2019

Pondering how every flower’s work is to “kindle love again to living flame.”

St Valentine —by Malcolm Guite

Why should this martyr be the saint of love? A quiet man of unexpected courage, A celibate who celebrated marriage, An aging priest with nothing left to prove, He loved the young and made their plight his cause. He called for fruitfulness, not waste in wars, He found a sure foundation, stood his ground, And gave his life to guard the love he’d found. Why should this martyr be our Valentine? Perhaps because he kept his covenant, Perhaps because, with prayer still resonant, He pledged the Bridegroom’s love in holy wine, Perhaps because the echo of his name Can kindle love again to living flame.

2018

“Here we rend clothes and sanctify ourselves with ash, the ghost left over after palms of victory become hollow reminders of ruin. … And yet, God is never more present than in the longing and the grief.” ~Jeannie Alexander, Keep Watch with Me Lenten Reader

“Inner opening…of the heart…is a posture of strength. This is the way to new life, to offer oneself in an act of heart opening, of vulnerability, of love.” ~Gena Davis, YogaMass: Embodying Christ Consciousness

“You desire truth in my inward being;
Therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.”
~Psalm 51:6

2017

pondering agápē and agāp(e); the first a noun meaning selfless love, the second an adjective meaning ‘with mouth wide open as in wonder’ … “Divine potentiality–beautiful, fathomless, endlessly creative–projects itself into form in order to realize fully the depths of divine love… The act of loving brings hidden potential to full expression, and the more intimate and costly the self-giving, the more precious the quality of love revealed.” ~Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Jesus

2016

Grateful to have been part of this morning’s incredible worship at All Peoples Church! I shared with Pastor Steve afterwards that the Spirit’s movement stirred in me the desire to fling some paint on a big ole canvas! (Hmmm…)

Jesus, full of the HolySpirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.
~Luke 4:1

2015

Working on a strength image for LEAD … and I’m curious to see if there will be other communal images with strength

2014

influence… my first reaction to that word was negative… as i sat with it, though, i opened up to its gentler, positive side

From the WAY back archives comes this Sunday School project created by the children of Los Heroes in El Salvador and those of their sister church, St. John’s in Brookfield, WI. It was a bit crazy to hand sew these little felt people to basically a big blue blanket in the heat of El Salvador. All I can say is that we do crazy things for love!