Overgrown?

I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play with this image that is one I see daily when I walk my labyrinth.  I used to see this as an ugly space until I considered it more with my imagination.  I invite you to do the same.

Start by letting the image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space.  Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.

Consider these questions:

What do you see?
What colors stand out to you?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?

I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.

A Lament for Loss of Connectedness

When did we loose our connection to each other?
When did we stop truly seeing each other?
When did we forget that our collective success as a human race is dependent on our connectedness?

When did it become ok to pass by suffering and say thank God it's not me?
When did it become ok to turn a blind eye to the person in crisis because it's not my business?
When did it become ok to isolate ourselves so completely that we forget we all are connected?

My heart cries out these questions tonight as I listen to the latest news.
Yes I see acts of heroism lifted up, lines of people to give blood,
Yes I see connectedness in this time and space

BUT

Why does it take an act of such violence to bring us together?
                      To remind us of our connectedness.
Why can't we seem to live connectedly on a daily basis?
Not just with those we are comfortable with or when it is convenient for us,
But with all who walk this home we call earth:
                       Even if it is not comfortable or convenient.

If we were to live connectedly on daily basis - would that end the violence?
Would that help us to once again begin to thrive and not just survive?
Is it possible - I hope so.

Writing Again

When I wrote my farewell post here in April of 2017 I honestly thought I would not ever come back to blogging.  And in a since I am not.  I still feel pretty confident that my time of regular, narrative posts reflecting on life is closed.  However, my time of writing contemplative poetry and contemplating life and the world through the lens of my very amateur photography is not over.  In creating space in my life and figuring out how to authentically embrace my contemplative, mystic self I find there are still words to write and pictures to share.

So I am returning to this space of Chaplainhood to share the words my soul still has and the images it sees.  My Posts will be far from regular in the normal sense of the word.  Rather you will find me here as the spirit moves sharing what ever it is that the spirit is moving me to share.

So if you are joining me again on the journey, welcome back.  If you have just found me here and are new to this space - welcome.  I'm glad you are all here.

Gather At The Table

Gather at the table,
The table that is open to all.
All who believe,
All who are trying to believe,
All who are deciding to believe.

It is at the table that the youngest learn to serve.
It is here that they learn the words:
                "This is Christ's body broken for you"
                "This is Christ's blood poured out for you."

Today it is at the table that our future speaks these words:
         -To me
         -To us

These words spoken out of youth-filled belief have a different ring:
      A call back to the simplicity of belief.
      A call back to the power of a simple meal to feed the soul.
      Reminding me of Jesus' words: "Let the little children come to me."

I sink deeply into my own response:
                  THANKS BE TO GOD.

Photo used with permission of children's parents.

Ending of a Season

It’s been a long time since I have written here. My hiatus happened not on purpose but by happenstance. At first I was struggling to find topics to write on, then it was simply life had too many other things that needed my attention more and my intention to start writing here again got pushed back further and further.  During this hiatus I took some time to read a book that I was interviewed for clear back in the fall of 2013. I also took some time to do some deep reflection on how I was spending my time. The result was the discernment that it was time for Chaplainhood to come to an end.

Just like nature, I believe that our lives have seasons, times that we are supposed to be doing certain things and then our time in that season is over and we need to move onto the next season of life. For me, Chaplainhood has been one of those seasons and I have come to realize that my time blogging here has come to an end.

As a chaplain I am a firm believer in the power that storytelling can have. Chaplainhood has been my personal storytelling exercise. It has helped me come to know myself better and find healing of soul. However, I would have never taken this journey had it not been for Twylla Alexander. And so it seems fitting that this last post here at Chaplainhood, tells the story of the very beginning and gives recognition to the person who helped give birth to my public storytelling journey.

