It’s been another week of harvesting and processing the abundant and rather overwhelming produce from our garden. I have given away apples, pears and tomatoes reminding myself each time that in God’s economy there is always enough for our own needs and an abundance to share. I love the way the garden encourages me to be generous, and I find that as I share from this abundance that it also inspires me to share from other resources God has provided me with as well. I know that many churches celebrate at this season with harvest festivals. Make sure you check out the prayers, liturgies and ideas in the harvest and thanksgiving section of our resource pages.
This last week was a very busy week. Interspersed with the harvesting were more meetings with friends and colleagues, the sharing of tomato salads and apple cakes. The highlight was our luncheon with good friend and Circlewood architect David Vandervort. Before his visit we listened to the recent Circlewood Earthkeeper’s podcast in which Forrest Inslee and James Amadon interviewed David not just about the Camano project, but also about his more extensive work in green architecture. In Meditation Monday: Building Green With Delight I share some of what David told us and our excitement at hearing what is happening at the Circlewood Village. Tom and I are still very much involved in this project and encourage you to learn my by reading the post and listening to the podcast episode.
One of my favourite posts this week was Catherine Lawton’s Are The Rocks Crying Out for Collect Rocks Day on September 17th. I too love to collect rocks and am tempted after reading her post to acquire a tumbler so that I can smooth some of my rocks and make them glow. So even though Collect Rocks Day is over I highly recommend that you go out and collect some rocks to reflect and meditate on.
Karen Wilk shares another beautiful piece of art and poem about a tree with us in her post I Hear With an Accent. I really enjoyed this as I am currently fascinated by trees and am gathering a collection of photos that I hope to put together in a short meditation video. June Friesen in her post The Wonder of Colour admonishes herself for not taking more notice of the incredible array of colours around her. I know that I often have the same problem and her words encouraged me to slow down and take notice of the colours around me too. In Freerange Friday: Join the Harmony Way Lilly Lewin, just returning from her own pilgrimage to Iona, shares an opportunity for virtual pilgrimage that sounds very interesting.
My next retreat A Season of Gratitude is only a few weeks away and as I start to prepare for it, I am reminded to once more do a scavenger hunt around the house and garden to collect items that I am particularly grateful for this year. Some of these I will incorporate in my sacred space for October and November as part of my gratitude display. I hope that you will join us for this important virtual retreat.
As you can imagine, the harvest is very much on my mind at the moment so let me end with one of my harvest prayers:
God we thank you for harvests of plenty,
Small seeds multiplying to feed thousands,
Sweet tomatoes ripening on the vine.
Trees laden with abundant fruit.
God we thank you for bounty overflowing,
Enough for our own needs and much to share,
Enough to feed the hungry and provide for the destitute,
Enough to reach out with generosity and care.
God we thank you for seeds you have planted in our hearts,
Seeds of righteousness yielding goodness and mercy,
Seeds of love yielding justice and peace,
Seeds of compassion yielding healing and renewal.
God we thank you for the bread of heaven,
Christ our saviour planted in our lives,
Christ our redeemer growing in our hearts,
Christ your Son making us one with you.
God we thank you for the gift of life,
Like water poured out on thirsty ground,
Spring and autumn rains that revive and bring life,
A river that flows from your heart and out into the world you love.
Amen
May we all go out and bear the fruit that God has placed within us.
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
by Christine Sine
Last week we had the delight and privilege of sharing lunch with David Vandervort. David has been a friend since we employed him to oversee a renovation on our house back in 1996. At the same time we recruited him as the architect for what was then known as the Mustard Seed Village on Camano Island. David attended many of the Celtic retreats we held on the island, walked the land with us and designed our first impressions of this eco-village of retreat and education. David saw us through the joy of building our first structure on the land and then wept with us as vandals destroyed the windows and brought everything to a halt. Some of you may remember that at the 24th Celtic retreat following the vandalism we used the broken glass to create a lamp that we used on the altar throughout the sessions. Here is the Litany I wrote for that retreat which reflects our pain and our hope for what had happened. Here are some of the photos we took at the retreat that shows the sequence of the event. Looking at them again was a delightful nostalgic trip for me, though my heart ached for the senseless destruction that was such a blow to our plans.
