Category Archives: Stories

Epiphany

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Esther Hizsa

Mid-November one lone blossom adorned my Christmas cactus. By Advent it was fuller than ever. It continued to blossom during the Christmas season and into Epiphany. Directees commented on it when they came, and I sat beside this bush, which was burning with … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Popular Posts, Reflections | Tagged A Life of Being Having and Doing Enough, Christmas Cactus, epiphany, Esther Hizsa, Schlumbergera, Song of Solomon 2:14, Song of Songs 2;14, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Wayne Muller | 5 Comments

A New Year’s Wish

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Esther Hizsa

It’s a new year, and I would love to leave my old identity behind. Remember in “Undoing My Life” God asked me to let go of my identity as the Rejected One? That undoing continues whenever I feel rejected. I hate it when that happens. I … Continue reading →

Posted in autism, Reflections, Spiritual Direction, Stories | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Isaiah 43:2, Luke 1:26-38, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. John the Baptist Anglican church Ashford NSW, The Good Shepherd | 5 Comments

God Desires Us

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

“You can’t catch the Macdonald bus here,” a man says to me at the VCC-Clark Skytrain Station in Vancouver. “You need to go up to Clark.” I hurry up Sixth Avenue. It’s early Saturday morning and I need to get to … Continue reading →

Posted in Advent, Mystical, Poetry, Popular Posts, Stories | Tagged #22 Macdonald, Advent, Creation of Adam, Daniel Ladinsky, Esther Hizsa, He Desired Me Sio I Came Close, Love Poems from God, Sistine Chapel, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Teresa of Avila | 3 Comments

Undoing My Life

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I’m still thinking about the “Oh, no!” I heard when a toy car went over the edge of the coffee table and crashed. I imagine that a lot actually, when I fear going over the edge of acceptance and falling into a pit of rejection. Many things–gaining weight, … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Posts, Poverty of Spirit, Stories | Tagged Cerus Scarf, Deb Arndt, Esther Hizsa, Jagrap, Jeff Imbach, La Marseillaise, let go of identity, Living from the Heart, rejected one, Roberto Ferrari, Sottosopra, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Tony & Wayne, Undoing | 6 Comments

“Oh, No!”

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

When our grandson was a preschooler, he loved to line up his toy cars on the coffee table. He and his dad would drive them around imitating the sounds of engines starting, horns beeping and tires squealing. Inevitably, they would … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Posts, Reflections | Tagged car crash, Donald Lee Pardue, Esther Hizsa, fear, grief, loss, madais, Nan C. Merrill, psalm 91, Psalms for Praying, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Stone Angel | 3 Comments

Calling Forth the Divine

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

Mom with Harry, Ron, me, and Sylvia in 1959 My parents were married on November 1, 1952, three weeks after Mom landed in Canada. Six years later, at the age of twenty-five, she had four children to look after and business accounts … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, False Self, Popular Posts, Stories | Tagged calling forth the divine, Esther Hizsa, Luke 12:34, Matthew 13:44, Quest, Quest Food Exchange, Robert Farrar Capon, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Parables of the Kingdom | Leave a comment

Love Decides Everything

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

Mom and Dad met one day when she brought milk on a dog-cart to the cheese factory where my dad worked, near her family’s farm in a village outside Zürich. She was seventeen, smart and beautiful; he was twenty-three, strong, handsome and … Continue reading →

Posted in Popular Posts, Stories | Tagged Daniel Bonnell, Esther Hizsa, Fall in love stay in love, Fr. Joseph P. Whelan, Matthew 13:44, medical team, Nepal, Nothing is more practical than finding God, Pearl of Great Price, Pedro Arrupe, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby | 6 Comments

Spinning and Waiting

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

Ever since my book’s come out, I’ve been feeling anxious and vulnerable. I prayed for God’s comfort and the images of the Mountain Ash tree and the Salzburg Cross, and Hafiz’s love poem came to me. I sensed God saying, … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty of Spirit, Stories | Tagged anxiety, E.P.Ewing, Esther Hizsa, o what a tangled web we weave, Psalm 130, spider web, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, waiting | Leave a comment

Weighted Blessing

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

The Mountain Ash tree in my parents’ backyard was heavily laden with berries. There must have been two hundred clusters of them. “Won’t they make a big mess when they fall off?” I asked my eighty-seven-year-old father. Dad reassured me that … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Poverty of Spirit, Stories | Tagged Amanda Graham, Cedar Wax Wing, Elizabeth McKitrick, Hafiz, JPC.raleigh. Randen Pedersen, Just Sit There Right Now, Martha Carlough, Mountain Ash, Salzburg Cross, Second Nature Home, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 1 Comment

Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim is available!

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Esther Hizsa

I am excited to announce that my book, Stories of an Everyday Pilgrim, has been published and is available! To celebrate this long-awaited moment, today’s post is the first story in the book. Here’s more about how you can get a copy. … Continue reading →