“Every breath we take, there’s a threshold. Every inhale and exhale is an invitation to pause and to rest in that in-between space.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Virtual Celtic Pilgrimage: The Wisdom of the Irish Saints Brigid, Ciaran, and Gobnait – A Self-Study Online Retreat
What do you notice in the threshold spaces of your breath?
“Each slow mindful breath, the rising and setting of the sun, the expansion and contraction of the moon, the ripening and releasing of the seasons, these all mark a different quality of time and invite us into a deepened and renewed way of being.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
How do you follow the rhythms of your breath, the slow movements of the sun and moon through the sky, the seasons which come and go?
“We can take pride in our cultural, religious, ethnic, and other identities. However, when that pride fosters feelings of superiority, arrogance, competition, or the denigration of others who are not part of our group, we are breeding intolerance and violence.”—Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism
“If life is to be complete, it must include not only the dimension of length but also of breadth which the individual concerns [themselves] in the welfare of others. No [person] has learned to live until [they] can rise above the narrow confines of [their] individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”—Martin Luther King, Strength to Love
“Every journey we take begins with a call. Sometimes it is whispered to us in the quiet of our hearts, and sometimes it is shouted to us through a megaphone.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal
What are you being called to in this season of life?
Verse of the day
My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
– Proverbs 24:13
Voice of the day
The most important lesson that I have learned from the bees is the beauty of community. Bees are not concerned about their individual selves; the survival of the colony comes before the needs of any bee, including the queen.
– Karyn Bigelow, “Let God Be(e) God”
Prayer of the day
Let us learn from the bees and eat the sweet reward of honey when we create together.
“Our focus today is on labor and poverty and living wages and guaranteed incomes. We believe we’ve got to shift the narrative of this country. And the only way we can do it is people have got to put their lives and their bodies on the line. You have preachers and poor people and impacted people who are in these lines. And we’re willing now to engage in an act of moral civil disobedience to drive home what is going on. We believe that injustice is happening in the halls of Congress and in the halls of state capitols around this country.”—Rev. William Barber II
This has been a quick weekend trip to Highlands for Colorado Presbyterian Pilgrimage’s Jubilee weekend. Tomorrow we will head back to Georgia where we will pick up Stella from boarding and see if she has forgiven us for her Friday appointment to get spayed 😳. The clinic called on Friday to say her surgery was successful and that she was doing well and being carried around by the tech. She told us that Stella is the cutest thing and they love her. Well done, Stella, well done!
The following quote from Julian of Norwich is on the wall outside of our meeting room and seems very appropriate for us and for Stella. 💖🐾
All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well… for there is a force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go. (source: ContemplativeMonk.com)
Verse of the day
“In God’s hand is the soul of every living thing; in God’s hand is the breath of all humankind.”
– Job 12:10 (The Inclusive Bible)
Voice of the day
[T]he divine communicates to us primarily through the language of the natural world. Not to hear the natural world is not to hear the divine.
– Thomas Berry, The Sacred Universe(2009)
Prayer of the day
Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
– Great Spirit Prayer, translated by Chief Yellow Lark
“This discovery that every creature and every created thing can be a window of revelation into the divine nature is an invitation to fall more and more in love with the world.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
Can you see that teachers of grace exist everywhere bringing a sense of reverence to the way you walk in the world?
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 