Posts on Sacred Stories:
Use Your Imagination
There is something incredibly powerful about good fiction, yes? The craft of it. The story itself. And the...
Letting go of happy endings . . .
I've been ensconced in fiction lately. There is a LOT to be said for getting lost in the pages of a book,...
4 Things I Want You to Know
As you undoubtedly know, I spend countless hours (decades, really) in the midst of ancient, sacred stories...
All the wisdom you’ll ever need…
I recently (re)watched The Matrix. It’s one of my favorites, to be sure. Even so, I’d forgotten about the...
About peanut butter, shame, and old stories
I was journaling the other morning and flashed on a memory from close to 50 years ago… I snuck into the...
About NOT living a conventional life
“Most of us live conventional lives. We want to avoid the discomforts that arise from complications. But the...
3 Ways to be Determined & Wise
There’s an ancient, sacred story told of a woman who had the capacity to influence a man of power, who was...
See yourself as a miracle
When I was 8 or 9, my newborn sister went into the hospital. I don’t remember the details. I don’t remember...
A 3-Step Plan Worth Following
I lived a very long season of my life (decades, really) in which I was endlessly on the hunt to find a plan...
The Power of Childhood Stories
We rarely give a second thought to the stories of our childhood. Fairytales, religious myths, favorite...
No imagination required…
There’s a story I love to tell of a mostly unknown woman named Jael. She singlehandedly won a huge battle...
The Divide between Silence and Speaking
Jan Richardson, one of my all time favorite writers and poets, has a poem called Having Taken the Fruit....
Choosing others’ comfort OR choosing self
I have a library of personal stories in which I let others' needs demands overrule my own. I'm not proud of...
Changing Everything
If you want to learn about a culture, listen to the stories. If you want to change a culture, change the...
Hearing Voices
I am neck-deep in manuscript-writing these days. This book, my book, this thing I've been nurturing and...
Choose life – and life – and life
There is an ancient story told of a woman who did not waver when the situation demanded swift (and...
The stories we tell ourselves
I've been thinking about the stories I tell - those of ancient, sacred women who have been absented from our...
If we could have coffee together…
If you and I were sitting across from each other, sipping coffee, it would be inevitable that eventually I...
Today is my birthday!
I am 60 years old today. How is that even possible? The days leading up to this one have been filled with...
Old Stories Make the New Ones Stronger
I listened to Brene Brown’s latest podcast - a conversation with Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of the Omega...
The power of women’s stories…and yours!
There’s an old, old story told that begins with a narcissistic, paranoid, and power-hungry man (which sounds...
Militancy + Hope + Desire
(A Sunday Sermon, of sorts - even though it's not a Sunday...) To refuse to participate in the shaping of...
A crossroad, a cliff’s edge, & decisions
Over a lifetime, we find ourselves at crossroads: a relationship, a marriage, a divorce, a career decision,...
Take your seat at the head of the table
All of us know times, even seasons, in which we struggle and strain to feel like we’re on solid ground...in...
In tribute to Mary Oliver
At the end of last week, in reflecting on Mary Oliver’s life – small respite in the wake of her death – I...
Redefining Ordinary
The desire, temptation, and lure to live an extraordinary life is strong; to figure out our “one thing;” to...
Extravagant
There’s an ancient sacred story told of a woman who was beautifully, lavishly, even shockingly extravagant....
Hannah
Have you ever had a desire, a hunger, a longing so profound that any sacrifice would be worth its...
The Women at the Tomb
All we have are the stories, based on the unreasonable experience of people we never knew–and the choice of...
The Widow of Nain
There is an ancient story told of a widow whose only son died. With him went her last semblance of family,...
Sophia
Wisdom seeking is difficult because, as Martha Nussbaum has written, “Knowing can be violent, given the...
Stories that Still Speak
I’ve been awake for hours. Christmas tree lights on. Coffee made. Fire lit. Snuggled up on the couch. Laptop...
A story about (in)visibility
Women: you are not unseen, unheard, or invisible! Ever! Do you ever feel as though you (and other women) are...
You’re Allowed to Run
It is excruciating to be the victim of someone’s scorn, passive-aggressive behavior, or blatant harm. All of...
4 Takeaways that Matter
I spend countless hours in the midst of the ancient, sacred stories of women - wanting and wondering how to...
What I need you to remember:
We are desperate to see ourselves in powerful and empowering ways. It’s no wonder: we have too-often and for...
