A Gathering of Spirits

Hi Everyone, Today I decided to do a cover song as our August Song Share. This is my version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” I actually heard this song sung last week in church and thought “what a great song—so powerful when it was written and still powerful in these beautiful, bewildering, broken times.” Yes, all is change, the “fixed night sky” is actually ever and always in motion, the seasons shift, the summer birds leave for their winter homes.

Photo by Sarad Shrestha on Unsplash I was working in a conversion van factory the summer after my senior year of trying to save up enough money to get me through the first two semesters of school. I’d deal with the second year when it arrived—times were hard, one step at a time.

Photo by Kevin Fitzgerald on Unsplash This is a poem I wrote about the comet Neowise. I remember driving out to dark place with a wide view of the night sky to experience something that would not be seen from earth again for six thousand years. The poem was written in July of 2020, when the deadly Covid-19 virus had become a global pandemic. While viewing the comet I found myself at the same time overwhelmed by a sense of sadness and gratitude.

Hi Friends, Prophet: (noun) : One gifted with exceptional spiritual and moral insight.An effective or leading spokesperson for community and important causes. One who imagines the future through the lens of honesty, hope and how we might do better. Often I end my posts by noting some of the things I loved in the past week. Today I’m beginning my post with something I loved, which is a zoom conversation “Between the Lines: "Persisting Against All Odds" with my dear friend, Parker J.

Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published What I want to say is that the past is the past, and the present is what your life is, and you are capable of choosing what that will be, darling citizen. So come to the pond, or the river of your imagination, or the harbor of your longing, and put your lips to the world. And live your life.

Hi Friends, Photo by Jason Brower on Unsplash I am on a family vacation this week. Here is a photo of Lake Michigan where I am spending time experiencing the healing powers of a beloved body of fresh water.

I spent last week in the Wind River region of Wyoming. There were petroglyphs carved into the rock walls near the cabin where I was staying —some dated 10,000 years old. Ten thousand years ago the Wind River Valley was emerging from the ice age, with retreating alpine glaciers, cooler temperatures, expanding pine forests *****and the First Peoples of the region. If you know what to look for, you’ll find flint shards and other remnants of their early stone tool making.

Dear Friends, This is poem that arrived on cat’s paws, as I held the both/and of life, the grief and beauty of the natural world. How many times in the the past year have I whispered with my hand on my heart, “oh no”? How many times have I been flattened by joy and lifted by unexpected wonder? We hold it all in balance, not denying what is hard, but always lifting our faces to what shines.

This is another winged petroglyph at the Ranch….. Hi Everyone This week Im facilitating a retreat at Ring Lake Ranch with Helen Blier on the power and practice of neighboring- basically how potlucks will save the world. On the way here my daughter, Amelia, who always sends me the best texts, sent me a screenshot of the wine list at nice restaurant in Chicago. It made me laugh so hard I snorted…which disturbed to person sitting next to me on the flight.

Photo by Vadim Sadovski on Unsplash “I have been told more times than I care to remember that hope is not a strategy.Yet, I have never witnessed a shift from desperation to light, from injustice to dignity, from harm to healing without hope.”John Paul Lederach (The Centuries Wrap Round ) “Hope is holding a creative tension between what is and what could and should be, each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two. —Parker J.