Contemplative Prayer – Contemplative Knitting

Waiting

My aunt is in the process of dying. I heard the doctor said she may have a few days. Cancer. She is only 73 and the youngest of my aunts. I remember her wedding day. I was eleven. She had a beautiful ball gown wedding dress that made her look like a Disney princess. ItContinue reading “Waiting”

Choosing Our Words

Last week in my post, I equated the word small with insignificant. One of my friends reminded me that small also means small – tiny, little in comparison with something enormous like space. I meant insignificant, she meant tiny. Finding the right words can make a difference in our ability to express ourselves. My husbandContinue reading “Choosing Our Words”

Are we in trouble?

Hiking has changed in the last 40 -50 years. We used to get a guide for the areas we wanted to hike. The guide would tell us where the trailhead was and then narrate the hike. I remember my father reading the description of the trail from the guidebook. “Follow the brook for two milesContinue reading “Are we in trouble?”

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, the day of resurrection. There is always resurrection. That is our Christian hope and our experience of the creation. Each winter, out of the cold, brown earth, new growth emerges. The interesting thing about the resurrection of Jesus is no one recognized him at first. It was only after eating the fish forContinue reading “Happy Easter!”

Holy Saturday – The Void

Holy Saturday is the in-between day. It is the time Jesus was laying in the tomb, where the disciples were trying to process the horrific death of their savior. How hopeless they must have felt. The person they had followed the last few years, the person they had put all their hope in, was goneContinue reading “Holy Saturday – The Void”

Good Friday

When I was young, no one worked on Good Friday. Businesses were closed and people went to church. I remember sitting though one very long service. I wanted to leave but my grandmother told me that we needed to stay to get the sadness out. What sadness I wondered? My Grandmother had been preparing allContinue reading “Good Friday”

Maundy Thursday

Tonight many Episcopal churches will gather for Maundy Thursday. Some will have an agape meal (a communal meal centered around the love of Christ), some will wash feet (remembering how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, and some will celebrate the Eucharist. Food is such an important part of our lives. I tend toContinue reading “Maundy Thursday”

Beneath the surface

For the first part of my life, when I sat on a beach, I was only aware of the surface of the ocean. I was mesmerized by the waves, the varying heights, and the way they crashed on the sand. I remember thinking how vast the ocean looked and not being able to imagine howContinue reading “Beneath the surface”

Betrayal

There is nothing worse than betrayal. I think this is the most difficult emotion to resolve. Everyone experiences betrayal, some experiences are worse than others. A common reaction is the desire to hurt the betrayer like they hurt us. When I was in Israel on a trip with a bunch of clergy, we were sittingContinue reading “Betrayal”

Is Peace Possible?

Eldfell is a volcanic cone about 660 feet high on Heimaey Island. It erupted without warning on Jan. 23, 1973, forcing people to flee their homes in the middle of the night. Although nobody died, the eruption destroyed over 400 businesses and residences. The volcano was active for six months and the island actually grewContinue reading “Is Peace Possible?”