Do the Next Thing
I don’t know about you, but when I read or hear the stories of amazing women (which is ALL the time), I have...
No Fairy Godmother
There’s a story I love to tell of a mostly unknown woman who singlehandedly won a huge battle for an entire...
There is nothing you need to figure out
I see the tears behind your eyes. I know about that lump in your throat. I hear the thoughts that swirl in...
Fanning Desire’s Flame
Desire is a tricky thing. To desire feels dangerous because we might not get what we want. To desire is...
These Stories Still Speak
I’ve been awake since 4:30 this morning. Uncharacteristically, instead of lying in bed and trying to tame my...
The deep and ever-present wisdom…
HEARING VOICES We all have at least one – often a legion of them. They speak when we least want them to....
God on a Woman’s Terms
For most of us, the word "sacred" conjures some thought of God. Perhaps you associate this with a positive...
Sacred Conversation with Your Heart – #6
Today concludes this 6-part series on (Sacred) Conversation with your Heart. I am hopeful, though, that it...
Easter 2017
I will not be attending Easter services today. I will not witness the rows of shiny, white patent-leather...
Nevertheless, we persist!
On Tuesday, February 7, 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren began to read a letter Coretta Scott King wrote in...
Why Stories Matter
We live in a world of stories. Childhood fairytales shape our dreams and hopes. Family legends, imparted...
A Reflection on 12
12 represents the completed cycle of experience. 12 is the symbol of cosmic order. There are 12 months in a...
Yes, yesterday. Now what?
Yesterday, November 9, 2016, I did all the things I always do: I made coffee. I journaled. I gave my...
So, I’ve written a book…
The subtitle is “A Braided Essay on Women and Silence and Shame.” And it’s published, printed, physical,...
Bloodline
What if you claimed your legacy, your inheritance, your very bloodline? As a daughter of Eve – the best Eve,...
Living an Ordinary Life
The desire, temptation, and lure to live an extraordinary life is strong; to figure out our “one thing;” to...
Where the Women Gather (and why)
How might your life have been different if there had been a place for you? A place for you to go ... a place...
Not seeing the forest for the trees (yet)
I don’t know about you, but when I read or hear the stories of amazing women (which is ALL the time), I have...
It’s all going to end badly
A few weeks ago, while talking to my therapist, I mentioned my ongoing and haunting hunch that the archetype...
Orlando: 2 words that matter
Yesterday morning my daughter told me about the mass-shooting in Orlando. I had no words other than “I’m so...
A Woman’s Story
There is an ancient, sacred story told of a woman who was prophetess and judge. No other story like hers...
Why didn’t you just say so?
I’ve been binge-watching The Newsroom for the past week. This morning I woke up far too early for a...
Desire for Desire’s Sake
Desire is a tricky thing. To desire feels dangerous because we might not get what we want (and...
The Scent of a Woman
I’m not sure how he knew to gift me with perfume, this particular perfume – this man I’d been dating only 6...
On Miracles
I made a video a few days back in which I talked of Tabitha. Little known. Rarely told. Hugely significant....
Remember who you are (x3)
We are desperate to see ourselves in powerful and empowering ways. It’s no wonder: we have too-often and for...
Tears
Tears are a river that takes you somewhere...Tears lift your boat off the rocks, off dry ground, carrying it...
Boom-Boom, Boom-Boom
I often listen to podcasts in the morning. Out of the shower, getting ready for my day. Today’s didn’t...
A Woman’s Fight
There’s an old, old story told of the patriarch, Jacob, who wrestled through the night with an angel-man,...
What a Healed Woman Sounds Like
Once upon a time there was a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had been...
Make your mark!
Stop listening to the insipid internal and external voices that tell you you’re inconsequential, that you...
Sometimes the best choice is to RUN!
It is excruciating to be the victim of someone’s scorn, passive-aggressive behavior, or blatant harm. I’ve...
Letting Go is NOT Falling Apart
A wise woman tells me she gets this strong sense that I am unable to really let go; like I’m afraid of...
Chasing Rainbows
The night I saw THE rainbow was the culmination of another out-of-town weekend. I was in my 20’s (a very...
The Day I Spoke Up in Class
For most of my life I’ve been a rule-follower. I am really good at figuring out what’s expected and then...
Living in the in-between
Once upon a time, long before women had volition or will as to who they married, a search commenced for the...
I am not shocked by you.
