In this conversation, Christine Sine interviews Mary Fleeson, an artist inspired by Celtic spirituality and the natural beauty of Lindisfarne. Mary shares her artistic journey, the influence of ancient manuscripts, and how her faith shapes her work. The discussion also explores the meditative process of creating art, the evolution of materials used in her craft, and the inspiration she draws from music and nature. Mary highlights her current projects and aspirations, emphasizing the importance of making art accessible and meaningful.
Mary Fleeson has lived on Holy Island, just off the coast of Northumberland, UK since 1997. She studied textiles at college then gained an honours degree in Three-Dimensional Design in 1992. About her work Mary thinks that her style originates from doodling in lessons at school (!) combined with opportunities during her education to experiment with many different types of media and techniques.
Together with her Christian faith, living on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and being surrounded by its natural beauty and visible history, is the greatest inspiration for Mary’s work; a feeling of being part of a rich cycle of life which began in pre-history and encompasses extremes of peace and violence, poverty and prosperity. She also studies early manuscripts and ancient calligraphy from around the world to gain an insight into how calligraphy and illumination have enhanced works, both religious and secular, throughout the ages.
Over the last 25 years Mary has created over 120 pieces of artwork that sell as prints and greeting cards and has written and designed over 75 books including devotional, prayer, poetry and colouring books. Alongside creating illuminated art and writing Mary creates meditational weaving made from found scraps and yarn and enjoys teaching people how to create celtic knots.
Mary Fleeson and her work can be found on the Lindisfarne Scriptorium facebook page and website.
Another wonderful week to soak up the beauty of my favourite world city. I have delighted in ferry trips on the harbour, watched whales breaching off the coast, been awakened by the kookaburras, and drunk in the wonder of the Australian bush with its blue gums, Waratahs and banksias. It has been a special time of visits with friends and family gatherings laughing and crying together as we mourned my brother Nick.
It is hard to believe that my time in Australia is almost over and on Friday I will wing my way back to Seattle. I am longing to see Tom again, but am not looking forward to the cold and rainy weather or to the last days of hype before the American elections. There is much to ponder as I travel. As usual when homeward bound, I will journal about my trip and seek to discern lessons that God wants to teach me through it. I took a lot of photos, and looking back over them as I fly is a great way to not just remind myself of all I experienced but also to stir reflection, insight and connection to God’s presence within my trip.
My Meditation Monday – The Circle of Seasons is an indication of some of the direction my thoughts are taking. As I pause after the completion of Celtic Advent – Following An Unfamiliar Path. I am not just pondering what the next project might be but also what new practices might help me continue to move towards a faith that is intertwined with every aspect of life. The place I like to start, as I discussed in my post is with the liturgical calendar and the insights it brings to my faith. I hope you enjoy the links to resources and books that I provided in the post. My apologies to those of you who usually access this through godspacelight.com. Because of my travels I did not have time to publish it on the blog.
Lilly Lewin with her Freerange Friday: Jesus Heals the Blind Man did not disappoint. However, like her, I want to choose to follow Jesus on the pilgrimage of love. You might also like to check out her Freerange Friday: Halloween Candy Prayers in which she gives some wonderful examples of ways to pray using Halloween candy and its wrappers.
In the midst of the challenging season we face, I find myself reaching for prayers and psalms to strengthen me. This week it was Psalm 86. I read it over several times today, relishing the words written millennia ago. They remind me of the constancy of our God and as often happens, today too, out of a time of deep prayer and reflection God spoke to me.
First I was reminded of the image above – a powerful image from one of the Wild Goose Festivals I attended many years ago.
Then as I reflected on the image, my words too were crafted into prayer and praise.
God almighty, creator of the universe
Holy and righteous One, loving and caring One
Into your hands I commit my life.
My body, my soul and my spirit belong to you.
Guide me to the wholeness hidden deep within,
The light in dark and broken places
That flickers and shines with hope and promise of renewal.
God ever present, Architect of all that is, all that was and all that will be,
Faithful and true One, gracious and merciful One,
Weave the wonder of your love
Into the tapestry of my life.
I will stir the dawn with praise and thanksgiving.
I will brighten the day with joyful shouts.
I will delight in your eternal presence.
Your greatness is beyond compare.
