I had the most extraordinary experience on Maundy Thursday. I was playing the piano for the small church where I presently worship. It is part of the complicated map of American Anglicanism that regularly rearranges itself in this era. I have a deep love for the beauty and truth of this prayer book tradition, even as I ache… Continue reading Ubi Caritas
Category: Biography
Narnia Revisited
If its been awhile since you have been immersed in Narnia, I heartily recommend it as an anecdote for that sluggishness of soul that so easily creeps up on us. Narnia has been in my teaching repertoire for several years now. In 2003 I began to teach a class called "The Seven Deadly Sins in… Continue reading Narnia Revisited
Left-Handed Prayer
When I was in Junior High I taught myself to crochet. I would have asked someone to teach me but I had one problem—I was left-handed and everyone I knew who possessed a crochet hook was right-handed. So I taught myself. I learned to reverse the pictures on the page, and recognize the patterns reversed on my hook. There… Continue reading Left-Handed Prayer
Careening Carrots and Welcoming Worship
There was no doubt that I was somewhere completely "other" from the moment I got off the plane. It wasn't just the endless sun that never seemed to set as I continued to fly west and west and more west. It was the spicy air and the curved bent of an alphabet that had as… Continue reading Careening Carrots and Welcoming Worship
Ravens
National Park Service photo As we drove up to our place on Lake Superior, we were greeted by a large raven who had taken dominion over the doorway. He had found something to eat, and wasn’t yielding the ground without coaxing. Tenacious old bird. And then, this morning, I read these amazing words of Jesus, “fear… Continue reading Ravens
Repainting the Portrait
Last week I met separately with two young women. Both are in their 20's, both are in serious dating relationships, both desire to "do this right," -and both see themselves and their beloved through the distorted lenses of difficult backgrounds. While the nature of their concerns were radically different, but their fear was so similar.… Continue reading Repainting the Portrait
Longing for Home
Earlier this week I was sitting on a bench in an outdoor shopping mall just before twilight. Around my feet crowded over a dozen sparrows, picking at the edges of the paving stones, tenaciously attempting to find some undiscovered crumbs in hidden cracks. I thought of the countless sparrows that regularly inhabit my backyard, emptying… Continue reading Longing for Home
Spiritual Badminton
They started it. I had called the retreat center in March with more than a little angst. For reasons beyond my control, I needed to find a place for THESE DATES this summer. I had just a few people--but no flexibility with the timing. And I was late in signing up. The retreat director initially… Continue reading Spiritual Badminton
Living Symbols
One of the pictures that frequently rests on my computer desktop is a photograph my friend Gigi took of St. Bartholomew's Chapel. This brave little "Pilgrim chapel"-white with bright red turrets-has stood since the 12th century between the Watzmann, the highest continuous vertical face mountain in the world, and the Konigsee---the deepest lake in Germany.… Continue reading Living Symbols
The God Who Sees
Hagar fled from Sarai when her mistress's treatment was too hard to bear. David and his servants fled Jerusalem after Absalom stole the people's hearts. Elijah fled from Jezebel with her threats ringing in his ears. And I have tried to flee from the enemies lodging in my mind. Sometimes the wilderness is the only… Continue reading The God Who Sees
Carla Waterman 