by Kellie Brown
“Where language is weak, theology is weakened.” (1) This was the pronouncement of Madeleine L’Engle in her reflections on faith and art. L’Engle, who had made a career from the strength of words, found herself increasingly concerned about the decline of language in society and in her beloved Episcopal Church. Given that she made these observations in 1980, I wonder what she would say today.
L’Engle’s statement points us to the heart of theopoetics— the acknowledgement that words play a critical and dynamic role in our faith and culture. Derived from theopoiesi, a combining of the Greek word for God (theos) with poiein, which means “to make or shape,” the term theopoetics in the modern sense was first used in 1971 by theologian Stanley Romaine Hopper. Proponents regarded theopoetics as a possible response to the “Death of God” movement that had taken hold in the 1960s. For many in the Christian community, the Death of God movement signaled the possible death knell of Christianity’s dominance in the United States. Hopper attributed part of the problem to lifeless theology that lacked imagination and discovery, and believed that effusing the pursuit of God with poetic aesthetics and sensibilities could spark a Christian renewal. He and others hoped that theopoetics could offer new ways of thinking and speaking about God that people in his time would find more relevant. But as conservative evangelicalism gained prominence in the late 1970s and 80s, there was less fear of Christianity’s demise. Then with the 1990s came a renewed interest in theopoetics (maybe ironically) as the result of those same evangelical forces. The corruption unveiled through Praise the Lord Network’s Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and the insidious shadow of political conservatism that twined with the American evangelical movement caused some to seek a method of framing their faith that more clearly centered on truth, beauty, and justice.
In time, theopoetics became linked to a progressive perspective that emphasized how words can shape our personal and corporate spiritual formation. This approach of revealing the divine through words can involve both the process of writing as well as the critical analysis of religious texts. Scott Holland, who helped bring theopoetics into the academy through the development of first a certificate program and then a Master of Arts degree in theopoetics at Bethany Seminary, has contributed to the defining and expanding of theopoetical discourse, especially its generative quality. “Theopoetics is a kind of writing that invites more writing. Its narratives lead to other narratives, its metaphors encourage new metaphors, its confessions invoke more confessions, and its conversations invite more conversations.” (2)
While the poetic form has served as a guide, theopoetics is not just a composite of theology and poetry. Instead, theopoetics relies on a poetic thought process, which means this field of theological inquiry includes other artistic forms and ways of knowing. It invites us to embrace the mystery of the divine rather than expecting us to reduce the examination of faith to a scientific formula. Catherine Keller, one of the important theopoetical voices today, describes theopoetics by its necessary alignment with artistic praxis – of creating something out of nothing. In this way, theopoetics mirrors a Creator God who forms and shapes like a potter and who speaks to us in poetry, imagery, and metaphor.
Theologian Mason Mennenga emphasizes that what theopoetic discourse brings to theology is its “way of thinking, visualizing, and sensing images of God,” (3) and that through this variance of artistic forms we discover that there are multiple ways of knowing God. This points to an especially compelling aspect of theopoetical ideology— that it resists orthodoxy and absolutes, and instead strives to be universal, to move beyond political or denominational labels of progressive or conservative.
