Category Archives: Reflections

Wrong Turns

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

“Are you okay?” the grey-haired man asked as I propped my bike against a hedge outside his yard. “Yes,” I said continuing to open the map on my phone. “Is this the way to Twin Lakes Road?” “No. You need … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Stories | Tagged California Quail, Cycling Oliver, Eastside Lake Road, Esther Hizsa, Living from the Heart, Okanagan Falls, Shellie, Skaha Lke, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Ted McGrath | Leave a comment

Here

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

Sometimes being herefeels like I’m in the wrong placeas if I could look at a map and backtrackto where I’m supposed to be.But there’s no map for the contemplative journey,let alone my contemplative journey. “Here,” the wise ones say,“is the … Continue reading →

Posted in community, compassion, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Alone, Esther Hizsa, Isaiah 66:13, Mark Harrington, Me too, Menachem Ganon, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

The Infinite Love that Loves Us So Unexplainably

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

For the past three months, James Finley has been my spiritual guide. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I walk in a nearby park and listen to a podcast from Turning to the Mystics. Then I sit … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Creation, Mystical, Reflections | Tagged blackberries, Center for Action and Contemplation, centering prayer, discouragement, Ed Dahl, Esther Hizsa, James Finley, pet iguana, reptiles, Romans 12:12, self-compassion, Snappy Goat, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, Turning to the Mystics | Leave a comment

Borderline

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

On a run, I wondered what I would share for my check-in that afternoon at the peer supervision group I attend with other spiritual directors. Typically when we check in, we don’t just share what’s at the surface of our … Continue reading →

Posted in autism, compassion, Mindfulness, Reflections, Stories | Tagged ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Borderline, Devil's Backbone, Dr. Shaun Murphy, Esther Hizsa, Gustave Thibon, Katherine May, Kristin Neff, Mitch Barrie, self-compassion, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Electricity of Every Living Thing, The Good Doctor | 3 Comments

It’s Time to Sing the Mourning Songs

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

Take a moment and listen to the experience of Emma Baker, a 84-year-old survivor of the Kamloops residential school. I knew about the residential schools and how bad things were, but this hits harder than any of the presentations, courses, … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Justice, Reflections, Stories | Tagged 215 First Nations' children buried, Abigail Echo-Hawk, Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, Emma Baker, Esther Hizsa, Ginger Gosnell-Myers, Kamloops Residential School, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Creation, Poetry, Reflections, Stories, Writing | Tagged Andy Langager, Esther Hizsa, Krista Tippett, Naomi Shihab Nye, On Being, Poetry, raccoon, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Sunrise, Valentine for Ernest Mann | Leave a comment

Love Your Body Now

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

Let me share my earworm. It’s a riff of a Backstreet Boy’s song Everybody (yeah, yeah)Love your body (yeah, yeah)Love your body now. Adam Sud should have died. Seriously addicted to amphetamines and fast foods, his body and soul were … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, compassion, Overeating, Reflections | Tagged 1 John 3:1, Adam Sud, Backstreet Boys, caring for your body, Cassandra Speaks, Elizabeth Lesser, Esther Hizsa, Food Revolution Network, Food Revolution Summit, John Robbins, love your body, Matthew 22:39, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

Love Letters from God

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

I’m here. I love you. I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Acts 8:26-40, Brené Brown, cea+, Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, Eric Mason, Esther Hizsa, Ethiopian Eunuch, James Finley, Jan (Johannes) Vermeer - Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window (1659), John 15:9, On Being, Radical Compassion, Radical Compassion Challenge, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. Laurence Anglican Church, Tara Brach, Teresa of Avila, Turning to the Mystics | Leave a comment

The Song That Is My Life

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

Do not try to savethe whole worldor do anything grandiose.Instead, createa clearingin the dense forestof your lifeand wait therepatiently,until the songthat is your lifefalls into your own cupped handsand you recognize and greet it.Only then will you knowhow to give … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, compassion, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Action against Asian racism, Burnaby Inter-Faith Committee, Burnaby Together, Elton Fernandes, Esther Hizsa, Frederick Buechner, Girl Seated by Water, James Finley, Jan L. Richardson, Martha Postlethwaite, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, spiritual director Burnaby, Stand with Asians Coalition, Svein Halvor Halvorsen, Teresa of Avila, The Clearing, Turning to the Mystics, Two hands one cup | 2 Comments

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

. . . we start to notice the dynamics of this welling up [of the longing for God] out of the most fundamental day-by-day realities of our life, in our daily intimacy or lack thereof, our physical health or lack … Continue reading →