Santa Cruz Sundays

I read this a few weeks ago and it's been so helpful (and challenging) to me! I hope it's an encouragement to you this week.  Can't wait to see you soon!  ★★★★★ An Examination of My Use of  Time Killing   Time   How do I  kill   time ? Let me count the ways.   By worrying about thing s over which I have no control. Like the past. Like the future.   By harboring resentment and anger over hurts real or imagined.   By disdaining the ordinary or, rather, what I so mindlessly call ordinary.   By concern over what's in it for me, rather than what's in me for it.   By failing to appreciate what is because of might-have-beens, should-have-beens, could-have-beens.   These are some of the ways I  kill   time .   Jesus didn't  kill   time . He gave life to it. His own.   -Leo Rock SJ

Taylor, I saw this post a few weeks ago, and I immediately thought of you being in the trees there in Santa Cruz. Take a look at these pictures and prompts and reflect on where you have seen God show up this past week through the beauty around you. Excited to see you in a couple of weeks!  by Louise Conner – Originally posted  here  on the  Ecological Disciple  on March 16, 2023. The Examen, a prayer exercise first practiced by Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, leads a person through a review their day in the company of God, often twice a day (at noon and at night).  Typical steps are to: express gratitude, review the day, name your emotions, seek forgiveness, and ask grace for tomorrow. Variations on the examen have been developed over the years to help people focus on particular areas of their faith. An Ecological Examen Out of this tradition, the Ecological Examen asks you to reflect on your personal relationship with creation, to acknowled...

You on a swing, May 2006   The following transcript is from a podcast I listened to when Lee Camp interviewed Amy Grant, and I love this advice of  wiggling your toes  as a small intentional grounding practice:  May you wiggle your toes today and be anchored in the present.... and may you know that you are loved from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes more than you can imagine. 💓 https://www.nosmallendeavor.com/amy-grant-fame-vulnerability-and-staying-grounded Amy: But even at the Kennedy Center, I was so glad I didn't have to sing for that. I was so glad I didn't have to actually say very much. And I did go up and receive the award at a private dinner. I didn't have a speech, I didn't-- I just thought, I just, all I did was wiggle my toes and I just said, I will speak the truth of whatever comes into my head. And um, the overwhelming gift of feeling, I do feel like I see life through a different lens since last summer. And I think there are some t...

  Taylor, this passage below was from my retreat yesterday: The Prayers Beneath Whenever my artist friends Peg and Church begin a new painting, they take a few quiet moments with the canvas. Before reaching for a paintbrush, they first pick up a pencil. They write a prayer onto the canvas. No one else will ever see the penciled words. With every stroke of the paintbrush, the prayer disappears. Yet the words infuse the work. Beneath the layers of paint, the prayer persists. Blessing and invocation, it calls to the viewer, both concealing and revealing its presence. -Jan Richardson   I found this to be so profound to think about the things that we do and the rhythms we have set in place that set the backdrop for other parts of our lives. You setting a habit of reading for 5-10 minutes in the morning during your fall quarter is certainly one of those things. Whether it’s the book that Phil gave you or a Scripture passage, I hope that you will continue this intention for...