Happy 217th Birthday to the Society of the Sacred Heart! Sitting here in my room, praying…I close my eyes and cruise around the world…to different political/humanitarian situations… to sisters I know…to provinces I have not yet seen…and spiral back in time and place to France…in 1800…and a small group in an attic…who dared to say…
Author: Kimberly M. King
I am a Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I am the director of Barat Spirituality Centre, www.baratspirituality.org, a writer, a juggler, a quick wit, a walker. I enjoy reading all sorts of fiction and non-fiction and regularly write both essays and poetry. Other interests and abilities include Spanish/English written translation and simultaneous interpretation, cooking, and time spent thinking and observing.
Thank you, Happy Feast
7:13 AM. It is fitting that I should be at a harbour on the morning of your feast, Philippine. I can imagine you would find your place here at the farmers’ market–the vegetables and fruit would be familiar touchstones for you–and good coffee to warm the mind, hands, and soul. Staring at the water, though–…
Listen-Staring
This reading was one of the pieces that made me fall in love with the music and poetry of God. It caught me listen-staring and danced the first time I encountered it and it has reminded me of my awe upon every encounter since, including this morning. To proclaim it aloud is the only fitting…
Sound Bytes
I have been to All Saints Anglican cathedral before to hear the University of King’s College choirs perform. Their music is so…augh…so big, so encompassing, so exquisite…that I have wanted to write about that sound in its midst. A little while ago, I had that chance. At some point, the man next to me said…
Not Pointing
“U.S. President Donald Trump says the mass shooting at a Texas church ‘Isn’t a guns situation,’ but is a ‘mental health problem at the highest level.’ “ (CBC News, 6 November, 2017) “While no officials have publically questioned Kelley’s [note: name of shooter] mental health, Trump said that ‘is your problem here.’ He offered no…
And I am its monk
Rain Travelling A couple of light-happy plants; a wingback chair with a library’s worth of history and character; Books and paper and ink and windows, yes, windows onto the sea. A bed in a corner and blankets brought in from a clothesline. A prowly cat who comes home with stories and seedpods caught in her…
Touching the World
A friend of mine posted this quotation on Facebook yesterday… ~We never know when we will blossom into what we’re supposed to be. It mightbe early. It might be late. It might be afterthirty years of failing at a misguided way.Or the very first time we dare to shedour mental skin and touch the world.~ …
Feel Profoundly, Live Poetically
I was asked earlier this week to offer a reflection for the general meeting of the alumnae/alumni association for the Sacred Heart School of Halifax that took place last night. The idea was to lead into Saturday when there would be a talk on each of the calls of General Chapter 2016 and do this…
Longing, the Universe, Cinnamon, and You
Photo used with permission of Denise Pyles When I was in undergrad, I had not yet joined the Catholic church. I was in the midst of learning a whole new vocabulary for my relationship with God and a friend told me that the church just off of campus was open late into the evening and…
Fully Alive
On December 4th, 2015 I wrote a piece in response to a mass shooting in San Bernadino. Sadly, I can’t even cry out “UNBELIEVABLE.” Because it isn’t at all unbelievable.And yet we wonder. We consistently wonder and act surprised. Or worse, accept these shootings as a part of our reality, as part of the price…
Consider the Lilies 