Ralph Waldo Emerson predicted that one day philosophy and theology would be taught by poets. Scott Holland thus suggests that Emerson might be the root of modern theopoetics, as it insists on the primacy of this artistic praxis as a necessary precursor to more traditional forms of theological discourse. Indeed, Amos Niven Wilder, brother of Pulitzer-winning playwright Thornton Wilder and an early pioneer in theopoetics, sought to make a case for placing artistic and poetic discourse and sensibilities firmly in the realm of theology. From his experience pastoring a Congregationalist church in New Hampshire to his esteemed post as the Hollis Chair of Divinity at Harvard, Amos Wilder articulated the complementing nature of art and faith— “Before the message there must be the vision, before the sermon the hymn, before the prose the poem.” (4)
Exploring theopoetics draws me back to poetry again and again. W. David Taylor reminds us that poetry is “a native language of God and of the people of God.” (5) It is “a mother tongue of the Word Incarnate on whose lips the psalmist’s words came naturally.” (6) Taylor insists that the Church needs poets because they “teach us to be careful with our words in an often-careless world.” (7) Eugene Peterson offers a similar pronouncement— “Poets are caretakers of language, shepherds of words, protecting them from desecration, exploitation, misuse.” (8) Marilyn McEntyre adds that “Poets slow us down. They teach us to stop and go in before we go on. They play at the edges of mystery.” (9)
Waiting, witnessing, and paying attention are at the core of theopoetics. American poet Mary Oliver had much to say about keeping our eyes open to what surrounds us, especially in nature. In her essay “Upstream,” Oliver declares that “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” (10) Her daily habits bear witness. “In the spring, I kneel, I put my face into the packets of violets, the dampness, the freshness, the sense of ever-ness. Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity. May I be the tiniest nail, in the house of the universe, tiny but useful.” (11)
There is no better spirit guide on a theopoetical journey than Mary Oliver unless you consider Malcolm Guite. Poet, Anglican priest, and life fellow at Girton College of the University of Cambridge, Guite may not use the term theopoetics, but what he says and writes lies firmly rooted in it. In a recent interview, Guite teases apart the differences between information, knowledge, and wisdom. He describes how adept our reasoning minds are at collecting and organizing information, but then unapologetically declares that “reason has almost no access to wisdom at all.” (12) To support his argument, Guite directs us to the words of Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, doth glance from heaven to Earth, from Earth to heaven. And as imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.” (13) Guite calls this imagination and defines it as a particular way “of knowing and intuiting and feeling we might have missed entirely if the poet or the artist or the painter or the musician hadn’t bodied it forth.” (14) Guite further asserts that reason and imagination, that science and religion, are not antagonists, but “enfolded” partners, and that when they work together, when intellectual inquiry pairs with deeply held faith, we arrive at more fuller ways of knowing. “To do theology well, we must bring the poets to the table along with the theologians.” (15)
Through its openness to the depth and breadth of human experience, theopoetics focuses on our longing to know God. The psalmist confesses, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” (16) According to Terry Veling, theopoetics recognizes that each human being, no matter their individual demographic, is a person who “desires.” Veling enumerates many things we long for, including to be loved, and named, and affirmed, and uplifted, while also acknowledging that we desire to offer these same supportive gestures to others. Veling insists that “God is more akin to ‘desire’ than to ‘knowledge’” (17) and that it is the poets and artists who teach us how to give and receive what we crave. These thoughts undergird theopoetics’ insistence that walking with God should be a fully embodied experience. Human senses serve as witnesses and interpreters of God’s work in our lives and in the world. Theopoetics refuses to shy away from the material and physical side of life and bodies. It urges us to accept that objects and living organisms teach us and that connecting with our own body’s experiences of pleasure, pain, and mortality allows us to relate with our Creator God in deeper ways. I believe this resonates with the message of the Gospel, which is a profoundly embodied story as God submitted to inhabit a woman’s womb for 9 months and then drink from her breasts as the only means of life-sustaining nourishment.
Originally published by Earth & Altar Magazine.
Artwork: Ancient of Days by William Blake. Public domain.
- Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Convergent, 2001), 32.
- Scott Holland, “Editorial,” CrossCurrents (Volume 60, No. 1, March 2010), 5.
- Mason Mennenga, “What is Theopoetics?” (Blog post, April 10, 2019). https://masonmennenga.com/most-popular-posts/2019/4/10/what-is-theopoetics
- Amos Niven Wilder, Theopoetic: Theology and the Religious Imagination. (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013), 1.
- W. David O. Taylor, Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts (Eerdmans, 2019), 122.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Eugene Peterson, Holy Luck (Eerdmans, 2013), xiv.
- Marilyn McEntyre, When Poets Pray (Eerdmans, 2019), 2.
- Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays (Penguin, 2016), 8.
- Ibid., 7.
- Tish Harrison Warren, “Putting the Poetry Back in Christmas,” New York Times (December 11, 2022) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/11/opinion/advent-christmas-poetry.html
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Psalm 42:1
- L. Callid Keefe-Perry, Way to Water: A Theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), xvi.

Kellie Brown
Dr. Kellie Brown is a violinist, conductor, music educator, and award-winning writer whose book, The Sound of Hope: Music as Solace, Resistance and Salvation during the Holocaust and World War II (McFarland Publishing, 2020), received one of the Choice Outstanding Academic Titles award. Her words have appeared in Earth & Altar, Psaltery & Lyre, Ekstasis, The Primer, Agape Review, Calla Press, among others. In addition to over 30 years of music ministry experience, she is a certified lay minister in the United Methodist Church and currently serves at First Broad Street United Methodist Church in Kingsport, TN. More information about her and her writing can be found at kelliedbrown.com.
