear, dread, and anxiety? Heart- and Spirit centering practices come in many shapes and sizes, and have... Continue Reading →
"Holy Spirit, giving life to all life, moving all creatures, root of all things, washing them clean, wiping out their mistakes, healing their wounds, you are our true life, luminous, wonderful, awakening the heart from its ancient sleep." ~ Hildegard... Continue Reading →
"It follows that now is the time for yielding justice, for foolish forgiveness, for outrageous generosity, for elaborate hospitality. None of these acts can come from fear, anxiety, or despair. But they are all acts that evoke new futures that... Continue Reading →
This lovely snippet arrived in my email box yesterday, thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien and Elaine at Blue Moon Astrology. Tolkien's musing is perfectly aligned with the watery essence of the Piscean-Neptunian new moon and other imaginative, dream-visiony, experimentation-friendly energies of now. "Still round the... Continue Reading →
A perfect set of musings for the dark moon, dark of night, or dark of Winter (whether you're in seasonal Winter, as we are now here in New York, or in the Dark Night or winter passage of some life-cycle you're... Continue Reading →
Because it's always a fine time for Crazy, Holy Grace, here is a resurfaced gem from the Sophia's Children cave (aka archives): 'Sacred Scrabble' and Crazy, Holy Grace. Big Love, Jamie
"We are at the point of return from gross to subtle, from glamorous to gracious, from hedonism to healing, from conquest of the Earth to conservation of Nature, and from quantities of possessions to quality of life." ~ Satish Kumar,... Continue Reading →
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." -... Continue Reading →
"When the going got really rough, I didn't stop. I didn't feel that I had the luxury of doing so. I was determined not to fail at the task of offering the world a woman of strength -- one who... Continue Reading →
“If only the sun-drenched celebrities are being noticed and worshiped, then our children are going to have a tough time seeing the value in the shadows, where the thinkers, probers and scientists are keeping society together.” ~ Rita Dove, Poet,... Continue Reading →
e·piph·a·ny To reveal. Shine. Manifest Revelation. An Illuminating Realization or Discovery Resulting in Elation, Awe, Wonder. “So many people are frightened by the wonder of their own presence. They are dying to tie themselves into a system, a role, or... Continue Reading →
"Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5) Wishing You All Happy Holy Days; Crazy, Holy Grace; & An Illuminating Season of Lights, Jamie
"Peace isn't something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, something you give away." - John Lennon
This is one of my favorite Muse Foods for my morning reflections, though it seems a lovely reflection for any time, doesn't it? "Let my song give blessing and insight to those who can’t see for themselves. And let your... Continue Reading →
Things have a way of arriving or arising in batches. Ask a genuine question, and watch (if you're observant) various answers or clues popping up in different ways as you go through a given day or week. That's Spirit's fascinating way... Continue Reading →
This gem about seeing with our other eyes arrived in my email inbox this morning from Transfiguration Monastery, a contemplative Benedictine community not far from where I currently dwell. This poem by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Lisel Mueller (b. February 8, 1924),... Continue Reading →
"Live where you are, where you stand is your altar ... right where you are, all is sacred." ~ T. Thorn Coyle, Kissing the Limited Muse-a-liciously Yours, Jamie
A quote often fully attributed to Goethe -- he of The Holy Longing *-- has its true origin in the writings of the Scottish mountaineer, William Hutchinson Murray, whose adventures would have no doubt required no shortage of both commitment... Continue Reading →
And here we are, once again in the season of Lughnasa-Lammas (or Imbolc, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere ... inspiration and links for both below). Technically, the ‘exact’ time for this ancestral ‘Festival of Light & Harvest’ is when... Continue Reading →
Speaking of Imagination (in recent posts) ... "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” ― Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
"As Way Opens" is a reference to the old Quaker saying that we should "proceed as way opens" after patient, prayerful waiting for Spirit to move in the world, and open or reveal the way forward." This saying popped up... Continue Reading →