 In 2013 I received an e-mail from a stranger, asking to come interview me and walk my labyrinth. This is how I came to meet Twylla and be a part of her journey to interview 50 women, one from each State here in the United States, and walk the labyrinths that they built. For Twylla it was a personal journey that she writes about in her book Labyrinth Journeys: 50 States, 51 Stories. For me, it was the start of learning how to tell my story as a bereaved mother in a very public way. I do not know if I would have helped write Still A Mother: journeys through perinatal bereavement or taken on sharing myself so openly here at Chaplainhood had it not been for Twylla. She gave me the opportunity to tell my story in a whole new way and in doing so helped me find my courage to keep on telling it.

I have just finished her book and in doing so have “met” 49 other women who share their own journeys and stories of courage, strength and wisdom. One of the reasons this blog has taken so long to write is that I found myself slowly savoring each chapter of this book. Labyrinth Journeys is a book that could just as easily be consumed in a day letting the full journey wash over you. I choose to journey through the book slowly letting each story sit in my soul and found myself connecting on many different levels with the wisdom and life lessons shared. The writing itself is conversational having the feeling of sitting at the table with Twylla over a meal, hearing her weaving these women’s tales in and out of her own personal story and journey. Labyrinth enthusiasts will find a quick connection to this book, but it is not just for those interested in labyrinths. Anyone who appreciates a good telling of wisdom, life lessons and sharing life’s journey with others will find this is an inspirational read.

I will forever be grateful to Twylla for including me in her journey and book. But deeper than that, I will forever have gratitude for the seed of courage she planted in me in asking me to step out of myself and tell and entrust such an intimate story to a complete stranger (who quickly was no longer a stranger to me).

Where does the next season of my life take me? I am still working on figuring that out. I know part of it is to be more focused on being mom as we head into the next set of growing up transitions with C. Part of this next season will also be starting a new journey as an instructor of Taijifit. This music and drama girl, who thought she did not have an athletic bone in her body, is till trying to figure out how she came to be excited about teaching a fitness class. However, given that Taijifit is considered moving meditation it fits with my contemplative self and I am excited to help others discover it’s benefits. As I fully embrace this next season of my life, who knows maybe the occasional contemplative poem will pour out and find places to be shared.

Wherever life takes me, I am excited for the journey. Thank you for reading here at Chaplainhood and being journeyers with me. I have been blessed to share it with you. As we part ways here at Chaplainhood may you find the space to share your own story as you make your life journey. PEACE.

Finding the Center

How is it that we have lost our center?
Become taken up with either/or ideas such as:
         This or That
         I'm Right You're Wrong
         My way or no way
         Are you on the left or are you on the right?
Have we become so entrenched in our place of belief that
there is no room for any other perspective?

Have we forgotten that many times the truth is
somewhere in the middle.

How is it that we have forgotten that the center
        Is where we find common ground
        Is where we find a voice of respectful conversation
        Is where we encounter respect
        Is where there is courageous love
        Is where we come together to work for the good of all humanity.

Lord, I too have gotten lost on my own journey to my center, to the center of you. I too have gotten drawn into either/or thinking instead of looking for the both/and.  Help me to remember that finding the center does not mean staying silent, but rather is where I find strength in you to speak up.  Lord, help me to find my way back to the center.  Amen

Sighs and Groans

There seems to be a feeling of great uncertainty hovering around.  You can pick your arena of uncertainty – health issues, financial issues, relationship issues, politics.  And I am certain the list could go on.  I don’t know about you, but when I am facing uncertainty, is when I feel the need to pray deepen.  I also seem to have the experience that it is at that time I am so weary that I can’t muster the energy to create words, but to only sigh – great – big sighs.  For this time I simply offer this poem prayer.

Sighs……just sighs.

Partly because I’m oh so tired.

Partly because there is so much going on in my head,

And in the world,

And in life.

It seems all I can do is sigh and groan.

Those are the only kind of prayer I can seem to offer right now,

When I can’t make clear the chaos of the words and feelings in my head.

Thank you God for hearing my sighs and groans,

For knowing me and my prayers that are in these sighs and groans.

AMEN