gardening + spirituality + homesteading + creation care
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Papa Bluebird who seems to have returned a couple of months early for another nesting season. Rather than continuing on with my dirt digging or sermon writing, I just sat on the front steps… Continue Reading “embrace”
Enter, Quiet, enter into this place. Wrap your arms around me like an old friend who reaches out and smiles and says, “I’m happy to see you.” Enter, Quiet, come and sit beside me as I ponder what it means to rest in your… Continue Reading “enter, quiet”
This is the first opportunity I’ve made to sit and write for awhile. It’s like coming home to an old friend, actually. I’ve been missing her but have befriended some new practices that I have been hanging out with recently. Sometimes, I find myself… Continue Reading “Tagore’s A Moment’s Indulgence”
In recent readings for my spiritual direction program, various authors have been focusing on the quiet space that we are invited to journey to so that we can connect to the God Within. There are many names for this time of being alone, but… Continue Reading “lessons learned: sacred silence”
Yesterday at the grocery store, I was having a bit of trouble trying to talk with the person checking me out. “Oh,” she noted, “as I get older, I have problems multitasking too.” We laughed, and I responded that the more I grew into… Continue Reading “lessons learned: preparing the space”
I use this prayer in many of my teachings. It is one of my favorite, and in preparation for Earth Day this week, I thought I would post. Earth, Teach Me Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.… Continue Reading “Earth, teach me: an Ute prayer”
You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen. Simply wait. Do not even wait. Be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no… Continue Reading “Kafka’s Aphorism”
Some days we just need a gentle reminder to invite in the silence and see what unfolds. May you take a moment to breathe, pray, or rest in quiet during this season of preparation.
I was just introduced to this one during a leadership program I attended the last few days. I am inspired to be a part of a group that values this sentiment as an inherent part of leadership. Today ~Mary Oliver… Continue Reading “Mary Oliver’s Today”
Sometimes, the Creator has a way of speaking to me through others, and it seems that last week, the Creator had a lot to say! Fortunately, most of the advice came in the form of nature metaphors, like the one I shared on caring… Continue Reading “lessons learned: living into the stillness”
There is a contemplative in all of us, almost strangled but still alive, who craves quiet enjoyment of the Now, and longs to touch the seamless garment of silence which makes whole. ~Alan P. Tory
The last couple of months, I’ve been very mindful of this practice, and I’m starting to experience the peace that comes with it. I thought I would repost this one as a reminder to us all. I rest as a spiritual act. ~Anne Lamott… Continue Reading “resting as a spiritual act”
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet… Continue Reading “Wendell Berry’s What We Need Is Here”
Sometimes, simple poetry becomes my prayer for the day. Here is one of my favorites~ Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda Now we will count to twelve and we will all keep still for once on the face of the earth, let’s not speak in… Continue Reading “the value of keeping quiet”
Enter, Quiet, enter into this place. Wrap your arms around me like an old friend who reaches out and smiles and says, “I’m happy to see you.” Enter, Quiet, come and sit beside me as I ponder what it means to rest in your… Continue Reading “enter, quiet”
This morning as I sat down to write, nothing came to mind. Well, let me reframe that–a lot of words and thoughts competed for my attention, but none that were meant for this blog. I sat in my chair and closed my eyes. As… Continue Reading “lessons learned: preparing the space”
. . .When I enter into the domain of your creation, things begin to settle, to become quiet in me, like a windy harbor calming with the sunset. It is there that I find the needed reassurance to stay in the struggle and challenge… Continue Reading “from Joyce Rupp’s prayer “Nature Revitalizes my Soul””
Guardian of my Deepest Self, I need to be still, to listen not only to falling leaves and the gentle wind; I need to listen to my soul, too long neglected. . . Let me be still amid the beauty of the earth. Let… Continue Reading “from Joyce Rupp’s prayer, Listening to My Soul”
This morning, I am sitting in front of my computer screen less like a writer and more like a zombie. With my daughter’s first high school play in the works, late night rehearsals and post-play studying have kept us up past our normal bedtimes. … Continue Reading “resting as a spiritual act”
Today is the International Day of Peace. In honor of it, I am reposting this blog. May we all take time to find peace within the small things of the world so that we can create a ripple effect of peace within our world.… Continue Reading “lessons learned: there’s peace in the quiet of creation”
When I was younger, someone gave me a toy that sat on my shelf for many years. It was a colorful 3 dimensional drum with clear plastic on the front. Inside, stood a clown with balls in both hands and some floating in the… Continue Reading “lessons learned: balancing act”
Prayer is not a product; it is a relationship. ~ Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices Spending time in the kitchen or in nature is one of my favorite forms of prayer. In those places, God and… Continue Reading “lessons learned: what canning has taught me about prayer”
This past Sunday, my morning message at the contemplative service focused on the scripture of Mary and Martha, two women who shared their hospitality with Jesus in two very different ways–Marth, just doing and Mary, just being. [for the text, you can read here]… Continue Reading “the value of keeping quiet”
Generous Quietude Carry a little quiet inside you while the world continues in rush and rage fighting and frenzy. Carry a little quiet inside you so that the worry and war trouble and tumult do not capture you in their grip. Tarry in the… Continue Reading “generous quietude”
Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have. ~Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book When you have a tween or teen with extracurricular activities, rarely do you… Continue Reading “quiet saturday mornings”
Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow When the girls and I headed outside this… Continue Reading “silent snow”
This morning as we rounded the corner to school, we witnessed a wide V of geese honking and flying overhead. Because of the unseasonal weather we’ve been having, the girls wondered if the bird were flying north or south. I watched as the silhouette… Continue Reading “what we need is here”
A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use;… Continue Reading “rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor”
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God… Continue Reading “the simple beauty of nature”
I rest as a spiritual act. ~Anne Lamott For a night owl, it can be difficult to settle in early and rise with the sun, but in the past couple of weeks, I’ve done just that. Weekends have been filled with early morning chores… Continue Reading “resting as a spiritual act”
Let the quiet in, do not be afraid of it. Let it ease into your soul as your body would ease into a comfortable chair– slowly, gratefully with full release. Then sit in that moment and just be, giving thanks for your rested spirit.… Continue Reading “let the quiet in”