It was at that point that Tom and I realized we probably were not the people to see this vision completed. It needed younger people of vision and expertise to continue leading the charge. Fortunately God was preparing others to not only take over the vision but to expand it. James Amadon, who when we first met him in 2017, was in the midst of doctoral studies at Duke Divinity School, had a dream of a ministry very similar to what Mustard Seed Associates was all about. His thesis: The Ecological Pastor is an indication of how passionate he is about encouraging followers of Jesus to become more ecologically conscious in their faith.
James was recruited by another long term friend of ours – Forrest Inslee who is the host of the Circlewood podcast Earthkeepers. Forrest started the Circlewood podcast in 2020 as a way to learn from people who are actively pursuing an ecologically-grounded faith, and to share these lessons with people around the world who love God and seek to care for the Earth. Forrest brings to the podcast a deep attachment to the wild spaces and climate of the Pacific Northwest, where he was born and raised; he also brings a keen interest in ways that environmental justice intersects with economic development, social justice, and community building.
Tom and I have now deeded the property over to Circlewood, but our deep love for this land and the project that we still hope to see completed is obvious to everyone. We visited the property with our Mustard Seed House community a couple of weeks ago and our enthusiasm =was rather infectious. Everyone left inspired by the future plans for this beautiful property and hoping to be involved.
David Vandervort continues to be the architect for what is now known as Circlewood Village. Mustard Seed Associates also has a new name Circlewood, and under the able leadership of James and Forrest continues to thrive. Tom and I were excited to listen to the recent Earthkeepers podcast episode in which they interviewed David, not only about his plans for the land and the fascinating earth friendly materials that will be used, but also about his career as a green architect. His passion for the greening of architecture continues to grow too.
Here is a peak at the new plans for the village:
Listen to the podcast episode here:
Earthkeepers podcast
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
When I was a young child growing up in small towns, my preacher dad would take breaks from ministry pressures by going fishing. My sister and I happily followed him down trout streams as he sought the perfect fishing hole. We jumped from boulder to boulder or waded in the clear, cold water and delighted in discovering colorful, shiny rocks on the creek bottom. I saved some pretty pebbles and was disappointed when they dried and lost their shine. But a few came home in my pocket, nevertheless.
Now, my children and grandchildren know I’m likely to pick up rocks anywhere I go. I examine special ones that catch my eye as I dig in the garden, walk in the neighborhood, hike in the mountains, and comb the beaches. I’m likely to have rocks in my pockets as well as a few rocks in the car, interesting rocks lining shelves and filling jars and boxes here and there in my home.
Microphotograph of design in a rock
A few years ago, my son gave me a rock tumbler for Christmas. Then I felt more like a serious collector. When my first batch of stones came out of the tumbling process smooth, glowing, and glassy—much like the creek-bottom pebbles of my childhood—I was hooked on collecting, learning about, creating with, even meditating on rocks.
A few of my favorites
I have learned more about rocks in the process, and my children and grandchildren admire the polished rocks with me. Sometimes we look for pictures in their designs. I’ve even made a few Christmas gifts with polished stones.
A fun collage I made with beach rocks
My favorite stones to polish are beach agates and jasper.
Here I am searching (in a relaxed way at the time) for the semi-precious stones on Agate Beach at Patrick’s Point State Park in Northern California.
Looking for agates on the beach is what it’s like for me, as a poet, to be present to the thoughts, emotions, winds, and waves of gritty life… to dig into my heart in the moment and find metaphors that seem to reveal themselves to me: reflecting light, shaped by experiences and observations, by forces of the environment, by the workings of Love
Rocks appeal to us for many reasons:
- The joy of discovering treasures.
- Rocks tell a story, often an ancient story, about where they have come from and where we have come from and where we are headed. And we sing, “On Christ, the solid rock I stand.”
- Rocks feel solid and permanent, when so much in life and in the world is fleeting and fragile. One of the prayers attributed to St. Patrick begins, “I arise today through the strength of heaven; light of the sun, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of the wind, depth of the sea, stability of the earth, firmness of the rock….” Similarly, the prophet Isaiah exclaimed, “He will be the stability of your times” (Is. 33:6).
- Rocks remind us of things hidden. We try to clear our vegetable garden of rocks, but every spring we find more rocks that have worked their way up from the deeps. Small rocks seem to appear out of nowhere; but they remind me that rock makes up much of our earth’s outer layers, and rocks have a constant cycle of breaking down and being re-formed.
- Rocks can speak to us. Even as a child, the famed Jesuit geologist and mystic theologian, Teilhard de Chardin delighted in the hardness and stability of translucent and glittering stones. He later wrote and taught how to see God everywhere, to “see him in all that is most hidden, most solid, and most ultimate in the world” (from Teilhard’s The Divine Milieu).
