Category Archives: Reflections

A Faithful Companion

Posted on June 29, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

See the whole universe, not only as something to love but as something that can love you back. –Pierre Teilhard de Chardin As many of you know, I have a Christmas cactus in the room where I pray, write, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Homelessness, Reflections | Tagged Alice Popkorn, B.C. Housing, Burnaby Now, Burnaby Task Force on Homelessness, Christmas Cactus, dgozgozz, Esther Hizsa, Lauren Boothby, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Psalm 27:14, Richard Rohr, seasons, Sitting in Silence, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

How My Suffering is Ending My Suffering

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

In my post “Releasing Reality,” I referred to Anthony de Mello’s counsel to let our suffering end our suffering. How does that work? Suffering reveals my siren gods. It reveals the alluring attachments that toss me about. Suffering helps me notice … Continue reading →

Posted in Mindfulness, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged 2 Peter 1:3, Anthony de Mello, attachments, awareness, Coco Love Alcorn, Esther Hizsa, Herbert James Draper, Luke 5:1-11, Matthew 7:9-11, Psalm 16, Psalm 17:15, Psalm 27:13, Richard Rohr, spiritual direction, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, suffering, The Naked Now, The River, Ulysses and the Sirens | Leave a comment

Life below the Surface

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

Saturday morning at the annual SoulStream partner gathering at Sorrento, Lorie Martin, our retreat facilitator, invited us to enter the meeting room in silence. Pictures of creation were scattered over two long tables. She asked us to choose an image that … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Mindfulness, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged Anthony de Mello, awareness, Choose Love, Esther Hizsa, Grace upon Grace, Invited, John 10:10, Living from the Heart, Lorie Martin, SoulStream, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, The Next Dawn | 4 Comments

Releasing Reality

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

I’ve been feeling out of sorts for a week or two–unmotivated to pray or read in the evenings. I just want to disappear and indulge in things that make me feel good. I feel this way whenever uncomfortable stuff gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Mindfulness, Reflections | Tagged Anthony de Mello, awareness, Christian.Rudman, Esther Hizsa, John 3:19, Jon 12:46, Lonely Tree, Mika Hiironniemi, Nicholas A Tonelli, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, stillness | 5 Comments

Forgiven

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

As I kneel at the altar to receive the Eucharist, it suddenly occurs to me that when Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips,” he may not have been speaking generally or just identifying … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Stories | Tagged Esther Hizsa, Eucharist, Feast of Reconciliation, forgiveness, Inside Out Church, Isaiah 6:1-8, Jerry Adams, Luke 15:18-20, Matthew Johnson, Rembrandt, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, St. James Anglican, The Return of the Prodigal Son | 2 Comments

Tossed About

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

I think I’m doing fine until a miscommunication leads to a last-minute pick up from Sure Copy. Piles of photocopied class notes for the Living from the Heart course cover our dining room table. Hurriedly, I check, count, and paperclip each … Continue reading →

Posted in Homelessness, Ignatian Spirituality, Reflections, Wednesday Lunch Club | Tagged compassion, Dustin Gaffke, Esther Hizsa, Leif Harboe, Living from the Heart, Pacific Ocean, Psalm 116:6, Scott Anderson, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, stormy sea, Wednesday Lunch Club | 2 Comments

A Belated Valentine for You

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

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 →

Posted in Poetry, Reflections | Tagged Elisa, Ernest Mann, Esther Hizsa, Happy Valentine's day, Living from the Heart, Naomi Shihab Nye, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver, Valentine | 2 Comments

An Old Memory and a New Reality

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

“Where did you accept God’s invitation to be loving, to be grateful, to be yourself?” Father James Martin asks in his Daily Examen podcast. Wow. God wants me to be myself–unselfconsciously, unapologetically, gloriously me. What does that feel like? Like the girl … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Reflections, Stories | Tagged Always Be Yourself, Consciousness Examen, Esther Hizsa, Examen, Funkybug, James Martin, Joy Is Measurable, Martin Hricko, Norman Foote, Pure Joy, Romans 8:31, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | Leave a comment

God Sees Me

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

All of a sudden, I was the boy in the story. I heard Jesus tell the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” While they stood there perplexed, I made my way through the crowd and offered Jesus my uneaten … Continue reading →

Posted in Ignatian Spirituality, Mindfulness, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections | Tagged Contemplation of Place, Esther Hizsa, Feeding of 5000, John 6:1-14, Luke 9:12-17, Mark 6:31-44, Matthew 14:13-21, Michael D. O'Brien, Prayer of the imagination, spiritual director, spiritual director Burnaby, spiritual director Vancouver | 1 Comment

Seeing Ellery

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

God, help me see what you see, I pray as I walk. I wonder if I’ll ever slow down enough to see more than a label: that’s a tree, a flower, a truck that needs a new muffler. Annie Dillard … Continue reading →