Category Archives: Creation

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 →

Posted in Christmas, community, Creation, Easter, Homelessness, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Acts 10, Acts 2, acts of compassion, Amazing Grace, Daniel Ladinsky, David L. Fleming SJ, Dropping Keys, Esther Hizsa, Hafiz, John 12:24, Luke 4:18-19, Patrick McFall, Pentecost, Soul of Christ, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Gift | Leave a comment

Spaciousness

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

More and more I’ve noticed that I live on a continuum between panic and peace. A misplaced click makes a document disappear, and suddenly I’m in “fight, flight, or freeze. My body, mind, and focus are constricted; my ability to … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Mindfulness, Reflections | Tagged Death Star Trash Compactor, Diana Robinson, Esther Hizsa, Manoel Lemos, Palouse, Psalm 118:5, Psalm 31-7-8, Psalm 56:12-13, Psalm 18:19, spaciousness, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Tara Brach, the exponential benefits of trees, Transe of Anxiey, Tree of All Trades, wide-open spaces | 1 Comment

All Shall Be Well

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

While Fred and I were camping at Rathtrevor Beach on Vancouver Island last week, I had an unusual dream. I dreamed that I was co-facilitating Living from the Heart and looked at the schedule. My name was next to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Reflections, Stories | Tagged all shall be well, Esther Hizsa, Julian of Norwich, Marcia Fretheim, Nancy Bailey, prayer retreat, Psalm 138:8, Rathtrevor Beach, Ruth Hartnup, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Showings of Julian of Norwich, Yummifruitbat | Leave a comment

The Legend of La Loba

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

There is an old woman who lives in a hidden place that everyone knows but few have ever seen. . . . The sole work of La Loba, [the Wolf Woman], is the collecting of bones. She is known to … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Mystical, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Barnaby S, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Esther Hizsa, Ezekiel 37:1-14, La Loba, Luke 15:3-7, Maya Angelou, Psalm 104:30, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Steve Felberg, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Zephaniah 3:17 | 1 Comment

Truth and Reconciliation

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

For an hour and a half last Sunday afternoon, I was not myself. I was an indigenous woman who lived in Canada on Turtle Island (North America) when the settlers first came to our land. My life was short. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Creation, Reflections, Stories | Tagged 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, Esther Hizsa, George Erasmus, Isaiah 42: 1, Isaiah 42:3, Kairos Blanket Exercise, Kanaka Bar, Native Norhwest, Sealaska Heritage Stoer, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, T’eqt’aqtn’mux | 1 Comment

Allowing the Path to Appear

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

Fred and I spent four days on the Oregon coast last week. It rained on and off during the long drive down. When we checked into our motel, the host at the front desk asked if we were ready for liquid … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Reflections | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Fred Hizsa, Learning to Pray, Macrina Wiederkehr, Marcia Fretheim, Oregon, presence, Rod Janz, Seaside, Seven Sacred Pauses, SoulStream, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, Tillamook Head, Velma Frye, What is | Leave a comment

Choosing to Love My Body

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

“Love is a choice,” a directee said to me last week. I hadn’t heard that declaration in a while and felt a resistance rise up in my chest when she said it. Yet she was relaxed and animated as she … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Reflections, Stories, Wednesday Lunch Club | Tagged Angela Clarke, Anni Hunt, Barbara Heller, Bettina Metzkuhn, Blanche Bickerson, Catherine Nicholls, Constance Chapman, Eleanora Hannan, Esther Hizsa, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:31, Helen McCrindle, Jennifer Love, Jillian Michaels, Kaija Rautiain, Linda Coe, Michelle Sirois-Silver, Ripped in 30, Ruth Jones, Ruth Scheuing, spiritual direction, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Susan Purney Mark, The Bickersons, Yvonne Stowell | Leave a comment

Enliven Us

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

Open in me the gates of the kingdom, I prayed before church on Sunday, hoping something in the service would enliven me. But God’s still, small enlivening was not in a hymn, the sermon or Eucharist as much as it … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Ignatian Spirituality, Prayer, Reflections, Spiritual Direction | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Fred Hizsa, from Love of Love for Love, Galatians 6:2, Grade Two kids, Jacqueline Bergen, Joe Crawford, keys, Principle and Foundation, spiritual direction, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, Sr.Marie Schwan, Steve Imbach, Thomas Green | 4 Comments

God in Every One of Us

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

God is in all creation–including us–just by virtue of the fact that we were created by God and of God. In the beginning, there wasn’t anything else but God to create us with. We were made in the image of … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Reflections | Tagged compassion, Esther Hizsa, Eve Chan, Najat, Philippians 2:13, sexual abuse survivors, spiritual director, spiritual director Vancouver, sunflower. sunflower sprouting, wholeness | Leave a comment

Exactly What I Need

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

It’s also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that’s sitting right here, right now with its aches and its pleasure, is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, and fully alive. — Pema Chodron … Continue reading →