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
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Free Range Friday
by June Friesen
About a year ago I ordered the book Boundless Compassion by Joyce Rupp who is one of
my favorite authors. There was also a journal available so I ordered that as well. As often
happens when they arrived I looked through them and set them aside as I was busy with
other books I wanted to finish. Recently I picked them up and began to read and study
them. I for one could not have imagined how challenging this study would be for me. It is
not a quick study as I find myself really trying to make this something that I can really
learn to practice in all areas of my life. I have been challenged to look at the compassion of
God for humanity. I found myself asking, “Why did God show such compassion for Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden?” How could God let them continue living when they were
such a disappointment to Him? And as one continues to read and study the Scriptures
humanity has struggled with following God, obeying God and God’s compassion
continues. As I look around me in my community, my country and the world and see all of
the chaos and cruelty, I am amazed that God doesn’t just zap the universe and start over
again. Yet it is all about God’s compassion.
The photo above is mine – one I took nearly fifteen years ago of my granddaughter as an
infant. She was contentedly sleeping with her hands folded (no one had folded them).
What really attracted me to take the photo though was the little patch on her sleeper –
‘LOVE.’ God created mothers with a special love for their children I believe. After
carrying a little one inside one’s body for about nine months, feeling the movements and
hearing the heartbeat a deep love/compassion develops. In today’s world the medical staff
try to also include the father in some of the special in-utero times such as listening to the
heart beat and observing the little one in an ultrasound. While these are all special
moments for us in the human world, God’s forming and giving life to Adam and Eve was
even a greater bond. And that is why in God’s compassion He was forgiving and forgiving
time and time again in the Old Testament. And now we are in the New Testament times
and you and I are able to experience this incredible compassion of God through a
relationship with Jesus, His Son. If you are anything like me, time and again I wonder how
it was or is that God continues to have compassion for me – because I have had and do
make some big ‘boo boos’ from time to time. But then Jesus’ disciple Peter had some ‘boo
boos’ too. Let me share some verses from Galations 5.
Galatians 5
5 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a
harness of slavery on you………
4-6 I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to
live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of
grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in
Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to
anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.
7-10 You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of
obedience? This detour doesn’t come from the One who called you into the race in the
first place. And please don’t toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a minute amount of
yeast, you know, to permeate an entire loaf of bread. Deep down, the Master has given me
confidence that you will not defect. But the one who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will
bear the divine judgment…….
13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you
don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your
freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom
grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence:
Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage
each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will
your precious freedom be then?
16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you
won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us
that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.
These two ways of life are contrary to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way
and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you
choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated
existence?
I am not sure how many of you have ever found a painted rock with a message on it
or maybe just a picture. Several years ago I found my first one hidden under a small
bush by a fountain. It looked so professional – and it had Jesus Loves You painted
on it. Since covid my husband and I have done a lot of hiking. Occasionally we have
spotted a painted rock. I usually take a picture and go on my way. About a year ago
we were in our one our favorite hiking places and I noticed the above sign on a tree.
I do not remember what was going on in my life at that time but this message was
just what I needed to see. Again I chose to take a photo and leave it for others to
read and I pray that many were encouraged to think about how loving God is that
He chose to give them life as well as create such a beautiful world. Somehow I have
to think that the person who created this message was one with a compassionate
spirit that they wanted to use to encourage others. Looking at this photo still
reminds me of God’s love for me – as well as God’s love for each one of us – even if
one is not always perfect. That is because God is compassionate.
A COMPASSIONATE PRESENCE
Lord Jesus You were a compassionate presence when you walked this earth –
As You walked along the road people just joined You
And sometimes they asked questions along the way,
Sometimes one would come running up to You inquiring help,
Sometimes You stopped as You noticed a need along the path,
Your presence exuded compassion –
A welcoming, unconditional love to one and all –
In fact, You even entertained the presence of some who really did not like You –
You challenged them to think outside the religious boxes that they had created
And embrace You as the One Messiah they were looking for – real love.