There’s a story I love to tell of a mostly unknown woman who singlehandedly won a huge battle for a whole...
Easter and Eve
What if Easter was about Eve? What would it be like if the entire “Christian” world celebrated the day that...
The Stunning Story that is Yours
I see the tears behind your eyes. I know about the lump in your throat. I hear the thoughts that swirl in...
In the midst . . .
Here is what I know about you: Right now, in the midst, you embody the Feminine. Right now, in the midst,...
Imagination and then some…
Imagination is a wonderful, healing, redeeming, strengthening, transformative thing. I spend a lot of my...
Telling Stories
"Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.”...
Get Out of that Kitchen!
There is an ancient sacred story told of two sisters – Mary and Martha. It goes as follows: As Jesus and the...
The Unanswerable Question of “Why”
Every day we are confronted with realities that confound us, enrage us, and break our hearts. We sift...
Extravagant Love. Extravagant You.
There’s an ancient sacred story told of a woman who was beautifully, lavishly, even shockingly extravagant....
This is why these stories matter!
My on-again-off-again spiritual practice is to read one of the ancient, sacred stories I sometimes so love...
The perfect way to stop a woman.
"I’ve seen women insist on cleaning everything in the house before they could sit down to write.... and you...
Open the door. No matter what.
Same thoughts. Same frustrations. Same choices. Different day. To open the door, or not... Your hand...
Speak your mind. Tell your truth.
She felt as though her life was some kind of hellish test; as though the universe was conspiring against...
(Not) throwing the baby out . . .
When you grow up steeped in religion, attending church every Sunday, knowing Bible stories better than...
Women’s Wisdom: Inextinguishable
I’ll admit that I have been known to doubt the efficacy and relevance of my own words and work. The endless...
For such a time as this.
Sometimes if not oftentimes, the circumstances in which you find yourself are the last ones you want. You...
Standing Ground & Donning Crown
Yes, standing your ground and donning your crown. Or...maybe choosing to remove it altogether! Once upon a...
What I know for sure (about women)
What I know for sure about women; about us: When I read the ancient, sacred stories of women I am...
Expressing profound grief & fierce loss
There is an ancient story told of a widow whose only son died. With him went her last semblance of family,...
You are NOT the Invisible Woman!
Do you ever feel as though you are unseen, unheard, invisible? As though your story doesn’t have all that...
Don’t Look Back
Danielle LaPorte recently said, "Do not give your past the power to define your future." Nowhere is this...
Choose to Believe – If Only For Today
Easter Sunday is the most significant day on the Christian church calendar. Marking and celebrating the...
The God of Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time. There was a day when these four small words would instantly transport my eldest daughter...
A Meditation Gone Awry
I listened to a meditation a few days back called, “Inner Goddess.” What enticed me to such? First, it was...
Eve Screams “No!” (Part 1)
The light catches my iPad screen in such a way that my reflection stares back. I look away. I hate what I...
A Lament
I’ve been tricked. ‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus is playing on Pandora. What? It’s an instrumental station...
You are not alone. I promise.
A dated a man who often said, “At the end of the day, we’re all alone.” He meant it in a sort-of existential...
Our Heritage is Our Power
I had a gorgeous hour on Skype with Amy Palko today. A quick skim of topics included online business,...
Some Advent Reflections (4)
The Polar Express, Ahaz, Joseph, and me... Sunday, December 23 – Scripture Readings:Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19;...
Some Advent Reflections (3)
Tidings of Comfort and Joy Sunday, December 16 – Scripture Readings:Psalm 63, 98; Amos 9:11-15; 2...
Some Advent Reflections (2)
Sunday, December 9 – Scripture Readings:Psalm 114, 115; Amos 6:1-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; Luke 1:57-68...
Making Hard Choices
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. ~ Flora Whittemore A lovely sentiment, but...
On Money & Power
I’ve been thinking much these past days about money – how short it is, how fast it goes, how I’m always...
Choosing the Storm
I’ve been thinking a lot about how strong my proclivity is for calm; for a life that is tame, sedate, and...
Whose Story Am I In?
I just finished writing this entire post, went to read through it from the beginning before hitting...
I Am This Woman
I wrote what follows for the women’s event, Conversations (mentioned in my last post). As the days have...
Power & Privilege (and me)
These words: power and privilege, have been part of numerous conversations lately. Some of those...
Prophet as Female
While I was still a student at The Seattle School, I remember hearing one of my professors lecture on the...