Quietness and Rest – A Great Christmas Gift

Maybe it is just because of the busyness of the last few weeks, or because Tom & I have just booked accommodation for our annual Advent retreat, but I have been thinking a lot lately about the need for rest and quietness in our lives.  I think particularly as we move into what is generally [...]

Advent is Coming – Will You Join Me?

Tom and I are finally done with our travels.  It is good to be back in Seattle and getting my clock and my life turned around after our hectic Fall schedule.

I came back to beautiful orchids in bloom which certainly lifted my spirits when I considered the mountain of work that awaits me…. and it [...]

Practicing everyday Justice

Tom & I are just finishing off our time here at Eastern Mennonite University.  We have enjoyed sharing with the students about how live on purpose in our consumer driven world.
I have particularly been impressed with some of the green initiatives on the campus here.  Their campus garden provides greens squash and grapes for the [...]

Junk Food Spirituality – Are We Addicted to the Wrong Practices?

Following my post yesterday Fruit That Will Last, my friend Andy Wade commented
I wonder, what would the difference look like between highly processed fruit and whole foods w/o all the junk? What are the parallels between how our bodies respond to processed foods and how our souls respond?
It was a great question that sent my [...]

Fruit That Will Last

Tom and I are now at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg Virginia still trying to get our clocks turned around from the trip to Australia.  This is definitely not the best way to model a balanced way of life though I am really looking forward to our time here.
Part of my morning Bible reading was [...]

A garden of solitude

It is a beautiful evening in Seattle and I am sitting watching the sunset over the Olympic mountains.  It is great to have a quiet moment as Tom & I will be travelling again tomorrow to Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg Virginia.  This will be our last trip until after Christmas for which I am [...]

A Prayer for the Earth from Brian McLaren

I have not had much to say about the Climate Change meeting in Copenhagen while I was travelling but this does not mean that the upcoming meeting has not been in my thoughts and prayers.  I think that this is probably the most important meeting on climate change that there has ever been and I [...]

A Prayer for All Saints Eve

We are back in Seattle our heads still whirring with the disorienting experience of starting the day with a beautiful spring morning and ending with blustery autumn weather.  I am also adjusting slowly to the images of pumpkins on doorsteps and scary halloween decorations all over the place – not something that Australia has yet [...]

Getting Ready For Halloween

One of the things that really surprised and horrified me when I first came to the US was the huge emphasis on Halloween.  Even churches organized Halloween celebrations with kids dressed as witches and no one thought twice about feeding the monsters that came to their doors trick or treating.
Today there seems to be more [...]

Spirituality in all of life

I am currently in Launceston Australia at the World view centre for Intercultural Studies. Those of you from the US may be interested to hear that the annual fees down here are $7,500 including accommodation and meals during term time. An amazingly cheap alternative to the American schools  and with a dynamic group of students [...]