Published inThe Taoist Online·Sep 1Member-onlyArdent ParticipationWhat does it mean to live fully? — “I love all those whom you have given me to sustain and charm my life. ” (Chardin, The Mass on the World, “The Offering”) Considerately cheer one another on. (McQuiston, Always We Begin Again, 20) The risers jounced and rebounded under the pounding of a thousand jumping feet. The stadium…Community3 min readCommunity3 min read
Aug 31Member-onlyDay 318Since It’s been 318 days since my last surgery, the fourth of the 539 days of active treatment. My first was supposed to be my last. Seated in the first of a parade of windowless exam rooms, I talked through the options with my breast surgeon. Because I was diagnosed…Cancer2 min readCancer2 min read
Aug 11Member-only539 DaysA Recorded Tale of Not Letting Breast Cancer Win I win. Two words forced through the white-edged glare of propofol. The nurse who was sitting to my right looked up from her charting to ask me what I had said, but I didn’t bother repeating myself. I hadn’t been talking…Cancer3 min readCancer3 min read
Published inThe Taoist Online·Aug 9With One-by-OneLearning to live into community. One by one also I number all those who make up that other beloved family which has gradually surrounded me its unity fashioned out of the most disparate elements.” (Chardin, The Mass on the World, “The Offering”) When we rise from sleep let us rise…Community3 min readCommunity3 min read
Dec 14, 2022Five Writing PromptsCommunity as Creation Week 3 Monday: I remember the first time I tasted… Tuesday: I remember the first time I felt… Wednesday: I remember the first time I saw… Thursday: I remember the first time I heard… Friday: I do not remember the first time I… Writing Practice Rules: Grab…Writing Prompts1 min readWriting Prompts1 min read
Dec 5, 2022Five Writing PromptsCommunity as Creation Monday: The light in the room… Tuesday: If I hadn’t moved… Wednesday: When he/she awoke… Thursday: The light falling across the threshold… Friday: The taste of the/a/an… Writing Practice Rules: Grab a pen and paper or dictation device or computer. Write/record the prompt at the top of…Writing Prompts1 min readWriting Prompts1 min read
Dec 1, 2022Member-onlyThe Fast of JusticeCommunity as Creation “Since once again, Lord . . . I have neither bread, nor wine, nor altar, I will raise myself beyond these symbols, up to the pure majesty of the real itself; I, your priest, will make the whole earth my altar and on it will offer you…Advent3 min readAdvent3 min read
Dec 1, 2022Member-onlyThe NecklaceFiction snippets The necklace was a gift. She had received it seventy-two times before each time in a black wooden box. The box was flat and wide with eight rounded depressions along the edges of the width. The top of the box was worked with traceries of an intricate knot…Fiction2 min readFiction2 min read
Nov 28, 2022Five Writing PromptsCommunity as Creation Week 1 Monday: As I looked at her/him, my heart could only cry, “Unjust, unjust!” Tuesday: A list of ways one can be hungry: Wednesday: I have neither ____________ nor _____________, so I will… Thursday: Today I choose… Friday: Today I do not choose… Writing Practice Rules: …Writing Prompts1 min readWriting Prompts1 min read
Nov 22, 2022Member-onlyOn My DeskA list of things on my desk: I was sitting on the top floor of a vertically positioned building in the downtown of a small mountain town in North Carolina when I first felt this way. …Writing3 min readWriting3 min read