But sadly, they could not see that compassion for themselves or for others for that
matter –
And condemned You and finally had their way and crucified You –
Oh they had been taught compassion in their religious theology
But sadly it was a theology of rules that often trumped compassion.
God, today so many of us seem to get challenged by this very same issue –
We want people to change their behavior and their actions –
We want them to go to church every week like we do,
We want them to do certain things and not to do other things –
And often we do not even know why we do what we do and do not do what we do
not do.
God, it is hard, it is downright difficult to even consider compassion as a way of life –
Especially in the world that we live in today –
So many people do not care about what they say and/or do to me or to anyone else
for that matter –
Today I want to take time to really think about how I might open my spirit to Your
Spirit
And to really help others around me especially in my home and family to find my
actions and words full of compassion;
As I then go out in the world to work as well as to play may my attitude and actions
show compassion for those around me – whether I know them or not.
Yes Father – place within me a spirit of compassion
So my life can bring even more honor and glory to You.
In Jesus name, amen and amen.
Photos by June Friesen. Scripture is from The Message translation.
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
by Karen Wilk
Karen Tamminga-Paton has done numerous paintings of hands and there is something about them that invites us to consider all of life, and in particular our relationships with one another and creation. Take a moment to look at her painting. Take another moment to pay attention to your own hands and perhaps those of others around you. Think about all the bones, muscles, joints, veins and all the other intricacies and abilities of hands! What do you notice? What do they do well? With what do they struggle? How do they bless? How have they treated whatever they touch and how have they been treated? Ponder the painting again and read the following out loud. How will you receive and use the gift of hands today?
Hands
………Worn, wrinkled
………Worked, working,
………Stained.
God gave us hands
………Hands to make and mold
………Hands to have and hold
Young hands, soft and bold
Aching, cracked hands, grown old.
God gave us hands
………To raise in praise
………To clap and sing, write and play
………To cook, to wash and point the way.
God gave us hands
………To garden and gather
………To lend and to share
………To till and to tend
………To reach out and care.
………To feel and to grow
………To make right
………………and seek to know…
But we have taken those hands
………Misused and abused them
………Hurt, enslaved, and refused them
They’ve been squeezed too tight
Cuffed, cut, burnt, and made to fight
Rolled up from open, to fisted
Gone from giving to grabbing
………Selfish, savage, twisted…
And still, Creator loves those hands
And holds them wholly close to God’s heart
Each unique, embodied Holy art
………Cherished, precious, irreplaceable
………Full of potential, fully valuable
………So much so that God made them
His Own
Gathering heaven and earth in One
………Healing, helping, embracing Son
………………Suffering all,
………………………til all is done.
God gave us hands-
Beauty and opportunity
………Creator’s creativity
………………Spirit’s possibility
………………………Incarnate Infinity
………………………………Tangible Divinity
………Inviting our receptivity…
God gave us hands.
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
I am looking out on a very hazy Seattle this morning, a legacy of wildfires in the area. It changed my plans for the weekend as I was not able to work outside in the garden because of the air pollution. Climate extremes are changing all of our plans these days. I am reading about the deluge from tropical storm Hilary and the devastation in Southern California and other states as well as the ongoing saga of the fires that swept through Lahaina, Maui, Yellowknife, Canada, and the Spanish island of Tenerife. I am also painfully aware that my changes of plans are minor compared to what others face. The United Nations has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries because of “a crippling funding crisis” that has seen its donations plummet by about half as acute hunger is hitting record levels.
My heart aches and I find myself praying this prayer from The World in Prayer:
Beloved One, interrupt us
In unexpected encounters,
In the midst of our preoccupations,
In the middle of all the “oughts” and “shoulds” of our lives.
Beloved One, interrupt us
That we might meet you.
Interrupt us, that we might be you
When the world needs to be interrupted.
One thing that helps me focus my life and my thoughts away from my own needs and onto those of the marginalized and suffering is the rhythm of retreats that is increasingly at the centre of my life. I love John O’Donohue’s encouragement to stay in rhythm with eternal breath. What does that look like? I ask in my Meditation Monday -The Rhythm of Eternal Breath. This question is the focus of my thoughts and prayers this week as I prepare for the upcoming retreats: Rhythms and Seasons on September 2nd, A Season of Gratitude on October 14th and An Advent Quiet Day December 9th. I am increasingly aware that the rhythm God calls us to may not revolve around the liturgical calendar or the seasons of the year but is indeed a call to draw our lives into that rhythm of Eternal breath, a rhythm that Jesus obviously maintained in his life. I am excited about the direction that my preparation for these retreats is taking me in and I hope you will join me for what promises to be an inspiring series of discussions and creative activity.
