New out of Nothing and Everything

Creating something new out of nothing and everything… I recently heard a friend preach and she used this line to refer to God’s work of shaping new from what already is… I heard it, wrote it down immediately, and then felt a niggle of familiarity once the words settled… A new way of saying it,…

Breaking into lines

One of the fifteen RSCJ staying at our house these days is a musician well known within Latin America for her singing, lyrics, and guitar playing. At some moment we were talking about how experiences become language which can then become poetry or lyrics. And, sometimes one type of writing becomes something else entirely when…

All that and Ice Cream to Boot

There are currently two guests staying with the community—one from Uganda and one from Japan. We had finished dinner, just the three of us, and I suggested a walk to get ice cream at a popular local place called the Dairy Bar. It is known for its interesting flavors and long lines in the summer….

Resonance

From the journal… In the Public Gardens on a bench by the dahlias. Lunch is wrapped in a cloth napkin in my bag, tucked in among crosswords, a novel, and assorted writing implements. This journal was in there, but is now flopped open on my thigh. Somewhere I am remembering that the column width of…

At Ease with Belonging…a Poem

At a recent gathering I attended, multiple people mentioned that they were seeing new facets of me, new aspects of who I was. I found this fascinating because at this gathering, I was, in part, doing what I do regularly…I was writing, helping the group pray… The people there had read and prayed with my…

The There and The Then and the What Will Be… a Poem

The There and the Then and the What Will Be There were things that I could have donebefore leaving:The sink which hadn’t seemedall that bad; the community of goodsgathered in the fridgewho since my goingand returning once again,have overstayed their welcome;desktop mountain rangeswith would-be landslidesarranged to topplewith the slightest addition.However, standing as I amin a…

Who Do you Say…

I have answered this question many times in my life…Who do you say that I am? And while there are a few elements in common over the years, I am equally grateful to know that there is no limit…that there remains the impossibility of containing; that more remains than I can possibly hope for or…

From the Journal: On SuperPowers and Not Knowing

From the Journal 7:26 AM At the end of the hallway, waiting to go to the market. Won’t have a chance to write while there this morning, so wanted to sit with you now…and I am so grateful, for that–and for the true Nova Scotia summer day that is blooming–breeze, sun, open skies, and great…

The Fullness

Since returning from days away, I have been a part of multiple conversations where the spectre of violence in the world has featured. One mentioned a gathering I will be attending this summer and the possible de-volvement of circumstances in the US that might bring about martial law in the city of the event. Another…

A Flat White and a Poem, Please

For No 9 Coffee Bar…And Those on the Stools I made the discoverythat there were stools rightthere, tucked into the side,right behind the espresso machine.Out of the way and somehowdeep in the heart of it all.Gritty and full of inner machinationsand steady service. My own heart, too, is like that.A few stools for thosegathered close—a…