Your truth is a canopy in the heavens.
Your mercy stands firm around the earth.
Holy One, Sacred Three,
Your glory fills the universe,
I give myself to you.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Christine Sine
Substack: Walking In Wonder
Author of The Gift of Wonder: Creative Practices for Delighting In God
Host of The Liturgical Rebels Podcast
Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with my friend Jamie Noyd. She leads pilgrimages for faculty members who are a part of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and is on IVCF staff. We first met during my years in Cincinnati and last fall, Jamie was a part of our Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage to Scotland.
She shared with me this amazing Pilgrim Credo by Father Murray Bodo.
I am not in control.
I am not in a hurry.
I walk in faith and hope.
I greet everyone with peace.
I bring back only what God gives me.
I really need this Credo right now! I need to be reminded that God is in control of all this messy world. I need the reminder to be a person of peace rather than a person of fear or anger. So much in our world is out to divide us and so much of the news is horrific these days with war, genocide, hunger and flooding.
We need the reminder that we walk in faith and hope and God is holding us in God’s great love!
Today I am sitting with this Credo and plan to use it daily going forward this month!
Talking about Pilgrimage always gets me excited. I want to live a pilgrim life not just go on pilgrimages. As a pilgrim, I ask,
What is the Gift God has for me today?
What is God’s invitation?
How does God want to surprise me with God’s love?
As a pilgrim, I also choose to pay attention to the little things that God might use along my way to remind me of God’s love!
This leads me to the Gospel passage for this Sunday.
It’s a familiar story about Blind Bartimaeus.
MARK 10: 46-52 NIV
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road
Mark 10:46-52 The Message
46-48 They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”
49-50 Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”
They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.
51 Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.”
In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.
What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit highlight for you?
What if Bartimaeus hadn’t paid attention to who was walking by?
What if he’d chosen not to speak up?
What if he’d given up when the crowd said to be quiet?
He’d have missed the miracle.
Jesus healing blind man by Duccio
If Jesus asked you today, “What do you want from me?” What would you say? Have you thought about it?
How are you feeling blind? Where do you notice blindness in others?
Imagine the first thing you see when your eyes are healed is the face of Jesus. What would that be like?
After he was healed, Bartimaeus doesn’t go back and sit by the road again, he doesn’t go back home. Instead, he follows Jesus on the way…and since he is named, he may have become one of the regular disciples….(In Luke’s gospel there are two blind men, but only one asks for healing! Luke 18:35–43)
How do you want to follow Jesus down the road in the weeks ahead?
Bartimaeus didn’t quit even in the face of people trying to make him stay quiet. We need to remember that God is listening to us and hears our cries even when others try to shut us down.
“When I cry to God in my weakness, God has to come to me. Don’t come to God with your strength. Come to God with your weakness” Richard Rohr
How do you feel about this?
After Jesus heals him, Bartimaeus doesn’t get to be a beggar anymore.
He is forever changed.
He no longer has excuses
He has to choose to be different….He chose to follow Jesus on the pilgrimage of love.
READ the poem by Drew Jackson and notice what speaks to you.
What Do You Want Me to Do for You? (Luke 18:35-43)
By Drew Jackson found in Touch the Heart Poems on the Way
And that is the question.
The quest of life—
Restless searching for this answer.
I want cancer gone
So that it does not steal my mother.
Cancer stole my mother.
What do I want other than her return?
I will return to the question at hand. I will come bak to my restless heart.
I want hearts to grow warm,
Slowly, like my hands after
A cold night walking through my city.
My city, I want it free
Of bodies warming on sidewalk grates/
Or is this what I’m supposed to say?
I want to know
What my heart wants.
WATCH:
Jesus heals Bartimaeus in the Jesus Film
I want to be like Bartimaeus! I want to choose to be different! I don’t want to go sit down again and wallow in fear or self doubt. I don’t want to get caught up in comparison or in criticism. I want to be healed from the US vs THEM mentality of our culture.
Like Bartimaeus, I want to look Jesus in his face, see how much He loves me and choose to be different!
I want to choose to follow Jesus on the pilgrimage of love.