I am delighted that my husband Tom Sine is once more contributing to Godspacelight. His post Join Those Welcoming the Good News Generation encourages us to learn more about how your church can engage members of the Good News Generation where you live to create neighborhood empowerment projects. Make sure you don’t miss it.
I also love Jean Andrianoff’s Rethinking Clouds and her exploration of the both positive and negative connotations given to clouds in the Bible.
In Freerange Friday – Back to School – What’s In Your Backpack? this week Lilly Lewin asks us “What is Jesus… the Rabbi, the teacher, inviting you to do this season? Great suggestions not just for those who are going back to school or have kids heading off back to school.
Don’t miss All The Eggs in One Basket by Karen Wilk with the stunning artwork by Karen Tamminga-Paton. It is a delightful and thought provoking read.
On Wednesday last week June Friesen introduced us to National Relaxation Day and encouraged us to:
Rest…….
Rest from the daily grind….
Rest from the race to be first….
Rest from the burden of always saying, ‘yes’,
One thing you may notice is that our posts increasingly incorporate poetry as a means of communication. It is a very powerful tool as I mentioned some years ago in my post Meditation Monday The Power of Poetry. Our appreciation of poetry is not just confined to the psalms. Many of us are discovering that writing and reading poetry stirs all our senses in profound and enriching ways. I hope that you too have discovered this wonderful tool too.
May God continue to enrich your life and may your journey this week flow in rhythm with God’s eternal breath
Photo by cmonphotography on pixels
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
On the eve of the year 2023, I wrote a reflection about beginning the new year with “trust” as my sacred word. Having spent the season of Advent in discernment, I had a sense of peace that the Trinity was calling me into a deeper experience of trusting God’s grace and life as it unfolds.
Just a few days later, I reversed course.
On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, I decided that trust was not my sacred word for the coming year. It felt too passive. I was at the time recovering from foot surgery and I decided (note the word, “I”) that God would want me to be more active in 2023. Accordingly, my new word for the year would be Manifest! I wrote seven intentions with seven practices on how I was going to live an active life by exploring, traveling, exercising, meditating, creating, making music, writing. Looking back on those intentions, I see now that I had simply given myself a giant to-do list!
Suddenly, I came to a standstill. I could not seem to get started on manifesting my intentions for the year. Three days in a row, I dreamed that I owned a little boat, a coracle, that was tied to a dock. Every day, I would climb into it and just sit there. I was literally dead in the water without the energy to untie the boat! My inner critic began antagonizing me for my apparent lethargy. Instead of sailing, I was drifting. One day in self-defense I wrote this in my journal,
There has been confusion
Between sailing and drifting.
My days might look aimless
As I slowly veer between drifting and action,
Often floating with no direction.
I might look like a drifter
Without purpose or plan
Stuck between choosing
What thing to do next
So, I end up doing nothing.
But what if in fact
I am a sailor
pausing to read
the skies and the currents
Taking the time to prepare
For the weather ahead?
I am not a drifter.
I am a navigator
Honing my skills
As I prepare for the next
grand sail of my life.
On March 5, this next grand sail was revealed. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Talk about a devastating manifestation! As this particular journey unfolded, I found myself often tossed to and fro in the waters of fear and despair. I was untied from the dock of my familiar life. With no anchor there was only one thing I could do. I raised a sail and the wind unfurled the banner which read, TRUST.
Trust
To
Rest
Under
Spirit’s
Transformation.
The last several months has been a daily practice of trusting God, trusting creation, trusting others, trusting myself. In my scariest moments, I have been held and able to rest in something much greater than i am. There was the moment I was waiting to be prepared for a tumor biopsy. To quiet my racing heart and recover my breath, I visualized descending down a spiral stairwell deep into the cave of my heart, my own monastic cell. I entered this sacred place and closed a heavy wooden door where I fashioned a sign which read, “Fear, please do not disturb.” It worked! Trust enabled me rest.
