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A Stranger At Home
The other night I was having dinner at a beloved falafel place in the Marais, and my dining companion asked me if I felt at home in Paris. Immediately, I responded with a confident yes. Then I went on to say, even though I often feel like a stranger here, I still feel at home. …
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Closed Doors and Land’s End
It was going to be a big year for me. 2020! A permanent move to Paris. There were two spiritual walks/pilgrimages along the Camino de Santiago (Frances and Ingles) I was going to lead. It was going to be a year of 1000+ miles as I was planning to walk sections of trails in Spain,…
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The Weightlessness of Ash
When I came into my faith in my mid-twenties, I struggled to understand the importance of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season. As a child and teenager, I experienced some trauma that I didn’t know how to emotionally overcome. So I looked for emotional and mental relief through partying and other unhealthy ways. Of course…
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A Prayer for Easter Day
This prayer, written by John O’Donohue, was first published in To Bless the Space Between Us, but I recently came across it in the text of an Easter morning mass that was offered in the book Walking In Wonder. It resonated deeply with me, and I hope it will bring something special to you this Easter day.…
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Restoration
There’s some great options out there to help us be in relatively positive moods these days. John Krasinski’s SGN show on YouTube. Brene Brown’s new podcast Unlocking Us. And I’m pretty sure history will prove this to be the golden age of GIFs and memes. But at times, and maybe more often than not, we…
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Adventure and Nest
Adventuring and nesting. Two of my most favorite things in life. I especially love when these two passions find balance together. Like when I worked in a Native American community in North Dakota and lived in a log cabin in the woods with no running water or telephone. Cell phones at that time were mostly…
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Timing
Just two Fridays ago, I was in Washington DC applying for a visa to work in France. I stayed for a long weekend, my boyfriend from Paris joining me, and we had a grand time exploring museums and urban trails and quirky neighborhoods. An absolutely lovely time. During that weekend, I occasionally thought about how…
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Illuminate – A Spiritual Practice of Living With A Word
While visiting my family in the frozen tundra of Omaha, I endeavored a polar expedition to see the St. John’s Bible exhibit at Joslyn Art Museum. Have you seen or heard of the St. John’s Bible? If not, check it out here. Whatever is your religious/non-religious perspective, it’s easy to see the piece as a…
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Taizé – Ça Marche
I sat in the front passenger seat of a BMW taxi as we quickly wound our way up the narrow streets of a village that was older than my own country, less populated than the city block I grew up on, and had hosted more young adults from around the world in less than a…
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A Conversation About Pilgrimage – The Well Podcast
Shawn Barkley has been a good friend and mentor to me these past few years. I first met Shawn at Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC where he was the Senior Pastor and I served as the Associate Pastor. Our paths have taken us in different directions and I recently visited Shawn, his wife…