Join me on Finding Your Thinplace Pilgrimage Retreat, Sept 1-9, 2025. We will stay at the St Columba Hotel on Iona and discover our thinplace in a thinplace! Only 8 spots left! Learn more here!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Christine Sine
On November 1, we celebrate All Saints Day and I thought that I would repost some of the suggestions from past years for you to enjoy. I know I need to revisit this post every year to get ideas for what I want to do, so thought you would appreciate this refresher as well. This year my thoughts are focused on my brother Nick, whose life I am celebrating as I join with the rest of my family in Australia. Sharing photos, memories and laughter is a great way to remember someone who was always very special to me.
Here are some suggestions on how to celebrate:
Remembering those who impact our lives, those who have gone before, and those who are still with us is an important part of our faith. The Episcopal Church website explains:
We step aside from the flow of the propers and celebrate all the saints. We stop. We notice, We are surrounded by a flock of witnesses in our midst – many who have gone before us, some we are just now releasing, and still more with a full life ahead of them.
Renew Your Baptismal Vows
I love the Anglican tradition of renewing our baptismal vows on this day. Reminding ourselves of the journey we have taken personally is a good place to start in remembering the saints of God. In this tradition, all baptized Christians, living and dead known and unknown are considered saints of God. This means everyone including ourselves.
So as you get ready for All Saints Day, think about your own faith journey. Remember the faithfulness of God in your past. Notice the movement of God in the present. Think about your hopes and dreams for the future. Get ready to celebrate all that you are as a saint of God.
But don’t stop there. This is a special day for celebrating. Here are some suggestions:
Write Icons
Plan a special “remembering” table
This is a great idea to set up in the nave, though you could also do this as a family celebration.. Have congregants or family members bring photos or small memorabilia of dear ones who have gone before us and place them on the table. During the worship on All Saint’s Day, or during a family meal on that day, hold a special blessing of the photos and memories. Saint Andrews Episcopal in Seattle provides white ribbons for people to write the names of their departed loved ones on. These are wound around the communion rail and hung around the church for the season after All Saints Day.
Hold an All Saints’ Day party
A great alternative to Halloween. Get everyone to dress as their favourite saint, or to bring a picture of this saint. During the festivities, get everyone to share a story about their saint and the impact he or she has had on their lives. Or you might like to get participants to guess who each person represents.
Plan a family heritage party.
Invite people to do some work beforehand researching their family history and particularly the Christian saints who were a part of it. Ask them to bring photos and stories to share. Finish with a time of prayer for all those that have gone before us.
- Also, a lovely idea for gathering together online and connecting with others in a deeper way for this holiday.
Several years ago, when my youngest brother went to Greece, where my father comes from, he found out that it is possible that our family name, Aroney, comes from the name Aaron and that our family probably originated in Jerusalem many centuries ago. It is probable that one of the reasons they began the journey out of Jerusalem first to Constantinople, then to Rhodes and finally to the tiny island of Kithera, at the bottom of the Peloponnese mountains, is because they became Christians. There are a number of Greek orthodox priests in my father’s family history and my Aunt Mary was a very devout Greek Orthodox Christian. nI know less about my mother’s family history but would love to find out where her family has had profound encounters with God too.
Plan an All Saints Day pilgrimage.
Again this might require some before time research. Explore the Christian heritage of your community. Where did the first Christians come from? How did they interact with the native peoples? Where was the first church established? Who were some of the early Christians who impacted your community. Plan a pilgrimage walk to the site of the first Christian community and, if possible, have a time of prayer and possibly even a eucharistic celebration to remember those who have gone before.
This Taize service from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church may also inspire some ideas for celebrating or just allow you to contemplate the celebration of this day.
It’s a beautiful morning here in Sydney Australia and we are anticipating a delightfully warm day. It is a joy to be here with my family, be able to catch up with friends, and soak in the joy of my favourite city in the world with the jacarandas flowering, the birds raucously singing and the fragrant jasmine scent filling the air. There is something special about the place we grow up and when we return to it we truly feel we have come home. Yesterday I got together with Mercy Ships’ friends I have not seen for more than 30 years, and it was as though we had never been apart. We sat and reminisced for 3 1/2 hours, sharing stories, catching up on the joys and the heartaches of our lives past and present. It was a very special time. Friendships become more precious the older we get, and and one of the things I appreciate most about social media is its ability to maintain networks of relationships we would otherwise lose. It has been hard not to have Tom with me enjoying these special times but he is doing well and is being well looked after by his own network of friends.