Once, I was deep in prayer, waiting for another procedure when a nurse walked in to tell me there was a delay. She gave me a look over and eyed my bag saying, “Didn’t you bring any entertainment? Shall I get something out of your bag or find you a magazine?” “No”, I said, “I am content meditating.” “Understood.” She left quickly! Trust enabled me to rest.
Another truly frightening experience was the MRI. My goodness, thirty minutes of banging! Blissfully, I was able to walk and watch a sunset on Cannon Beach, Oregon. As darkness descended, my field of awareness broadened and I saw a portal in the night sky open, revealing a violet eye. I was aware of being held in God’s vision. Trust enabled me to rest. During Easter week, right before my partial mastectomy, fear returned. I was thinking about the operation as entering into a tomb of death. As I prayed, these same words, again, were called forth.
I do believe that all things are possible even though I often falter. I have been able to find many ports in the storm on this journey. There were painful surgical side-affects. The sixty-mile round trip drive for radiation therapy, five days a week for three weeks was grueling. The procedure itself was difficult as I had to hold my breath while plugged into a machine that would not allow me breathe. The side effects of the treatments are still with me, some four weeks later. And yet trust has continued to enable me to rest, what I really mean, is to surrender into God’s transforming love.
Such surrender has been important, as I have been living through a prolonged winter. Being restless by nature I have had to counter the driver on board whose voice says, “You are not manifesting!” In his book, Anam Cara, John O’Donohue, writes that as in nature, there are four seasons within the human clay heart. When it is wintertime, nature withdraws. His advice gave me comfort.
“When it is winter in your life, you are going through pain, difficulty or turbulence. (Why yes!) At such times it is wise to follow the instinct of nature and withdraw into yourself. When it is winter in your soul, it is unwise to pursue any new endeavors. You have to lie low and shelter until this bleak, emptying time passes on. When there is great pain in your life, you need sanctuary in the shelter of your own soul.”
I have been sheltering since December, trying to find my way in the dark. And I have been blessed. Besides my own spiritual experiences, I have been held and filled and fueled by the prayers by many friends and acquaintances. Your prayers, dear reader and those of others have sustained me and given me the courage to carry on. I am grateful. Thank you!
Just in time for the beginning of Celtic autumn, (August 1) springtime has arrived in my heart. I have no idea what the next season of my life is going to reveal. Fortunately, this poem appeared again, in a forgotten saved file to remind me of its truth.
Instructions for the Journey
The self you leave behind
is only a skin you have outgrown.
Don’t grieve for it.
Look to the wet, raw, unfinished
self, the one you are becoming.
The world, too, sheds its skin:
politicians, cataclysms, ordinary days.
It’s easy to lose this tenderly
unfolding moment. Look for it
as if it were the first green blade
after a long winter. Listen for it
as if it were the first clear tone
in a place where dawn is heralded by bells.
And if all that fails,
wash your own dishes.
Rinse them.
Stand in your kitchen at your sink.
Let cold water run between your fingers.
Feel it. –Pat Schneider
I am feeling it. While the grasses here are browning, I embrace the greening of Christ’s eternal resurrection in my heart. And when I fail to feel resurrection life; thanks be to God, there are always dishes to be done.
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
My next virtual retreat Rhythms and Seasons is less than 2 weeks away and this week I plan to have some fun preparing for it. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to think back over the last few years and ask myself “What sets the rhythms for my life?” “Why do I think it is important to take notice of rhythms and seasons?
In preparation I am rereading John O’Donohue’s The Four Elements and am delighting in his fresh approach to life and faith. In one of the blessings In Praise of Air, which he wrote not long before he died, he says:
In the name of the air,
The breeze
And the wind,
May our souls
Stay in rhythm
With eternal Breath.
That’s it I feel – staying in rhythm with eternal breath is what this is all about. God has rhythm and we need it too. This blessing inspired my prayer above and still often forms the focus for my morning reflections. Now it is once more at the centre of my planning for the retreat which will feature breath prayers and explore the rhythms that I believe God intends for us.
What does it mean to live in rhythm with Eternal Breath?
