May 8

2020

“Outside of
space and time
there is no work,
nothing is wrought.
Time stops.
Be there
and don’t look away
because in that place
your soul and God
are one.”
—Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart by Jon M. Sweeney & Mark S. Burrows, p. 31

I was curious about the tip of the circle at the bottom of this image, and it dawned on me that it could represent the Finisterre, an outdoor art installation on the Grunewald Guild campus. With it, I muse on both the concept of Finisterre and Finistempo… the very edge of what we know, at the end of land/space and at the end of time. One of Guild Founder Rich Caemmerer’s last paintings was from a very high vantage point looking down at this installation that had not yet been created.

the Guild’s anchor-hold
connecting us in moments
beyond space and time

2019

“…disciplined practice… Silent sitting becomes a magic carpet that rescues us… Contemplative life is a tapestry of intention and surrender, of reaching out and letting go, of stillness and exhilaration, form and formlessness. … And it is about moments of rapture in the face of the most ordinary phenomena, in which our particular embodied experience gives way to an undifferentiated melding with All That Is.” —Mirabai Starr, Wild Mercy

I was questioning why the smaller magic carpet in this image, which I figured was mine (and maybe yours), seemed to have a tear through its center, and then these words from Jean Vanier appeared: “We feel small and weak, but we are gathered together to signify the power of God who transforms death into life. That is our hope, that God is doing the impossible: changing death into life inside of each of us, and that perhaps, through our community, each one of us can be agents in the world of this transformation of brokenness into wholeness…”

2018

I listened to a recent sermon by my son Paul on the topic of third way change. With just a couple minutes remaining in his message at the height of an impassioned plea to be love, there was a little one whose cries for Mama could be heard on the recording. My heart melted when Paul paused and added, “So, let’s all be Mama to each other.”

Thank you, Julian of Norwich, whose feast day is today, who wrote of God’s love as a mother’s love, “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

“When we fall into Primal Love, we realize that everything is foundationally okay—and we are a part of everything!” ~Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation

2017

Jim and I went on a little hike yesterday and I was reminded just how much I’m loved by trees.

“Seven Years of Wonder” is a daily look back at my creative journaling posts since 2014. I began this journey on Feb. 11, 2021, and hope to continue through Feb. 10, 2022. What am I learning about my art and faith journey thus far? What has remained constant? Where have I been changed? How is this impacting present and future art-making?

A deep bow of gratitude to you for keeping me company on this journey.