Meditation Monday – Getting Ready For All Saints Day reflected some of this same specialness of friendships and relationships as I talked about ways to remember those who have gone before whose lives anchor us in the story of God and also the planet Earth in which we live. Remembering the lives of ancestors, mentors, guiding lights of the faith is an important and special celebration of life.
In the U.S. in particular, people are getting ready for Halloween. I did not grow up with this celebration, though the pumpkins and scary decorations around Sydney indicate it is catching on here too. It does seem a little bizarre to see orange pumpkins all over the place at the beginning of spring though. In my Spiritual Practice – Painting Gratitude Pumpkins I shared one Halloween practice that helps give the season a more meaningful slant. Painting gratitude pumpkins is for me, a wonderful way to focus as we prepare for American Thanksgiving.
Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday – The Good Road is About Serving Others reminds us that it is always important for us to keep watching for God surprises and noticing the beauty of each day. She incorporates a beautiful quote from Richard Rohr that begins “Seek joy in God and peace within; seek to rest in the good, the true, and the beautiful. It’s the only resting place that also allows us to hear and bear the darkness. “
One of my delights during this trip to Sydney is being able to share my new book Celtic Advent: Following An Unfamiliar Path with friends and family, many of whom plan to use it in the upcoming season. I appreciate those of you who have already purchased copies. Amazon seems to be having trouble keeping up with the flow so make sure you order your copy well in advance of November 15th and the beginning of Celtic Advent, as it may take a little longer than you expect to arrive. I plan to post some additional reflections and activities during the weeks of Advent so that we can all enter in, in a very special way to the season. I hope you will join me in this extended Advent celebration so that we can read along together in our journey towards Christmas and the birth of Christ.
Today we posted Liturgical Rebels Episode 19, an interview with Celtic artist and calligrapher Mary Fleeson. Mary lives on Holy Island and has a rich history in textile design and study of ancient manuscript techniques. Her beautiful artwork and books can be found at the Lindisfarne Scriptorium. This was a fascinating interview that taught me much about the techniques used by the creators of the Book of Kells and other beautiful ancient manuscripts. It gave me a deeper respect for the monks who toiled on these amazing documents, using creativity not only in the artwork but also in the techniques that produced them.
Many blessings on you today
Christine Sine
Happy Friday from Fredericksburg Texas. I’m sitting on a beautiful screened in porch watching the colors of the sky change as the sun comes up over the Texas hill country. The birds are waking up and the chickens who are in the backyard next to the airbnb are starting their morning routine of bug searches. I even heard a wild goose fly over which is the Celtic symbol of the Holy Spirit. There is a beautiful live oak tree across the street that is inviting me to attempt to paint it later this morning! I lived in Napa Valley for four years and never could capture a live oak with my paintbrush! I grew up with trees that had straight lines and stiff branches not the beautiful curves of a live oak tree so my muscle memory couldn’t capture this amazing tree! At least not yet!
We flew in early yesterday to celebrate the wedding of my nephew and his lovely bride who met at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. I have four siblings and this is my youngest brothers’s oldest son and the first of his boys to marry. A celebration of love in the midst of all the anger, hate and sorrow of our world is welcome change!
I apologize for not posting last week. I was still suffering major jet lag and had to take my husband to the ER in the middle of the night on Thursday because he was having a heart issue. Thankfully it wasn’t Afib again but just a high blood pressure incident that could be corrected with new medication. So grateful! Life is precious and I am so aware that we need to embrace each day as gift and truly rest in the little joys along the way.
LIVE OAK
Last week I found this quote by Father Richard Rohr
Seek joy in God and peace within; seek to rest in the good, the true, and the beautiful. It’s the only resting place that also allows us to hear and bear the darkness. Hard and soft, difficult and easy, painful and ecstatic do not eliminate one another; they actually allow each other. They bow back and forth like dancers, although it is harder to bow to pain and to failure. We can bear the hardness of life and see through failure when our soul is resting in a wonderful and comforting sweetness and softness. Religious people would call this living in God. That’s why people in love—and often people at the end of life—have such an excess of energy for others. If God cannot be rested in, then it must not be much of a god. If God is not juice and joy, then who has created all these lilacs and lilies?