I have always loved writing and using breathing prayers, even more so since I listened to Richard Rohr talk about the name of God being breathed rather than spoken. The Eternal breath enters our bodies every time we breathe in. And every time we breathe out it is expelled into the world to show love and generosity and compassion. The breath of God sustains us, yet we rarely acknowledge or live in the awareness of it. We are often unaware of our physical breath too unless it is interrupted by allergies, pollution or illness.
Becoming aware of our breathing can have a huge impact on our lives. Doctors recommend that we deliberately take deep breaths at regular intervals throughout the day to aerate our lungs. It relieves tension, rids our body of toxins, boosts our energy and strengthens our immune systems. Unfortunately as we get older, our breathing tends to become shallower and taking those deep breaths that draw air into every part of our lungs doesn’t happen by accident. It needs to be intentionally planned. The deep breathing in and out of God’s breath, God’s spirit needs to be intentional too.
It requires intentionality.
As any experienced hiker or runner knows, we move more easily when we synchronize our steps to our breathing. Again this is often a deliberate action, especially when we are just learning to pace ourselves. We consciously take our steps in rhythm with our breaths. Living in synch with the Eternal Breath is just as intentional. We must regularly remind ourselves to breathe deeply of the presence of God, to absorb divine love and God’s passion for justice and that means we need to learn to pace ourselves. That means pausing from busy lives, centering ourselves on the eternal presence and attending to the rhythm of our breathing.
Question: How much attention do you give your spiritual breathing? What do you do on a regular basis to make sure it is in synch with the Eternal Breath?
It means slowing down.
When we walk up a hill we know how out of condition we are if our breathing comes in short, painful gasps. Healthy hill climbing breathing is slow and regular.
I wonder at the spiritual analogy here. There is a tendency for us grab for God when we are on an uphill climb, facing pressures, challenges and anxieties in our life and faith. Unless we have been doing regular spiritual exercises, keeping our breath in synch with the Eternal Breath we find ourselves unprepared, gasping for the holy air that seems thinner and less life giving than it should be. We know we are in synch with the Eternal Breath when we are able to breathe in and out of the presence of God at all times, with long, slow breaths that relax and nourish us deep within our souls.
Question: How healthy is your spiritual breathing? Think back to the last life stress you faced. What was the rhythm of your spiritual breathing like during that time?
It requires deep breathing exercises.
As I mentioned above, as we grow older we breathe more shallowly and need to learn to consciously take deep breaths that fully aerate our lungs and provide the health benefits that only deep breathing can.
I wonder if our spiritual lives follow the same pattern. The longer we follow Christ, the easier it is for us to take our spiritual practices for granted. They become stale, rote, unproductive of the spiritual depths that connect to the heart of God and not surprisingly we often distance ourselves from the One who gives us life. We need to to breathe deeply, inhaling the words of God and the ways of God, delighting in the fulness of God’s presence within us and in the world around us in order to replenish our inner resources and renew our spirits.
As you know, over the summer Tom and I went away for one of our regular prayer retreats, one of those wonderful breaks from routine that often remind me to breathe deeply with passion and joy, again. The whole retreat was like a powerful deep breathing tool that helped restore our relationship and intimacy with God. These retreats often encourage us to restructure our lives and keep on focus with both our physical and spiritual disciplines.
Question: What are the deep breathing exercises your perform regularly to strengthen your spiritual muscles and maintain your life rhythm in synch with the Eternal Breath?
Listen to this beautiful poem by John O’Donohue. Allow it to enter your spirit and fill you with the Eternal Breath. What might God be prompting you to do in order for you to inhale more deeply of the Eternal breath.
Please consider joining me for Rhythms and Seasons on September 2nd or sign up for the full series of retreats.
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
by Tom Sine
Young people all over the planet are joining with Pope Francis in celebrating World Youth Day. They are lobbying for positive change not only in Catholic churches but in a world facing a host of daunting new challenges as we race into the Turbulent 2020s!
A group of young teenage pilgrims arrived in Lisbon responding to Pope Francis’ call “to shake things up.” A working paper for the meeting released in June, outlined a more inclusive, decentralized and transformed Catholic church. This article in the New York Times (“Young Catholics Together, Even if Not in Agreement” The New York Times August 5, 2023) revealed what most protestant churches are hearing from their rapidly shrinking number of young leaders as well.
