Tag Archives: Sylvia Sassen

Just as You Promised

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Esther Hizsa

I fell asleep beside you in the tomband when I woke up you were gone and not gone. I looked up, and there you were looking down at meand smiling. “Good morning, my Beloved,”you said as if it wasn’t the most famous morningin … Continue reading →

Posted in Easter, Poetry, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

In the Heart of the Beloved

Posted on May 20, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

When readers open my new book, I invite them to open it up and flip it over. In the introduction, I wrote: Look at the whole cover. Take in the beauty of the image: vibrant pink, glowing edges, green stem, … Continue reading →

Posted in In the Heart of the Beloved, Poetry, Reflections, Stories, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in In the Heart of the Beloved, Reflections, Stories, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Now I See

Posted on April 16, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

. . . we attribute authority to [our weaknesses] to name who we are, and they don’t because only love has the authority to name who we are. –James Finley, Turning to the Mystics Thomas Merton 4 My weaknesses don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, False Self, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What Would You Like to Do?

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Esther Hizsa

“I don’t want to be here,” my insides were shouting. For months, I disregarded my feelings and kept doing what I should, what a good Christian would. Then in Advent, God, who hears my thoughts and feels my feelings, asked … Continue reading →

Posted in community, compassion, False Self, Ignatian Spirituality, Poetry, Prayer, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Joyful Mysteries and Silent Dreams

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Esther Hizsa

“Let there be Esther,” I heard God pronounce, speaking right into my life-long struggle to exist. During the Ignatian prayer retreat I was leading last week, I had a chance to pray with one of my “joyful mysteries.” As I … Continue reading →

Posted in Childhood, Creation, Ignatian Spirituality, Poetry, Prayer, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments