We cannot be free if we don't know what's holding us, containing us, or chaining our feet to the ground. We cannot be free if we don't recognize the voices that we mistake for reality. It's easy to mistake the way that we think about things, even the way that we experience things, for the … Continue reading Enough Already
The other day, my boys were discussing world peace, an unusually weighty topic for the two of them. "I wish there were no wars," my 6-year-old lamented. "Yeah, me too," the 9-year-old added. "Why do people have to fight?" "You know, we could start by start practicing world peace at home." I suggested. The boys rolled … Continue reading Practicing Peace
Image from The Gift of Writing According to Thomas Merton, a vocation, like writing, is a gift we are given in order to give it back. He says, In religious terms, this is simply a matter of accepting life, and everything in life as a gift, and clinging to none of it, as far as … Continue reading Why Do You Write?
For the last few years, a chalk-board sign above my kitchen sink reminded me to "Love people. Cook them tasty food." (Thank you Penzey's.) Unfortunately, my idea of tasty food differs drastically from my family's idea of tasty food. The idea of loving people by making them tasty food only made me cranky: I am … Continue reading May the Light of Your Soul Bless Your Work
""As we are, our hearts our closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks, and the words fall in." --Parker Palmer
Sometimes I get excited about really small things. Like seeds. Especially these seeds. These are seeds that I saved from a tomato that grew in my garden last summer. The fall before, I drove out to Milwaukee to visit my Opa in hospice. During that visit, in one of our last conversations, my Opa told me … Continue reading A Gentle Reminder
The discrepancy between my experience of Lake Superior and its Reality stunned me this weekend. There is something to this fact that is Truth. There is something in this Truth that my soul needs to sit with for a while. Sometimes small truths hit you in your heart to remind you of a Big Truth that your soul needs.
This year, we spent spring break at the beach: surrounded by soft, white sand, brilliant blue skies, and water. So much water. Blue. Warm. Sometimes still like a swimming pool. Other times surging with energy. This beach time was therapy for a frozen Minnesota girl. I loved our beach time. I loved watching my children … Continue reading Jumping In
Last week, my husband and I packed our three children into the minivan to make a two-day trek to Florida. After escaping frozen Minnesota, our van hurtled down the highway slicing through Iowa's brown farm fields. The sun, still golden, dipped closer to the horizon. Dark grey clouds cloaked most of the sun's fading light. … Continue reading Presence
A few weeks back, I wrote about finding myself living in the ellipses- the ". . ." - a time in-between what was and what is to come. I struggle with the slowness of this time. I have a feeling that I am not alone. Have you found yourself in an in-between time--that space between … Continue reading Leaning into the Wait
Jessica Sanborn 