- Rocks preserve, encapsulate, and speak of history (for instance, fossilized rocks, moss agates, picture rocks, volcanic rocks, and precious gems).
- Rocks are sometimes symbols of difficulties and trials. We might say, “I’ve been traveling a rocky road lately.” But rocks can remind us that while constant change is a given in nature and in our lives, God who is everywhere, including in the cycles and changes of seasons, is also unchanging in essence. God’s love will always endure and keep rising and getting our attention and sending us reminders. Though God’s loving reminders may sometimes feel like obstacles when we want an easy path … If we give heed, the very rocks in our path will speak and have the potential to help form us. Beautiful rocks and fine gemstones were formed by extreme pressures over long periods of time. These gems uniquely encapsulate the effects of pressures and changes in the formation of our earth home. Examine the depth and design of many stones and you’ll see exemplified the beauty and creativity of God.
We respond to heart-shaped rocks found along our way as if they are valentines placed by God for us to discover.
September 17 is “Collect Rocks Day.” So, take a walk and look for Beauty in beautiful rocks, Stability in solid, hard rocks, Creativity in interesting rocks, maybe even listen to what the rocks might say if you could hear them “crying out.”
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
by Lilly Lewin
I am just getting home this week from the Pilgrimage and our post pilgrimage trip to Brighton. Jet leg is real people! I was so sleepy yesterday, forgot what day it was and crashed at 7pm!
I believe that pilgrimage changes us! It helps us get out of our tourist and consumer mindsets and gets us on a journey of wonder and love with Jesus.
My friend and fellow pilgrim on the Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage ,Jamie Noyd, has an invitation to a pilgrimage we all can participate in this fall. It’s called The Harmony Way. Jamie creates virtual pilgrimages and leads in person pilgrimages for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. I love that this pilgrimage is created with Indigenous people leading us! It will take place October 10th- November 14th. There is a charge for this pilgrimage, but discounts are available for groups etc.
Division. Disconnection. Disharmony.
We need another way. The Harmony Way!
October 10 – November 14, 2023
doorway to pilgrimage
From Jamie Noyd:
This year InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is hosting a new digital pilgrimage – Via Divina: The Harmony Way.
Are you feeling exhausted? Tired of another chaotic week? Come be refreshed by God’s shalom and peace as we seek another way of life, the Harmony Way.Walk with Jesus through stories and scripture, in movement and prayer, as we seek God’s good road, the way of harmony. Along the journey, indigenous followers of Jesus from across North America and Hawaii (Turtle Island and Pasifika) will provide a window into God’s shalom and peace by sharing stories and wisdom from their communities.You can participate in these 45-minute audio-guided walks wherever you live, work, or play and whenever it is convenient for you. Include this contemplative walk in your Sabbath or invite a friend to join you in this spiritual practice!
Registration is now open to walk the way of harmony this fall. You can contact Jamie
jamie.noyd@intervarsity.org
Join the Pilgrimage!
***Main photo is of Jamie and me, creating a labyrinth at Martyr’s Bay on Iona.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Karen Wilk
I hear with an accent
……But not so this noble tree
Call it a default,
……a challenge
…………My descent,
Upbringing or past–
……You have one too.
Mine has an accent,
……Sometimes sweet retreat
But bias
……jaded?
…………Blinded
………………Embedded
……………………Deadheaded.
Makes me mad,
……Makes me sad
…………Why couldn’t I hear it?
………………Why did I believe it?
Community prejudice
……In gilded frames
Frames too tight for wiggling,
……For outside the line colouring
…………For growth and different thinking–
………………For majesty and mystery linking
……………………to a bigger God
The God who makes little cones into
……Douglas Firs
…………Ancient, regal, divine
Holding many secrets
……Including those
…………beyond our time
Old but ever new
……Deep roots
…………Ever seeking
………………Ever nurturing, ever reaching
Branches out stretching
……To the sky
…………Soft, fresh needles sprouting
Shading
……Nourishing little creatures
…………Song birds singing
………………Animals scratching
Wise One without words preaching…
Are we listening, hearing?
Why can’t we be more like this grand tree?
