Category: Prayer
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The Growing Light of Joy
In the decades of my life I have seen the seasons come and go more times than I care to admit. This time around, winter is quite different from the last five which were spent in the Bay Area of California. Being back in the northeast in what I once would have called the “dead”…
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For All The Guests
In our spiritual community we have a consistent practice, each time we gather, of expressing our gratitude out loud. It creates a ground of positive energy from which we can be nourished, and from which we can draw when it comes time to express our deepest, most profound concerns. Prayers that are long on asking…
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Take a Moment . . .
At the turning of this new year, the only celebration I require is the one that happens on this bench just off the Tiburon rail trail. I know a ball will drop in Times Square later tonight, but all I really need is a bit more time to stare at this view of Mount Tamalpais,…
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Something In the Water
Something happens to me when I am near the water, something really good–emotionally, energetically, spiritually. I recently read that my heart and brain tissues are 73 percent water, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that walking on the beach, floating in the swimming pool, or gazing at the bay vistas off our…
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Light and Shadow
There is no shadow without light, nor is there light without shadow. The existence of one requires the existence of the other. The land we live in, the place we call home, has been transformed into a noisy caricature of itself, devolving into a shouting match between people who are always right and never wrong. …
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No Sense of Time
I snapped an image of these lilies on our front lawn five or six weeks ago. As perennials go, they are vociferous. It’s a yearly effort that keeps them from taking over the garden, and each time I see new ones sprouting, I dig them up and move them out to the creekside, where I…
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Reflections
I keep thinking I will catch my breath, that someone will push a pause button so I can bring some meaning to the present moment. I struggle for the equilibrium to form a coherent thought, and just when I think I have found it, the constant bad news finds me where I am and screams…
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We Shall Overcome.
These are the times that try our souls, while petulant children masquerading as world leaders duke it out on the playground. The problem is, the world is not a playground. Just ask the people of Guam. The last time we were this close to nuclear conflict, I was in kindergarten. The memories are mostly emotional,…
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Smartphones in the Sanctuary
I took this photo on a blustery afternoon a few years back. This is the roofline of the chapel at Linwood Spiritual Center, home to the Sisters of St. Ursula, and an important place of meditation and learning in my life. Taken in the waning days of autumn just before the inevitable slide into a…
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The Gifts of Evil
The whole of life includes both light and shadow, much like this path in Fort Tryon, experienced on summer’s most beautiful morn. The light calls us forward, calls us higher, transforms us into everything we are created to be, but not without first moving through some shadows. Recently, we watched the new documentary that Princes…
Deeper Streams 