How are you doing with resting in God these days? What is helping you find the beauty and joy along the way?
In this season of election here in the States, it is so important for us to keep watching for God surprises and noticing the beauty of each day. We need to rest in God and take time to do the things, the practices that help us connect to Jesus and to one another. Politics and news outlets want to instill us with fear and doubt. Social media is designed to move us into boxes and wall us up in castles of dread. So pay attention to that. And take breaks. Get outside, create something, have coffee with friends, read or watch something that makes you laugh, volunteer in a new place. Do the “thinplace” things that help you experience the joy of Jesus. Lead with Love in all that you do!
This Sunday’s gospel reading is about this leadership of love.
It’s about what real power is. And it’s not what the world or the politicians think it is.
MARK 10:35-45 NIV
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”MARK 10:35-45 FIRST NATIONS
35After that, He Takes Over (James) and He Shows Goodwill (John), the sons of Gift of Creator (Zebedee), came up to Creator Sets Free (Jesus). “Wisdomkeeper,” they said, “We want to ask you to do something for us.” 36“What is it you want from me?” he replied.
37“When your shining-greatness is revealed,” they said back to him, “permit us a place of honor beside you, one on your right hand the other on your left.” 38“You do not understand what you are asking,” he answered. “Are you able to drink the cup of suffering that I will drink, or endure the purification ceremony that I will endure?”
39“We are able!” they answered. “Yes,” he said to them, “you will drink from my cup of suffering and endure my purification ceremony, but the place at my right and left hand is not mine to give. This honor belongs to the ones for whom it has already been prepared.”
41When the other ten message bearers heard this, they began to look down on He Takes Over (James) and He Shows Goodwill (John).
“THE GOOD ROAD IS ABOUT SERVING OTHERS”
42So Creator Sets Free (Jesus) called them together and said, “Other nations have rulers, such as the People of Iron (Romans). They like to show their power over people and push them around. But this will not be the way of the ones, like you, who walk with me. 44The great ones among you will humble themselves and serve all the others. 45In the same way, the True Human Being did not come to be served by others but to offer his life in the place of many lives, to set them free.”
What speaks to you today? What is the Holy Spirit highlighting for you?
What do you notice from the passage that you didn’t notice before?
What do you wonder about? What questions come up for you as you listened to the passage?
If you were going to ask Jesus for something today, what would it be? Would it be about sitting on thrones, power or who is in charge of things? I think I would ask something very different.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew 20:20-28, it’s James and John’s mom who asks Jesus for her sons to have places of honor next to Jesus. How does this change the story for you, or does it?
How have you, or how do you get caught up in a desire for power and control rather than serving others?
What is it about people, humans, that we want to sit on thrones rather than to serve?
Think of an area in your life where you want to control or want power … rather than trusting and following Jesus ? Talk to Jesus about this.
We live in a world that is opposite of the way of Jesus. People are hungry for power and prestige. We live in a world that despises suffering and looks down on those who suffer or have less. How can you choose to live the upside down gospel of love and service this week in your regular life? Talk to Jesus about this.
This passage made me think of Jesus washing his disciples feet before the last supper. The image of the basin and the towel verses a throne. There is a big difference between sitting on the floor washing someone’s feet and sitting on dais in a throne room. Also made me think of the cup of cold water given to the least of these is doing it to Jesus…and how often I question or stop, before giving to someone I see on the sidewalk rather than just giving.
In the First Nations version, the paragraph header is :
“THE GOOD ROAD IS ABOUT SERVING OTHERS”
I want to walk this good road! I want to walk and live in the way of Jesus not in the way of fear or way of power that is so rampant today! This weekend, take a walk with Jesus. consider the road that you are walking and how you can live out love in practical ways this week….Who needs your friendship? Where can you share your giftedness? How can you express compassion on line and in real life this week? Ask Jesus to help you!
