Border Crossings

I have had a passion for photography from quite a young age.   I have a good eye for composition and am captivated by colour and shape.   However, despite having taken art as a School Certificate subject, I have never described myself as artistic and have been intimidated by holding a pencil or a paint brush in public.   Yet, I have over the last 20 years used art as a way of reflecting on my internal world and spiritual stirrings, frequently creating mandalas in pencil or poster paint.   So, somehow, I was drawn to add a week of Watercolour and Drawing to my sabbatical program and so this past week I have been at Ammerdown near Bath in the UK along with 4 other women under the tutelage of Jos Blake. During the week I was reacquainted with the colour wheel and complementary colours but discovered that there is not just red, yellow and blue primary colours, but warm and cool reds, warm and cool yellows and warm and cool blues, and the earth colours of raw si...

“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ I have an on-going dream, a big dream, a dream I first spoke of in November 2016 when I graduated from the “Listen into Life” Spiritual Direction Formation Program.  During this sabbatical, this dream has been enriched and I hope will become a reality into the future.  In October 2015, I commenced as Pastoral Care Officer at Matthew Talbot Hostel for the homeless.  The weekend before I went for interview I was deeply moved and inspired when Lucy Abbot Tucker shared with “The Listen into Life” Spiritual Direction community the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) http://www.ignatianspiritualityproject.org/ . Subsequently, but before being appointed at Pastoral Care Officer, I began to dream that we (as yet to be defined we) could offer retreat experiences either working with ISP to review and if necessary modify the Ignatian Spirituality Project for our circumstances here in Sydney or de...

As I was walking around the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, with my hosts Sally and Jim Longley, Sally was pointing out that some of the lawns were being replaced with Prairie Grass.  Sally tells me that the extensive root systems of the prairie grass were far more beneficial in the ecosystem than the manicured lawns that we tend to cultivate.  She went to extoll the virtues of the prairie grasses.  Most of this grass plant is out of sight, extending some 2-5 meters into the ground.  They slow runoff, recharge and filter groundwater, they nourish the soil and increase its organic matter, they reduce erosion, offer resistance to invasive species and they provide a habitat for other organisms.  The prairie grasses themselves are resistant to drought and if they cannot find enough water, the plant above the ground will brown and dry off, but the roots system remains alive below the surface. Note the lawn on the very left ...

Following the Ignatian Spirituality Project Retreat in Omah (Week 4 posting still to come), I was offered a lift to Cleveland where I was to stay the night before catching a Greyhound bus to Erie.  Jena took me to two amazing places before dropping me at my hotel. Edna House  was conceived by and for alcoholic women, offering a long-term structured sober living and education program for women with an addiction to alcohol and other drugs.  Edna house is founded in the belief that every woman, regardless of their circumstances could get sober if given the opportunity and that the existing recovery community offers the critical link to long term sobriety that so many fail to attain on their own.    Amazing women, making amazing progress are a testament to this amazing place. Malachi House   is a beautiful and comfortable home for 15 terminally ill people who have limited or no financial resources.  The inspiration for the House cam...