wells-of-wellness

St. Kevin – born 498 – died 618 AD

Another beautiful day in our lives . . . and in our pilgrimage at Glendalough with Mary Meighan. The first two days of our time with her were spent in learning about some of the threads in the fabric of Celtic Spirituality. She has said so much to us, here are some samples of things as I remember them:

When God made time, he made plenty of it.

Repetition is important.

Do things in threes, We do things in threes.

Let go your stuff and enter the circle of spirit here.

We are non-linear

and

we are non- dualistic.

Women are part of it . . . and men too.

We hold the contradictions.

Gather the bits and pieces of yourselves, you know, emmmm, the brokenness, make friends with it.

You know this is about a weaving, about being woven, bringing it all into the tapestry of who we are and what.

Thresholds matter. We step through them to another place – allowing the threshold to be the place of our entry into the adventure before us – the pilgrimage before us.

Continue reading “St. Kevin – born 498 – died 618 AD”

12 hours – 8/21/2012

This valley of Glendalough in Ireland has been for centuries, is now, and will be long and long into the future, a “thin place.” Here in this valley the “past and the future are present,” says Mary Meighan. It is a “thin place” for those from history and for those of us here right now.

It is soooo mystically beautiful, and tangibly earthy, all at once.

Continue reading “12 hours – 8/21/2012”

The Ireland pilgrimage is now on retreat with Mary Meighan

We are here in beautiful Glendalough. No Wifi in our cottage – so contact with you over the next many days will be limited . . . but with ourselves, each other, Mary, and this remarakable place on earth and its residents . . . oh, for us the contact will be enhanced.

Having dinner at the Wicklow Heather after a gracious and beautiful beginning to our retreat. Mary gave us each a card that had been calligraphied personally for us by her niece. Internet connection is too slow for us to download a picture of it . . . so here are these words of blessing for us . . . and for you:

“To be on a pilgrimage. . . we have to be prepared to let go of the accustomed patterns and controls that we impose on our daily live, and instead be ready to be open to what lies beyond . . . and to what is most often expressed in symbol, image, and poetry.”

We are ready.

We have begun.

Mary Meighan has touched us with symbol, image, and poetry already.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Glendalough

We leave Dublin this morning by way of St. Kevin’s bus:

We’ll be at this cottage owned by Liam and Zell Conway until 8/29/2012. Not sure how the wifi will be there, but will post as/when it is possible.

We begin our eight days of retreat with Mary Meighan today at 2:00.

Bye, bye Dublin . . . It has been lovely.

Sunday faces from Dublin, August 19, 2012

We went to church today at St. Augustine & St. John Catholic Church in Dublin . . . well, actually we got there for the consecration and the eucharist . . . missed the sermon (go figure) . . . ’cause . . . well . . . I thought (from my internet research) that church was a half hour later than it actually was.

Anyway, wish I had gotten a picture of Samuel Greene (81) and Sean O’Neil who allowed us to engage them in conversation after church. They were extravagant in their welcome, and then some. We learned about them, about the church, about things we needed to do to protect ourselves from theft, and about the color of the eyes that will tell you something about the Irish, and lots more.

It was “brilliant!” Continue reading “Sunday faces from Dublin, August 19, 2012”

First in ER

Nope neither Patricia nor Phil were the first in the emergency room.

“First” is First Congregational United Church of Christ.

“ER” is Eagle River in northern Wisconsin.

Today they are celebrating 125 years of ministry in Eagle River and beyond.

Blessings to you for this remarkable day in your lives!Continue reading “First in ER”

“Ah, but there are things and things . . .”

The words for the title to this post are from the book Twenty Years A-Growing, and are spoken by Maurice to his grandfather, after Maurice was asked if he believed in something he had not seen while on the mainland for a day of fun away from the Great Blasket Island. The grandfather says, “No doubt it is hard to believe, but we have to believe many things we never saw.” And that is when Maurice replies with (my translation), “C’mon Gramps, there is some stuff you don’t see you can accept, but you know, then there is other stuff you say, that is rally hard for me to believe.”

Today, Patricia and I went for a late brunch at the a square in the lively energy of a throbbing Saturday morning in Dublin. Continue reading ““Ah, but there are things and things . . .””

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin

Yesterday, we went to a few old churches in Dublin. Among them was St. Patrick’s.

Somehow it seemed right, here in the homeland of my heritage, to light a candle in honor of those from my family who have died: Tom, Eileen, Kathleen, Nancy and brother-in-law Tom. I miss them. The candle Phil and I lit is the center one in the second row.

My parents, Tom and Eileen, were married on August 3. I remembered their anniversary that day and thought of writing about it for you, but the day got away before I got to writing about it.

My dad was good friends with a priest, Fr. Morrisey. Actually, they grew up together and went to school together at Our lady of Grace. He married my parents. Every year, on the Sunday closest to my parent’s anniversary, Father Jim would say a Mass for them and our family.

So, it became a ritual for Tom and Eileen to pile my sisters and brother and me into the car and we would drive to church wherever it was that Fr. Morrisey was saying Mass . I remember once going to Blue Island, Ill. It was a long way away, or so it seemed to me at the time, and I got to wondering if we couldn’t, you know, stop doing this.

Looking back from here, it was a good tradition. I am grateful to my parents for their acknowledgement of things that matter how ever long it takes to get there.

Aging well . . . remembering . . . giving thanks . . . lighting the candles.

redheads

An easy and unscheduled day in Dublin.

Among the many curiosities that caught our attention are the number of shades of red hair, sometimes the hue is natural and sometimes it is hairdresser assisted.

Here are six of twenty redheads we photographed today: