Category Archives: Stories

Honouring Our Elders

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

We humans are the young ones,the last to be createdlong days after the earth, mountains, seas, and trees. What might we learn from our elders whoawaken us with birdsong,feed us with nuts and berries, comfort us with their soft fur, enliven … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Creation, Justice, Reflections | Tagged Braiding Sweetgrass, Chrissy Wainwright, Diet for a New America, Earth Day, Esther Hizsa, FarbenfroheWuderwelt, flowers, Food Revolution Summit, hummingbird, John Robbins, Nick Kenrick, Ocean Robbins, Old growth forest, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sitka Spruce, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sylvia Sassen, Wheat | Leave a comment

Resurrection Is Personal

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Resurrectionisn’t just about living forever.It’s about living nowand how we pick up our cross,go through deathand becomea new revised version of ourselves.Resurrection is personal. This Easter, I entered the tombafter denying Christ in me three times.Three times I was Judas. … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Easter, Holy Week, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Andrey Mironov, Easter, Esther Hizsa, resurrection, Resurrection of Lazarus, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 3 Comments

This Good Friday

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Crucifixion by Ukrainian artist Natalya Rusetskain You take in all our sufferingfeelevery violent act every hope destroyedeach final breath. From the crossyou seethrough our denialand delusions.No justification dares return your gaze. From the crossyour eyesfind ours. In them, we seeloveforgivenessGod with … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Easter, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged crucifixion, Esther Hizsa, Good Friday, Natalya Rusetskain, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Ukraine | 4 Comments

The Standoff

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Such a familiar place,this standoff betweenthe part of me that wants to andthe part that doesn’t I can list all the good reasons why I need to do thisbut something in me has shut the door leans her body against it and yells, … Continue reading →

Posted in ADHD, Lent, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Andy Simonds, DK, Edwin M. McMahon, Eric Magnuson, Esther Hizsa, Glennon Doyle, Peter Campbell, Rediscovering the Lost Body-Connection within Christian Spirituality, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, standoff, The Open Door, We can do hard things. | Leave a comment

Left-Handed in a Right-Handed World

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I do that, I thought. And that. And that sounds familiar. Unease, enlightenment, and caffeine gently pulsed in my veins. When my friend referred to herself as neurodivergent, I reached out with a “me too” and suggested we get together … Continue reading →

Posted in ADHD, autism, community, compassion, Lent, Mindfulness, Reflections, Stories | Tagged ADHD, autism, Birds on a Wire, diversity, Esther Hizsa, Jerry McFarland, Julie Falk, neurodivergent, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

Certainty and Clarity

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

We are gathered in a circle,and a question isplaced before us. Memories comevivid and sharpof feelingweighted by expectationconfined by shouldsinadequate when I failed. I sense a groaning, a churninga pushing againsta wanting release. I give words to my nocertainthat it’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in community, Lent, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged ¡¡¡última pieza!!!, Center for Action and Contemplation, certainty, clarity, Cynthia Bourgeault, Esther Hizsa, Olga Berrios, puzzle, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Third Way | Leave a comment

It Isn’t That Easy

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

It isn’t that easy. Jesus asks, “Are you coming?” I say, “Yes.” And then what? I’m not instantly empowered like a superhero released from the kryptonite of salt and sugar, egoic desires, or negative thoughts. Taking Jesus’ hand won’t prevent … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Lent, Prayer, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Father Damian, feeling our feelings, Isaiah 43:2, John 16:33, just.Luc, kath, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Superhero invasion, waling on water | 1 Comment

Are You Coming?

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I loved the look of satisfaction on Jesus’ face. We just fed five thousand men, plus women and children, with one boy’s lunch of bread and fish. The scene continued to unfold in my imagination as I prayed with this … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Ignatian Spirituality, Lent, Mindfulness, Mystical, Overeating, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections, Stories | Tagged 1 Corinthians 10:5, Esther Hizsa, John 6:1-24, limiting beliefs, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Internship | 3 Comments

I Am Fed

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

For me, church is often one long exercise of trying to stay present. Multiple times, my mind drifts off like a balloon rising far above the hymns, prayers, and readings. I find it again caught in a zephyr of thoughts … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Poetry, Reflections, Stories | Tagged balloon, Claude St-Denis, Esther Hizsa, Kati Fleming, Krista Tippett, little girl with a balloon, Luke 6:20, Mary Oliver, newly hatched Barn Swallow, On Being, Sharon Salzberg, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, This Morning | 4 Comments

It’s Your Turn

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

For the past few months, I’ve been revising blog posts for my third book. I’ve hunkered down to do the grunt work of publishing: formatting, footnoting, acquiring permission from a photographer and poets, and designing the cover. I used to … Continue reading →