These Sacred Threads...Living in the threads of life that hold us together

Blog

Jan 31
by Elpis in Places 3 comments

Coming Soon…India

Stay tuned…blog posts from the Northern Illinois Synod companion trip to the Arcot Lutheran Church, India, will show up here!
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Mar 22
by Elpis in Nature 0 comments

Prairie Night Moonshine (Our Lady of the Prairie)

Poem (the spirit likes to dress up) by Mary Oliver   The spirit   likes to dress up like this:    ten fingers,    ten toes, shoulders, and all the rest   at night    in the black branches,      in the morning   in the blue branches   of the world.    It could float, of course,      but would rather   plumb rough matter.   Airy and shapeless thing,    it needs      the metaphor of the body,   lime and appetite,   the oceanic fluids;    it needs the body’s world,      instinct and imagination   and the dark hug of time,    sweetness      and tangibility,   to be understood,   to be more than pure light    that burns      where no one is —   so it enters us —   in the morning    shines from brute comfort      like a stitch of lightning;   and at night   lights up the deep and wondrous    drownings of the body      like a star.
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Mar 19
by Elpis in Places 0 comments

Pushing through to Spring

It will come. Some days it feels like it won't, some days it feels like pushing through to it is just too hard. But spring comes. Resurrection comes. New life breaks through.

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May 24
by Elpis in Nature, Sabbatical 0 comments

Marking Holy Ground (Pentecost 2015)

Cairn: a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark, typically on a hilltop or skyline. Cairns have been used throughout history in ways both sacred and profane. They can be seen as simple markers on a trail, left by one hiker for another to another to mark the way. They have been used as memorials and boundaries. They are everywhere in our national parks. They serve as trail markers, tended to by Rangers, but also appear in places where no trails can go. Places where trails aren’t needed. Places where people have simply stopped and felt the need to mark an experience of the divine – to set apart the space where they have experienced the sacred. They are marks of holy grounds. Look through the gallery and you will see them all over. On this day of Pentecost, may the holy blow through where you are, and may you know holy ground. Psalm 1 Redux (from Psalms Redux, Poems and Prayers, by Carla A. Grosch–Miller) Delights is born of discipline chosen. Contentment grows with wisdom. Deep listening leads along a cairn marked trail, dew clinging to grass bent by pilgrim feet. The sky is blue here. […]
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May 23
by Elpis in Places 3 comments

Breathing and Breathtaking

From Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: “A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, power lines,and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to set foot in it. We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope…” Over the last week, I cannot count the number of times that the beauty of creation has taken my breath away. Desserts. Canyons. Flowers. Mountains. Snow and sun. Internet has been rare and random, but I am slowly uploading some of the pictures. These are from Arches National Park, Utah – see the gallery section for more.    
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May 18
by Elpis in Nature, Sabbatical 2 comments

Welcome to Utah!

on the road to Moab.
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May 17
by Elpis in Places 0 comments

Bind us together…

New friends. From old friends. Meet Tanya (in green) and Sandy (in blue). I went to Denver knowing many stories about their wonderful spirits, gracious souls, stunning hearts. I will leave Denver having shared new stories, a couple of meals, and delightful time with them. Tanya came from Australia, after a stopover in Rock Island, to visit our mutual friend Laura. She awaits the day Australian Lutheran Church will fully recognize the gifts of women in its midst through ordination. Sandy is a retired UCC pastor, whom my friend Katherine credits with her own journey to ordination. I am blessed to have spent time with them and experienced their gifts – and hearts and smiles – in person.  
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