Beth Patterson

the water never lies

Beth Patterson — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:39:00 GMT

What you hear from the water Remember. --David Whyte, All the True Vows listening to your muffled breath through that place in your back smelling the distinct aroma of sleep on you finding sweet solace in your unfurrowed brow mumbling to you from deep...(read more)

putting on the mantle of our mutual longings

Beth Patterson — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:10:00 GMT

Not hammer strokes, but dance of the water , sings the pebbles into perfection. --Rabindranath Tagore Today I voiced croaked, if you will, for the first time that I want to step out of the role of supporting cast and take on the role of teacher. I have...(read more)

Lenten reflection 5: I’m probably way off base

Beth Patterson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:27:00 GMT

A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That are Transforming the Faith by Brian McLaren A Christian synchroblog that I have written with sometimes in the last few years has sort of gone extinct. Every now and again a theme for a synchronized blog raises...(read more)

no worries, it’s just my hesitatin' heart

Beth Patterson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:19:00 GMT

If the car stutters just a fragment immediately I go into diagnostic mode: how long has it been since the oil was changed? how’s about that timing belt? wonder what’s in the gas line? wonder what I should do for better carburetion? And then my heart does...(read more)

Guest post by David Santangelo: We are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

Beth Patterson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:08:00 GMT

I recently met a new friend, who is a friend of several ‘old’ friends (most of them in the 20’s and 30’s!). David has the gravitas of an elder, even though he is young in years. I am sitting with his new book, ‘The Way Home’, soon to be released, and...(read more)

Lenten reflection 4: Four Words

Beth Patterson — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:21:00 GMT

The God Who Only knows Four Words Every child has known God. Not the God of names. Not the God of don’ts. Not the God who ever does anything weird. But the God who only knows four words And keeps repeating them, saying: “Come dance with me.” Come dance....(read more)

falling through ceilings

Beth Patterson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:22:00 GMT

Working with dreams is a little like creating a stained glass window blindfolded. While in Mexico recently I had dream of which I remember only a fragment. In the dream I am falling through layers of glass ceilings. In each of the four layers there are...(read more)

the big slide

Beth Patterson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:21:00 GMT

what if instead of running we slid gracefully …out of time …out of space …out of patience? Sliding gracefully out of patience. Doesn’t that have a different tonal quality than ‘running out of patience’? 1910 Guy Zinn, New York AL, sliding back into first...(read more)

Lenten reflection 3: Hell is breaking out in the kingdom of God

Beth Patterson — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:54:00 GMT

“The kingdom of God is like a feast where everyone is welcomed with a jubilant divine indiscriminacy, like the prodigal son whose return brings tears to his father’s eyes or the lost sheep that counts more than the ninety-nine that never strayed. “The...(read more)

tree love: out of the closet

Beth Patterson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:27:00 GMT

This is a submission for the 45th Festival of the Trees hosted this edition at the very cool The Voltage Gate . Here’s also the link to the Festival of the Trees homepage. I have a few trees in my slightly larger than a breadbox yard here in Bend, Oregon....(read more)

Lenten reflection 2: Having it my way

Beth Patterson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:32:00 GMT

Ok. So there’s all these words and characters (some noble, some not so much) in the Bible, but for those of us born as buttoned-down Christians, or even as cultural ones, the primary relationship is with Jesus. So I’m going out on a limb here in this...(read more)

somnambudance

Beth Patterson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:37:00 GMT

somnambudance: a condition of sleep-dancing with such grace, creativity and precision that one appears to be awake; condition may in rare cases imitate insomina. Making up words to describe what I dreamed after watching ‘This is It’, realizing that the...(read more)

God in 100 words or less

Beth Patterson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:18:00 GMT

Someone wise said something like: ‘I wouldn’t walk across the street to talk to a God I could understand.’ Not this. Not that. The process of elimination the via negativa these are the most meaningful personal pilgrimages to God. Meanwhile The apricot...(read more)

Lenten reflection 1: Ashes on my third eye

Beth Patterson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:10:00 GMT

click on picture to visit the story ‘With Mardi Gras over, Lent Begins’ Last night as I lowered my eyes ashes on my forehead marking the spot where heaven meets earth the crucible of the thing heart breaking open teshuvah returning to an earlier state...(read more)

No longer suspecting

Beth Patterson — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:23:12 GMT

One of my teachers, Jonathan, says: There are three things that we need to know, deeper than our own breath: 1. We are Love: nothing more, nothing less. Calcified, reified, rarified, embodied...(read more)