Many of the young people attending this World Youth Day come from a broad range of perspectives and strongly favor a more “just and inclusive society” that is promoted by a Catholic University in Portugal. I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from Catholic leaders and will be following this important global celebration that is engaging this new, often more progressive, generation that aren’t all Catholic or religious for that matter.
Many mainline protestant and evangelical churches have been experiencing growing decline in attendance since Covid particularly among young adherents. I find most protestant pastors, while they are disappointed, are not surprised by the decline because Pew Research has been predicting it.
However, I find few pastors or lay leaders who seem have read the very good news that Pew Research is also sharing about the new populations of both Gen Y & Z in the U.S.: that those generations may have much more awareness about environmental, racial and economic justice than those of us in older generations. A growing number of this new generation are expressing a strong desire to actively join those who are very concerned about the growing environmental crisis and social justice issues and in neighborhood empowerment projects and job training programs.
Six years ago I wrote a book celebrating this good new generation; it has a bit of a rude title: LIVE LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN! JOIN THE CHANGEMAKING CELEBRATION.
I was totally surprised to receive a call from my publisher’s office from Walter Brueggemann, the author. He had just read the manuscript for LIVE LIKE YOU GIVE A DAMN! And he asked if he could write a forward for the book,
Of course I said yes. Here is one of Brueggemann’s endorsements in his forward: “I am glad to commend this exposition that exhibits quite concretely ways to revision, reimagine and re-perform the gospel… This book is dedicated to all of those in Gen Next and all those who are seeking and all those seeking to join this change-making celebration.”
I wrote this book to celebrate this good news generation, and I strongly urge church leaders to consider finding innovative ways to collaborate with young people in their communities who are not connected to congregations.
I am proposing something that is quite unconventional for graying congregations, I am proposing that churches that have very few young people, consider collaborating with young people in your communities who would welcome the opportunity to be involved in neighborhood empowerment and environmental projects.
In my book I shared a story about a very remarkable congregation. The Colonial Congregational Church in the Twin Cities area sold some of their property for almost a million dollars.
Then they did something remarkably creative to engage the good news generation and foster neighborhood change-making. They used the money they earned in their land sale to sponsor an annual contest to enable those from the good news generation to create new forms of community empowerment.
The Colonial Congregational Church started a very unusual community project called “Innove”. They sponsored a contest for young people in the Twin Cities who wanted to become a part of creating innovative responses to new challenges in these turbulent times. Notably the winning young participants who won this contest every year for 10 years were not expected to become members of this church.
The first winner was a young woman, a grad student named Leah Driscoll. She and her husband and friends were the first winners. Leah had discovered, in her research, that the poorest citizens in the Twin Cities lived in a region inhabited with mostly elderly residents with marginal incomes. They had virtually no access to reasonably priced groceries. The higher prices of small local outlets were making their lives very difficult.
Leah, her husband and their team won the first year of the contest with a proposal for Mobile Market! The first thing they did was to purchase a used school bus in good condition. Then she and her team found a place to purchase wholesale priced groceries including produce. That enabled them to visit their clients at the set locations every week. Vulnerable seniors could then purchase reasonably priced food and produce. This was the first example of the potential of the good news generation to create innovative ways to make a difference in their community.
A group of business leaders in the church became the Launch Team to help this first winner and every winner over ten years to launch their winning ideas for neighborhood empowerment without compensation. The traveling grocery store was a huge hit with those neighbors who had marginal incomes and became a regular part of their community,
Thank God Colonial Congregational church continued offering an annual Contest for young people who wanted to make a difference for 10 years.
As the Catholic Church celebrates this World Youth Event wouldn’t this be a good time for people in all churches to make a much greater effort to contact with young people in our communities who would welcome the opportunity to be involved in community change making? You too might find some young people who would welcome the opportunity to make a difference in your neighborhood.
If you would like to learn more about how your church can engage members of the Good News Generation where you live to create neighborhood empowerment projects…. or secure a copy of Live Like You Give a Damn: Join the Changemaking Celebration contact : Tom Sine
Photo by THIS IS ZUN
Christine Sine is offering three seasonal, virtual retreats to explore living in balance and in line with the natural and liturgical rhythms of the year. Join her for one or all of them September 2, October 14 and December 9. These retreats will encourage us to center ourselves and our lives as we move through the seasons beginning in Fall and moving through Advent. They will be times of reflection, creativity and fun.
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