Sacred Gathering: all in All
Awe enters in Beauty already present, they settle. Compassion knocks and opens the door Delight by her side Enthusiasm stands Faith ushers all Generosity plays Hope speaks Imagination responds Joy…
Gate of the Year: A Poem
I was an adolescent when I first heard the opening lines of “Gate of the Year”, by Minnie Louise Haskins. It was read to me by my dad, with whom…
My Arctic Adventures: Yellowknife
When I was twenty-one I left my childhood home to embark on my first big adventure. Fresh from university I set off for the Arctic, specifically for Yellowknife, the capital…
The Book of Created Nature
The importance of Saint Augustine (354-430) for Western civilisation in general, and Christianity in particular, can hardly be under-estimated. Many women, particularly those committed to empowering women unhappy about their…
The Weary World Rejoices
Here it is again. Advent is suddenly here, and I am once again thrust into the world (and the work) of “waiting in joyful hope.” Waiting, in its many forms…
Love Stronger Than Death
Perhaps it is my age. I will turn eighty in July 2025, and I am becoming increasingly aware of death. Death as a reality that comes for me too. Death…
Collective Memory: Treasuring Our Past
On the last weekend of October, nine RNDMs from Melbourne travelled to the small Victorian country town of Charlton where four RNDMs arrived one hundred years ago to assume responsibility…
The Landscape: Nature and Emotions
I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, 'This is what it is to be happy.' - Sylvia Plath, writer, in The Bell…
October Festival of Thoughts
I was thinking of what October brings to light and how our world seems to be in circling motions. In the northern part of the world Autumn begins while in…
Goodbye: Reflecting on the Death of a Friend
I have been friends with Karin for more than thirty years. She lives in the corner house at the end of my block with a lovely English garden and a…