Mystical Mundane

I think I'm probably too tired to write this post, however I'm going to do it anyhow. First of all I want to thank the Universalist Fellowship of the Sacred path - my fellow clergy and friends there who are supportive of me and my journey (as I am equally supportive of them). It's amazing how we have all been on such spiritual pilgrimages. We exchange stories and thoughts and ideas - as varied as we are in our own religious convictions, we share in one thing - we don't easily fit into a predetermined religious framework. My biggest thanks to Bishop Mansell Gilmore who does such an amazing job of supporting us all. I go through cycles of varied beliefs and understandings. It looks on the outside like a complete 360, however each time I come round in that circle I have something new I've learned that I've brought with me. I don't know why it should surprise me that I go in circles. After all, our life is a spiral that circles inward, and circles outward...

I'm glad they all seem to get along.

As spring slowly buzzes and clicks and grinds into motion, I am reminded of how I looked forward to these times when on a pagan path. Puttering with 'witchy' things, creating, celebrating, crafting... felt in tune with nature. At the same time however, I felt a disconnect from Spirit. It felt more about the rituals, the tools, and 'being an individual'.  Oddly. For me, the  usual God and Goddess bit didn't work for me. I wasn't moved by Pagan lore . Church bells though - oh boy, those could stir my soul. I felt myself gravitate away from the Pagan Path and drawn toward the Church. If I feel down and depressed, Psalms can calm me much as the same way the motion in the trees can when the wind dances in the branches. Using the tools of contemplative prayer, writings by Thomas Merton or Cynthia Bourgeault   can pull me out of darkness and back to my inner light. And, of course, the Lore. Stories told to explain the nature and circumstance of mankind. Much like t...

~ Thomas Merton from Hagia Sophia l. Dawn. The Hour of Lauds.

A few years back I was doing really well with diet and exercise. Following a low carb diet reduced my weight by 50 lbs, putting me in my recommended BMI, and I was doing cardio at home 5 days/week. I was feeling pretty good. So good in fact that I decided to have a tubal reversal and have two dear boys with my husband. Along with that blessed gift of additional children, I received a helluva lot of weight back, not quite back where I was before low carbing but enough that I felt pretty bad. I had fallen completey off the 'healthy choices' wagon and run over by the 'YAY! CARBS!' wagon. Add into that my computer addiction and anxiety issues that began to skyrocket (and accompanying depression) and I no longer physically or even emotionally resembled that pre-preggo person anymore. The last of those two children was born 5 years ago. I had been thoroughly fed up with the cycle of poor eating, indulgence in alcohol, carbs, lack of exercise (I do walk ALOT, daily, in b...

Is the sound of my children hacking. Even after that initial late autumn flu hits, the cough lingers. I thought that we had beat it, but a cold dry snap has brought it back out again. They seem fine at home but by the time we walk the 20 min to school they are a coughing, hacking mess. So today we are staying home. The weather is supposed to go up to 1 tomorrow, instead of the balmy -1, and include some freezing drizzle, so perhaps that additional moisture will help. I made it to the gym yesterday but by the time I got home, a neighbour arrived in my driveway bearing my youngest, saying he had been sent home. Coughing at recess and then leaning against a wall falling asleep. Yesterday was the first snowfally of the year so understandably the children wanted to go out in it. I guess for little one, his first day back after two weeks, being out in the cold was NOT a good thing. His 6 yr old brother managed to last for the day, but when I picked him up he was coughing and now at 7:22 am...