Category Archives: Poetry

Advent III: Retreat

Posted on December 13, 2019 by

Three cancelled appointments and a no show at Bible study gave me the breathing room I needed. I know that was You looking after me. Sometimes You’re about as quiet as a three-year-old trying to sneak up on mommy. Then … Continue reading →

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Into the Light

Posted on November 1, 2019 by

Life has slowed down. My books have arrived; my calendar isn’t jammed. I can linger over meals and leave my phone in my pocket when I walk to the store. I shed an old skin in the rough darkness. After … Continue reading →

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The Narrow Space Given

Posted on October 25, 2019 by

This fall life has been packed tightly, jobs tucked into every spare moment. I write emails on the fly, make phone calls while I walk. I have to keep moving. It isn’t just that I have more commitments than usual. … Continue reading →

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Hopelessly Lost

Posted on October 11, 2019 by

“I don’t know where I am,” I shouted into the phone. In truth, I had a good idea where I was, but I couldn’t quite explain it to Fred who was at home furiously trying to nail down my location … Continue reading →

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Empty

Posted on May 10, 2019 by

Empty Before you go to bed, shake the dust off your feet. Open your front door and –with a shoe in each hand– smack those soles together. Like a TV preacher, tell those demons: “Be gone!” Before you go to … Continue reading →

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Right Where I Am

Posted on November 9, 2018 by

I looked at this drawing of an injured bird and felt tender inside. I lingered for a while with that feeling and the sense of being held. Then, in the retreat’s spacious silence, I reflected on a poem by Mary … Continue reading →

Posted in Helpful Images, Poetry, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections, Spiritual Direction, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sometimes I Don’t Care

Posted on September 28, 2018 by

Sometimes I don’t care and I don’t care that I don’t care. I’m tired of feeling guilty for my lack of compassion for eating too much for not trying to be more Christlike and I don’t want to figure out … Continue reading →

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Portage

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

“You’re the only one here who isn’t retired,” my brother said to me. I was with two of my siblings and their spouses at my brother’s cottage in Minnesota. They were planning a trip to France next year and welcomed … Continue reading →

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God Desires Us

Posted on July 27, 2018 by

Today I am on the last day of my eight-day retreat. So I offer you this post from 2015  which illustrates the loving God I am retreating with.  “You can’t catch the Macdonald bus here,” a man says to me at … Continue reading →

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A Belated Valentine for You

Posted on May 18, 2018 by

Lately, I’ve been writing my posts on the week I publish them. But this week I was on Bowen Island co-facilitating the Living from the Heart course, so I knew I needed a stand-in. I found one, or should I … Continue reading →

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