The Hidden Gospel

Last Time… At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the humble position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes Me.” - Matthew 18:1-5 I don’t have any children, but I was a child once. I was Curious - what might it look like to return to her? To sit down with her and listen to her stories? To get our hands messy together digging in the dirt? To paint something terrifically imperfect and hang it on the fridge anyway? To ask her, ‘Beloved, how did you do it?’ Grand Storytellers One of my most cherished childhood memories is laying in bed with my grand-mama and listening to her Stories. She had the best Stories, always full of nonsense l...

The soul has many secrets. They are only revealed to those who want them and are never forced upon us. One of the best-kept secrets, and yet one Hidden in plain sight, is that the way up is the way down - or, if you prefer, the way down is the way up. - Fr. Richard Rohr Heroes & Villains Shortly after the close of my business, I was introduced to a book called  Falling Upward  by Fr. Richard Rohr, who suggests that there are two halves of life and that a journey into the second half of life awaits us all. He writes: There is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life. The first task is to build a strong "container" or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold... It is when we begin to pay attention and seek integrity precisely in the task within the task   that we begin to move from the first to the second half of our lives. Integrity largely has to do with purifying our intention...

"...burning with Curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.  In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again." In January of this year, I said goodbye to a beloved brain child that I had nursed for the past seven years. As I watched my baby business grow over the years, I noticed myself beginning to shrink. I was quick to dismiss the long days and late nights that led to burnout as a requisite of an entrepreneurial lifestyle, and was equally as quick to chalk up the drugs and alcohol that I used to escape my reality as a requisite of being in the food industry.  In the months that followed the decision to close, I wrestled with shame, regret, bitterness, resentment and feelings of deep failure as I told my employees, clients and vendors of the news. Down, down, down. Would the Fall never come to an end?  'I wonder how man...

They say rock bottom is when you stop digging. Earlier this year, I surrendered my shovel.  Or, perhaps I had dug myself through the center of the earth and came out the other side, where people walk Upside Down.  Either way, I've had quite the Adventure.  I traded my shovel for a pen and started doing what I knew I was always made to do - to Create. I chose a medium that sang to my semantics-loving heart, and started creatively documenting my encounters with God and my surrounding reality.  Two short months in to this new practice, I wrote:  I have had such a profound experience of God through writing that I will spend the rest of my life searching for the words to try and convey it. Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any, if you'd like to pull up a chair.    When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, there ought! And when I grow...

In keeping up with Suleika Jaouad's 100-Day Project , I opened my Book of Alchemy  a couple days ago to this prompt:  "Write about a time you realized you were struggling. What prompted the uncovering? What resources did you turn to in the wake of it? What is your relationship with that particular struggle like today?"   One day a while back on an afternoon walk, a friend and mentor noticed that my hair was clean, dry and somewhat tame, and that I was wearing real pants - a rare occasion in the harder seasons I had recently come through. She complimented me on my appearance, and pointed out that she could tell where my Wellness Gauge was by noticing just two things about me - if my hair was washed and my public clothing choice. I started to think about this and observed that I don't always notice the moment when my Wellness Gauge starts dipping. Before I know it, I'm out of gas and riding the Struggle Bus. M pointed out in the most gentle way that I have some road...

If you caught the first post in this series, you may recall a mention about a certain bug that mothers disapprove of having all over their kitchens.  Fact: Pill bugs can and will escape a container covered in plastic wrap with air holes; mothers disapprove.  Here's another Fact: 'Pill bugs' aren't bugs at all; they are terrestrial crustaceans. They are actually more closely related to lobsters, crabs and shrimp than to insects, being the only crustaceans that have adapted to living completely on land.  A few other fun facts about these critters that we learned about in Mrs. S's 5th Grade Science Class:  Pill bugs breathe with gills, just like their ancestors. To keep their gills from drying out on land, they are most active at night and live in damp areas under things like logs, mulch and stones.  The reason they are called pill bugs, or 'rolly polies', is because they can roll their bodies into a tight little ball when they are threatened in a process cal...