Age-old, strong, evergreen, free
……Ever changing, growing to be
…………More and new
Waving, engraving space for scribbles
……In gold
……And green, orange, red, blues
What might the future hold
……How might our lives enfold
…………If we could only let go
……And hear, learn, share multiple accents–
…………In startling rainbow hues
Like many branches growing each unique and true
All a gift that life and thriving represents
Beyond our limited thinking
……not bounded by our clouded contexts.
If I were to listen to the Tree
……and more importantly
…………To the God who made it to be
………………Our Teacher
……………………What would I hear and be?
…………………………Would Creator’s accent set me free?
Creator’s accent
……Glorious, expansive
…………Radiant, vivid, advansive
………………Brave, and bold, glance of
……………………Young and old
……On the left and on the right,
……In the middle and in sight
Inviting me
……Curiously,
…………Into the subtlety
………………Of frameless holy profundity
……………………To scribble in infinity
…………………………To play and learn and dance abundantly,
To be still in Fir Tree’s company–
……To change and grow
…………To know, not know and let go
………………As I am and will be, aglow
……………………Underneath Creator’s Tree…
Speckled sunlight beams
……Underground living water streams
Engraced
……Embraced
…………With space
………………All are free– Ancient new evergreen tree
……………………Beyond frames’ measure
…………………………Golden growing Godly treasure.
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
by June Friesen
Colors and more colors. The world is filled with colors. There is color above us, below us and all around us. Even though many of us rarely think about it or even have opportunity to see it our bodies are filled with colors as well, inside and out. What an amazing Creator you and I have. I am inviting you today to sit with me a few minutes – ponder the thoughts here – ponder the photos shared here – and then close your computer/pad/phone and look around you – and ponder the colors around you. I suspect that you will be amazed at the things that you do see and maybe never have seen or at least not consciously seen for a long time. The photo above I took just the other day. We were at a café that we go to frequently and I was looking around and enjoying the beautiful light coming in the windows above me when I spotted this light. I have never before seen it and I thought to myself – ‘June, you need to pay better attention to what is around you. Look at this beautiful light you have missed seeing for months, maybe years.’ You see I can sometimes be rather hard on myself when I notice something for the first time and then realize that it has been there for a long time. This is not the first time this has happened to me – but to miss the beauty of colors around me – I am so thankful God gave me eyes that are so almost perfect. Yes, almost as I need to wear glasses or else at my age reading is a challenge as my arms are not long enough to hold my book or reach my computer keyboard never mind that I cannot see more than a foot in front of me clearly without my glasses. My heart is filled with gratitude on so many accounts as I ponder the wonder and beauty of color. I am sure there was color in the world before Noah but I want to share with you the gift God gave Noah, a gift that many if not all of enjoy in our skies from time to time.
Genesis 8:9-17
God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.” 12-16 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.” 17 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”
Each one of us has no doubt seen many pictures of Noah looking at the rainbow. Many are the sermons that have been preached about the story of the rainbow and how the guarantee is still in effect today for you and I that there will never be another flood that covers the entire globe of earth. This does not mean that there will never be floods and even floods that are devastating in areas and leave much ruin and loss of lives behind. However it does hold true for the entire globe.
What I want to concentrate upon here however is color and the gift that color is to each and every one of us. Well, let me clarify that a bit as I know that there are some people who cannot see in color as I do because of issues with their eyesight. For some they cannot decipher color at all – only black and white while others can see only certain colors which is sometimes referred to as ‘being color blind.’
Have you ever taken the time to ponder the colors of the rainbow? Have you ever taken the time to color or design your own rainbow? Have you ever taken the time to imagine if your life was lived only in black and white? We know that if there was not at least black and white there would be no way to decipher what things were and what things were not. One would not know depth, height, width or length. One would not be able to decipher any shapes. If you struggle to believe me I suggest that you take an hour (if you can make it that long) sitting in a room completely dark. Or if you are in the country side go out when there is no moon or any artificial light – how does that feel? Especially if you do this in a place you are totally unfamiliar with – would you even feel safe to move?
Here is a photo of an array of lights among the cacti on a hillside here in the desert. It is a gift of beauty to behold with one’s eyes at night. Does it make this area of the desert safe to walk in? No. It is not enough light to see the unsuspecting critters lounging or eating on the ground – some dangerous to humans. But I am able to enjoy not only the colors but how it makes the desert an array of beauty. So what am I trying to get us to discover today?
First of all, I cannot help but think of Christine Sine’s book The Gift of Wonder. That is actually how I met Christine as she posted on Facebook that she was looking for people to review her book. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity and I absolutely love that book and continue to practice so many of the little things I learned from it.