Jesus, I need your help with this! Help me, help us, not to get sucked into the vortex of power and castle of fear. Deliver us from evil. Help us to rely on you and not ourselves. Help us to walk the good road following in your footsteps of love. AMEN.
mull view
This photo is from the island of Mull last week. I am leading a pilgrimage to Iona in Scotland next Sept. 1-9, 2025. Come see this view and join me! check out Finding Your Thinplace.com for more details and you can ask questions at findingyourthinplace@gmail.com
©lillylewin and freereangeworship.com
Wow, I cannot believe the response to my new book Celtic Advent: Following An Unfamiliar Path. Thank you for your encouragement and affirmation. So many of you have told me you have already purchased the book and plan to use it with friends. That really delights my heart, as I think Advent should always be celebrated within community rather than as individuals. So if you have not grabbed your copy yet, now is the time to do so. And don’t forget, if you are needing multiple copies you can order them directly from me at a discount price. I am encouraged by this as Celtic Christianity and its concern for both creation and for the disadvantaged in our society is an increasing passion of mine.
The series on Celtic Spirituality on my podcast, Liturgical Rebels has also been extremely popular and I hope that you are able to access these interviews. You can see all this year’s episodes of Liturgical Rebels here. I hope you will join our growing community of listeners. My interview with Christine Valters Paintner is now the most listened to of all the episodes. Next week we will post episode 19, an interview with Celtic artist and calligrapher Mary Fleeson. Mary lives on Holy Island and has a rich history in textile design and study of ancient manuscript techniques. Her beautiful artwork and books can be found at the Lindisfarne Scriptorium
Last weekend I facilitated a retreat on The Gift of Wonder with a small local church group. As I shared in my Meditation Monday: Douglas Fir and the Mice, it was held at a beautiful retreat site on the Hood Canal. Just being there and drinking in the beauty of the place refreshed and renewed me. I loved learning the story about the Douglas Fir and the Mice which I hope you will read. It is one of the most delightful stories I have read for a while and, as it probably originated with some of the native peoples here, was a very appropriate one to post on Indigenous Peoples Day.
Unfortunately the rest of the week did not go as well. I spent most of Wednesday at the hospital with my husband Tom for a heart arrhythmia. Fortunately it was able to be controlled and he returned home, but was advised not to travel. So I will be going to Australia on my own today. It was a hard decision to make and as you can imagine we are both very disappointed but we both feel at peace about the decision. Fortunately Tom will not be on his own as our small intentional community and several friends have all jumped in to help him while I am away. We appreciate your prayers that all goes smoothly as I travel and for Tom here at home.
Lilly Lewin was travelling this week and so we did not have time to write her usual Freerange Friday but should be back next week with more of her delightful insights and creativity.
As Halloween and All Saints Day approaches and you struggle with the waste of costumes and decorations consider some of the suggestions in these posts:
- Resources for a Green, Fair Trade, Ethical Halloween
- One Protestant’s Reflection on All Saints Day by Kathy Hempel
- All Saints Day: An Opportunity to Remember Everyday Saints. By Lynne Baab
- A Beautiful All Saints Day Prayer by Ana Lisa De Jong
The upcoming months have so many opportunities to celebrate and I hope you will take advantage of the broad array of resources available on Godspacelight. We have still not been able to correct the myriad of links in the posts and resource pages so if you click on a link like this https://godspacelight.com/
Many blessings on you as the seasons change and we move towards the beginning of Advent. Remember Celtic Advent begins November 15th.
Here is another prayer I wrote on my recent retreat, a prayer that reminds me to greet each day as a unique and beautiful creation from God.
I greet this day with delight.
This never to be forgotten,
Never to be repeated, moment of wonder.
I greet the birds flying overhead,
And listen as they sing back to me,
A beautiful melody of praise.
I greet the sun shining through the clouds,
A soft glow of morning glory softly lighting the world.
I greet the trees whispering to me in the breeze.
Sit, relax, absorb the rhythm of our moving,
They seem to say.
I breathe in the fragrance of the air
Fresh, invigorating life-giving to body and soul.
The wonder of it lodges in my mind,
Leading me into a new day,
It fills me with the joy of God‘s abiding presence.
Christine Sine
NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links.
As an Amazon Associate, I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links.
Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
When referencing or quoting Godspace Light, please be sure to include the Author (Christine Sine unless otherwise noted), the Title of the article or resource, the Source link where appropriate, and ©Godspacelight.com. Thank you!