Turbulent Times: Ready or Not

We leave this afternoon for Australia – the house sitter has moved in (well more of a dog sitter actually as Bonnie told us she does not like being alone) and are furiously working to get our contributions for the MSA Seed Sampler done – as well as working on powerpoint presentations for all our [...]

What Does it Take To Change a Bad Habit

“Keep it simple, make it meaningful, stick to it”  That is some of the best advice that I have ever received on how to establish a new habit.  It came to mind as I read this article from Zen Habits Our daily lives are often a series of habits played out through the day, a [...]

Where is Christmas?

I am sitting at our dining room table looking out on a beautiful September morning.  It is hard to believe that in a couple of days I will be in Australia – once more heading into spring rather than into autumn.  I will miss the glory of the fall leaves around the lake but I [...]

Wild Camano Forest Tour

Tom & I have just returned from Camano Island where we participated in a botanical tour on the land where we hope to create a monastic eco village.  The tour was conducted by Bob Dietal rector at St Aidan’s Episcopal church in Stanwood.  Bob used to be a botanist and was amazingly knowledgeable about all [...]

Social Media and the Church

Bosco Peters made me aware of these videos recently which are very sobering news for all of us who aspire to communicate our message to others and really does make me wonder how effective our social media communications are.  Is it just a way to connect to people or can we really develop meaningful relationships [...]

Maybe Religion is the Answer Claims Atheist Scientist

Late yesterday afternoon I took a break from my usual activities and followed some of the fun and interesting links that I had come across in the last few days.  Yes that is the kind of thing that I do for relaxation. Most of them explore different aspects of autumn (sorry to my readers in [...]

Rhythms of Grace Workshop in Adelaide

One of the things that I am really looking forward to while Tom & I are in Australia is the opportunity to conduct a Rhythms of Grace workshop at Tabor College in Adelaide. Retreat Theme Jesus said: Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I [...]

What Is A Spiritual Practice: The Complete Series

September is rapidly coming to a close or at least is seems so to me because we will be heading to Australia next week – for once heading into spring and not winter on our travels.  Before I go I wanted to round off the summer blog series What is a Spiritual Practice with a [...]

Walk to Bethlehem During Advent

Advent is still a couple of months away but here is a really cool idea I heard about this last weekend that would not only prepare us spiritually for the birth of Christ but also physically and emotionally. A Walk to Bethlehem is an Advent resource developed by St John’s Health Parish Nursing.  The initial [...]

Everyday Justice

My copy of Julie Clawson’s Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices arrived yesterday and i wanted to make sure that you all knew about it as soon as possible.  This is a book that I am really excited about, not just because I wrote the forward but because I think that it [...]