Exploring the F-word in religion at the intersection of scholarship, activism, and community.
Five years ago
I dug a seedling
in protest
ki’s deep green
needles
slender trunk
and roots
yielded
to sweet
spring earth
with prayers.
I believed.
One winter night
I will celebrate
your life
the lives of
thousands
with a
candlelit
spiral
of tiny white lights.
Tonight
white flames
adorn you
old longings
and heartbreak
we share the same
root
stilled by
simple beauty
a single
reflection
of Love.
As I write this, it is August and very much high summer. This time of year always reminds me of my old life in New Orleans, before I moved to Maine. David, my first husband, and I were sailors. I never planned on becoming a sailor, but once I mastered the basic skills I found I quite enjoyed it. Furthermore it became an unexpected source of spiritual insight. I’m inspired to share a piece of that here.
One spring over 25 years ago, David and I and a group of sailing buddies made our usual summer passage in the Gulf of Mexico, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Pensacola, Florida. By car this trip was 200 miles. By sail it took two to three days. Around midnight, as we were entering the last leg of this journey, I took the wheel. We were exiting Mobile Bay, heading east, and this should have been a fairly simple passage. There was plenty of depth, adequate wind, the boat was sitting in the water well, and I had Barney, a dear and trusted friend, as my navigator. I’d been at the wheel for fifteen minutes or so when I noticed the many lights we were approaching and asked Barney what was going on.
Continue reading “Sailing For The Darkness by Mary Gelfand”
The approaching winter has felt darker than usual. Here in the north, where usually we are blanketed with snow this time of year, this year we have none. All around town people are putting up Christmas lights, but without the snow to reflect the light, the beams and sparkles of light do not carry. Without the softening effect of billows of snow, they can even seem a bit garish.
But it is not just the lack of snow that renders these days darker. With the wars raging in the Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Sudan and smaller conflicts around the world; the rise of hate crimes against both Jews and Palestinians in this country; the alarming possibility of a misogynist fascist man – who, echoing Hitler labels his political opponents “vermin” – becoming President of this country again; the ongoing climate crisis — these can seem dark days indeed, rendering our attempts at holiday cheer a bit garish as well.
Continue reading “In Search of the Light by Beth Bartlett”
Reading Elizabeth Ann Bartlett’s beautiful post inspired me to share the following poem. I wrote it many years ago for my friend Lynette Eldridge to honor her love of the darker shorter days of winter.
As a devotee of the Divine Feminine, I have received many gifts that have enhanced and enriched heart, mind and soul. The greatest of these is the friendship of women. I became friends with Nettie during the hours-long drives we made together once a month for nine months from Nevada City, CA to Santa Cruz, CA to prepare for a Vision Quest in the Mojave Desert. Our journeys began in January, in the early morning dark of the short days following winter solstice.
Continue reading “Nettie’s Lament by Christine Irving”
Doors
are thresholds that
if opened, become
Gates to the Unknown.
If invited in
for further instruction.
by kindly Spirits
we tread lightly,
always listening
Symbols and signs
Continue reading “The Door by Sara Wright”
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and with it the return of light in the yearly round of seasons. Today is Earth Day. Flowers bloom, new seedlings emerge and birdsong fills the air. As the cold and dark of winter gives way once again to warmth and light, cultures across the world celebrate fertility and the rebirth of life and light.
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Feminism and Religion 