Contemplation
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Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Yesterday I treated myself after a visit to the dentist with a trip to the British Museum. I wanted in particular to see a current exhibition: The American Scene, Prints from Hopper to Pollock. The exhibit was great, as was another that I saw, and I may well write about them over the next couple […]
Challenges
Friday, March 7th, 2008
Photograph by kookalamanza
I’m currently reading Richard Rohr’s book Simplicity, The Freedom of Letting Go. Rohr is a Franciscan priest, a well-known writer and retreat master.
I find myself both inspired and challenged by this book. He asks us to see things in different, demanding ways. He uses the teachings of Christ as his bedrock and […]
My life
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
Photograph by celebdu
Found at Hudson’s Notebook is this meme which issues a challenge: describe your life in six words.
I couldn’t, I had to use seven. Here they are:
Too often grey, flashes of glorious colour.
That’s the past. Now I’m moving past the fear to full-colour living.
What about you?
The peace of wild things
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
Photograph by Jef Poskanzer
I’m away now for a few days, presenting the first of this year’s Enneagram courses. I’ll be back on Sunday, and leave you with this poem I found today.
When despair grows in me
And I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my […]
Journeys within journeys
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Photograph DavidK-Oregon
If the whole of our life is one journey, with many forks in the path, perhaps it’s easier to focus on the annual shorter journey of Lent, which begins today with Ash Wednesday.
Forty days of following in the footsteps of Christ. What does it mean? If we find it difficult to do for […]
Preparing the ground
Friday, December 14th, 2007 Christine’s post Courage Unparalleled is illustrated by an unfinished artwork with wooden board as base. To me the unfinished work has its own beauty, and it reminded me of the process of creating an icon in the Orthodox Christian tradition.
The finished icon is a prayerful work of art, but it would be nothing without […]
Wisdom in strange places
Thursday, December 6th, 2007I am a big fan of detective novels. One of my favourites is Kathy Reichs, and her character Tempe Brennan, a forensic anthropologist.
So when I noticed that a TV show, Bones, had been made based on the character, I thought I’d give it a quick watch. Well, nothing to write home about. Not bad but […]
Enlightenment
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007There’s an old Buddhist story:
A young man enters a monastery to walk the path of enlightenment. He asks a question: “Master, what shall I do while I seek enlightenment?” The Master replies “You must chop wood and fetch water.”
The long, slow years pass as the young man studies and meditates. Eventually, he realises he is […]