It is nearing change of seasons for most of us – the season of autumn and the season of spring. These are both times when one should be on alert for the beauty of changes. I suggest that one take a walk – take your phone for pictures and/or a notepad for notes. See how many colors you can find. Think about how those colors may impact your life as you look at them. Take some time to express your gratitude to God for this wonder of color. And maybe choose to share it with someone else as well. Below I have posted a collage of autumn – mostly leaves but a couple flowers as well. It is my prayer that you will find this writing a challenge to see God’s gift of sight and colors in a new dimension in your life – a true gift from Him to you. Amen.
Scripture is from The Message translation. Photos by June Friesen.
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
Last week I mentioned my beautiful sentinel tree with its glorious centre streak. This week, with the sun shining brightly on its leaves, it really does look like a flame guiding me into a new season. August to October are prime harvesting and processing time in my garden inspiring me to create new recipes and dig out old ones. The Godspacelight Community Cookbook is my primary inspiration, and now my freezer is full of chocolate pear bread, dried tomatoes and olive tapenade, and bags of apples ready to make apple pies and apple cake. The cupboards too are full, with loads of dried apples and apple cider ready for the Christmas season and the gift boxes I send to family and friends. We are about to pick the bulk of our apples – probably around 400lb and another 100 lb of Asian pears. These plus the continuing supply of tomatoes can be a little overwhelming at this season, but that encourages me to share generously with neighbours and friends, something that I think God intended us always to do.
Like me, many in the northern hemisphere are celebrating the abundant harvest of the season. Some are heading back to school or to new jobs. Don’t forget to check out the abundant resources we provide for these seasons. I particularly wanted to highlight the Back to School resource lists which provide an array of prayers and other ideas.
The focus of my Meditation Monday: Where Do You Find Hope? yesterday, was on our need for hope, a very important focus I feel, especially as we watch the unfolding tragedy of the earthquake in Morocco and remember the horrific terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. However it is important for all of us to find hope in our world today. Without it we become paralyzed and unable to respond to the needs and suffering around us.
Like me, you are probably enjoying Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday report on her trip to Britain and her enjoyment of times with friends she has not seen for years. Her question “Why is it that we so easily forget, and so often doubt the abundance of God? We forget the loaves and fish, the healings, the water into wine.” Recognizing God’s abundance is one way we find hope in the midst of pain.
Our most popular and intriguing post this week was by David Pott’s Breathing the Trinity I love breath prayers and have used the Yahweh prayer for many years, but I was inspired by David’s expanding that to include a Jesus prayer and a Spirit prayer as well.
June Friesen also blessed us with a couple of great posts and prayers this week. Her Being Under God’s Shield was both a delight and a challenge as she shared honestly and vulnerably. Her poem BUGS = Be Under God’s Shield is a must read. Her second post Behold the Wonder of Heaven is a delightful reflection on clouds and the heavenly lights of sun and moon which she encourages us to take time to reflect on. Like her I love the pattern of clouds and often find inspiration in time spent reflecting on them.
My October retreat A Season of Gratitude is only a few weeks away. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the pressures and heartache of the world around us and I feel that a season of gratitude and a day intentionally set aside to give thanks to the God who gives us so much to be grateful for is an essential part of the upcoming season. Please consider joining us.
Let me end with this prayer that I wrote for the 10th celebration of September 11th. It has been revolving in my head ever since I reread it yesterday. I hope that you will find strength and encouragement from reading it too. It was designed to be used as a responsive reading
God, so much violence, so much pain, so much heartache.
May our remembrances of this day instill within us a horror of war,
And help us stand against the atrocities caused by terrorism.
As we grieve with those who still mourn,
And share memories with those who cannot forget,
May we be stirred by your love and compassion for all.
As we remember those who bravely responded,
And gave their lives to save others,
May we draw strength from their selfless sacrifice.
As we stand with strangers who became neighbours that day,
Sharing and caring for people they did not know,
We give thanks for their generosity and hospitality.
May it remind us of the call to be good Samaritans,
Reaching out across race and culture to other victims of violence.
Not just the violence of war but also of natural disasters.
So many in our world have lost loved ones to terrorism and war,
So many have been displaced from homes and country,
May their plight fill us with a longing for peace.
Let us seek for understanding and reconciling,
And not turn from your kingdom ways.
Above all God may we remember your faithfulness,
And learn to trust in your unfailing love.
Amen
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.
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