Mercy

The lamp smoke smudged the walls. Jesus was standing in the corner, his forehead on the wall, peering out the window from the corner of his eye.

Devotional, Wisdom for the WayAndrea LingleMarch 28, 2018Scriptural Imagination, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Andrea Lingle, The Abundance of AshesComment

Waiting

Waiting can shape, sharpen, and make us more sensitive to that which sustains us.

Devotional, Wisdom for the WayStephanie Evelyn McKellarMarch 21, 2018Stephanie Evelyn McKellar, Lent Incarnate, Lent, Waiting, The Abundance of AshesComment

Trust

Take me to the water
Waves snuggle the shore
Teaching to breathe

Devotional, Wisdom for the WayStephanie Evelyn McKellarMarch 14, 2018Theme VIII, Lent Incarnate, Lent, Stephanie Evelyn McKellar, spiritual practice, The Abundance of AshesComment

Quietness

There are many kinds of silence.

Companionable, awkward, and that of the grave.

There are many kinds of hushed.

Snowfall, waiting, and that of the whisper.

There are many kinds of quiet.

Tiptoe, longing, and that of the heart that knows that it is beloved.

Wisdom for the WayAndrea LingleMarch 7, 2018Lent, Lent Incarnate, Theme VIII, Quietness, spiritual practice, The Abundance of AshesComment

Rest

What is it about humankind that makes it hard to rest?

What is it about us that makes us turn up the lights, press “Next Episode,” or chatter away on the phone given the space of one commute?

Wisdom for the WayAndrea LingleFebruary 28, 2018Theme VIII, Lent Incarnate, Lent, Rest, spiritual practice, Andrea Lingle, The Abundance of AshesComment

Return

To the love in which you were created

To the breath that first hovered over you

Return

Wisdom for the WayStephanie Evelyn McKellarFebruary 21, 2018Theme VIII, Stephanie Evelyn McKellar, Lent Incarnate, Lent, Return, pilgrimage, The Abundance of Ashes Comments

Ashes

Ashes represent a reduction, a simplification, an equivocation of all things. Garden rose and wayside weed both burn to calcium carbonate—the stuff of egg shells and pearls.

DevotionalAndrea LingleFebruary 14, 2018Lent Incarnate, Theme VIII, Andrea Lingle, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Liturgical, The Abundance of AshesComment