Thanksgiving weekend and snow on the ground! * o
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Poetry Moment
for something in this sleeping
earth
we call the spirit.
from lifted arms
where stars run through fingers
and the night is like sand
do I breathe a fragrance of its wisdom
do I call its name
or listen to the drops
that trickle down to earth
and hear
life being given
not only through the moving hands of the forest
but through the hand that reaches in
the dark unmoving regions of the chest
and uncovers slowly
the enormous
indistinct
shape of the ocean.
Poetry Moment
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Another Tuesday Evening
The Teen Man-Child and I feast on a supper of cold ham, sweet potatoes and a tossed salad. I eat slowly, clean up the dishes and then head out the door for an evening walk.
"Buffy", my iPod, plays the melodious strains of J. Phillip Newell's, "Sounds of the Eternal" as I head down towards the cemetery. Once there, I sit at my favorite spot, the small wooden plank between two trees that overlooks the bay and Doghead mountain. The wind is rustling through tree leaves and there's a haze
covering the town across the bay. The air is scented with that woodsy, damp leafy smell that signals autumn is around the corner.
I listen. I pray. I read from Caitlin Matthew's "Celtic Devotional". I stare out over the bay and watch leaves fall from the trees.
Audio Divinia. Lectio Divinia. Visio Divinia. Sensory Divinia?
Returning home I shower, light a candle and settle down to write. Another Tuesday evening slips away. * o
Another Tuesday Evening
Monday, August 10, 2009
Pondering Sacred Sound
The past couple of weeks I’ve been exploring “sacred sound”. The awesome Fabeku Fatunmise describes sacred sound as a combination of sound and intention, or in his words: “Sacred sound wraps itself around what you want and feeds it. It nourishes it and gives it presence. It energizes your focus so fully that your focus starts to shake with excitement, knowing it’s just about ready to take the stage and rock out.”
Fabeku has a pretty cool free download of ten minutes of sacred sound – singing bowl and drum - that is really worth checking out. I’ve been playing it once or twice a day, taking time to slow down my breathing, and soak in a few minutes of peace. And I’ve been finding myself a lot calmer, focused and enjoying some spurts of creativity.
I’ve also been playing around with my own hoop drum, a djembe and an amazing little singing bowl I got from Fabeku.
The concept of “sacred sound” appeals to me. I’ve often used music to relax with or shift my energy level higher when I’ve needed it. I’ve used music to pray with. Hymns, Taize chants, and classical pieces are often a part of my prayer and worship time. These are things I think of as “sacred sound” too – maybe in not quite the same stuck-shifting way as what Fabeku works with, but in the sense that it is sound that transports, uplifts and has some pretty groovy positive energy with it.
And that got me pondering this morning about what other sounds I would label as sacred. I started listing them in my journal and so far have come up with:
- listening to the heart beat of my beloved while snuggling close
- a cat's purr
- a baby laughing (or a bunch of babies laughing! - dare you to watch this and not giggle)
- birds singing in my backyard
- a small child's soft breathing while sleeping
- the fountains gurgling in my ponds
- leaves rustling
- loon calling
- waves lapping on shore
- snow crunching underfoot
- windchimes (when the breeze blows gently, when it's really windy, windchimes are just annoying!)
I’ve noticed that quite a few in my list are nature sounds. I am blessed to live in a small town surrounded by mountains, lakes and trees and I wonder what a city dweller’s list would look like?
I think the point is that there is so much noise around us, we’ve tuned out. We miss the truly beautiful notes in our day. Some of this constant noise may actually be pretty harmful to us - to our health, to our energy levels.
Grab your journal and make a quick list of sounds you would call sacred. Sounds that uplift and heal you. Don’t over think it, just jot things down. (Why not download Fabeku’s free sacred sound clip while you’re doing that…). Become aware of the noise around you. What sounds are you missing or tuning out? How can you bring more of these sacred sounds into your life?
* oPondering Sacred Sound
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday Bliss
Spent the better part of the evening here in the gazebo, drinking my tea, reading and journaling. It was finally warm enough to enjoy it!!!
Worked this afternoon on making a hoop drum, part of the sacred art portion of Module One in the spiritual direction training. I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to figure out the instructions, but it turned out not too bad. The drum is drying now, and then I will paint a design on it (haven't decided what yet).
Here's a slideshow of the drum making process:
* o
Sunday Bliss
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Happy Feet!
"I am announcing a brand new e-Course called Happy Feet. It is a three week course that teaches you exactly how to paint any pair of shoes. The course will begin May 9th, so if you’re interested, check it out soon.
You can find information about the course at http://creativeclown.com/happy-feet. The cost is $20.00 and you probably already have all the supplies needed. You can paint shoes you already have or get some at a thrift store for around $5."
Zura's courses are always well worth the money, so if you've got a craving to paint yourself some wicked shoes, check it out! * o
Happy Feet!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Cardinals
Cardinals have always been a very special, symbolic bird for me. And since they are more common in the southern parts of this province than here, when I went on my retreat at Easter I was really hoping I might catch a glimpse of one.Saturday afternoon of the retreat I had quite a bit of spare time, and went for a walk on the hospital grounds next to the convent. There is a shrine garden there - a really nice spot for quiet meditation and reflection. After sitting there for some time, I started to head back. I had been listening to the birds singing, and thought "gee, it sure would be nice if I could just see one cardinal, it would make this retreat time so special". Ask, and ye shall receive. At that very moment, a cardinal flew up into the tree in front of me, looking straight at me. As I breathed prayers of "thank you, thank you", the cardinal flew back into the shrine garden, landing at the base of the cross. I sat back down and stared at it. Then it flew into the tree beside me, and sang to me. We spent at least ten minutes there in that garden, bird and I, before he flew off again. I literally bounced back to the convent, wanting to shout out "I saw a cardinal! I saw a cardinal!" but fortunately remembered this was a silent retreat. Shouting would have been frowned upon.
The next afternoon I returned to the shrine garden to do some writing in my journal. I shared the space with a chipmunk who kept darting back and forth amongst the rocks and bushes. I was naturally hoping to see the cardinal again, just one more time. I hard barely breathed that prayer when he appeared in the tree in front of me. He didn't stay as long this time, but I was just as pleased to see him.
The cardinal affirmed to me that I was in the right place, and that God was with me. That was all I needed.
(image - cardinal - watercolor crayons - April 2009) * o
Cardinals
Saturday, April 18, 2009
New Virtual Retreat - April 25th!!!
New Virtual Retreat - April 25th!!!



