Category Archives: Creation

What You Didn’t Know When You Woke Up That Day

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

Last week, I was in a classroom in Austin, Texas, where a girl who was apparently going through a really rough spell at home wrote a poem that was definitely tragic and comic both, about—everybody was yelling at her in … Continue reading →

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Preparing the Way Home

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

From the moment I stepped into this chapel, it felt like home. Wood, stone, glass, and flame together breathed a silent welcome. . . . Advent invites us to prepare the way for the Holy One who comes to meet … Continue reading →

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Joyful Mysteries and Silent Dreams

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

“Let there be Esther,” I heard God pronounce, speaking right into my life-long struggle to exist. During the Ignatian prayer retreat I was leading last week, I had a chance to pray with one of my “joyful mysteries.” As I … Continue reading →

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How the Light Gets In

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

On the afternoon before the opening weekend of Living from the Heart at Bethlehem Centre on Vancouver Island, I took a walk around Westwood Lake to allow my jostled soul to settle. That morning, I’d read the poem Vessel by … Continue reading →

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What Stillness Needs and Offers

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

When this post is published, I will be at Bethlehem Centre for the opening weekend of this year’s Living from the Heart. Last year we had a new team, new format, new location, and a new intern. It was also … Continue reading →

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Old-Growth Forest

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

An old-growth forest. Yellow cedar, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir have been around for centuries, literally. Year after year, they cycle through the seasons and grow imperceptibly taller, more solid, roots extending. That is what I’m becoming. The slow pace of … Continue reading →

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Imperceptibly Shaped

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something … Continue reading →

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Becoming a Loving Presence in the World

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

May I live with integrity as a loving presence in the world. –Nan C. Merrill, Psalms for Praying, An Invitation to Wholeness, Psalm 10. Prayers come and go for me, but these simple words by Nan Merrill have stayed with … Continue reading →

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In God I Play

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

While Fred installed the new radiator, I set out on Gracie to do my first century ride in ten years. The hundred-kilometer route I chose was accessible by public transit which allowed me to get home on my own if … Continue reading →

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The Fourth Event

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

On Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost, the fourth big event chronicled in the New Testament. Christmas names the first one: the incarnation of Christ. God comes into our lives–into our joy and suffering. They called him Immanuel, “God with us.” Reading the … Continue reading →

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