STAY, in the Breath

letters from a writer & photographer's journey

Amen to The Mystery

I walked outside in the hour before the sun rose (morning twilight) above the mountain that is our horizon line, expecting quiet. The sun had been coming for awhile. For those outside of the canyon, the light of day had already dawned and I could perceive its presence was near but only to the point of still walking in shadows everywhere I ventured. This, along with the wind, made this.. Read More

Forever: A Prayer

How is heaven to come down to earth? Often in the prayers of the early church God is referred to as Eternal One. In some records of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, it ends with these words: Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. God is the forever One—an idea we both cannot comprehend and that the strangest things bear light upon it… Read More

Such a Thing as Glory

In the Pacific Northwestern United States there are four distinct seasons, two with incredible contrasting “glory”, that is, presence—summer and winter. It strikes me as something to behold because it is new to me that the marked difference is not hot and cold as I have been accustomed to in the Midwest, but rather dry and wet. This year from the late Spring and throughout Summer to early Fall we.. Read More

To Be Born: What James Knew & All Newborn Babes Too

Some of my closing words in a recent post on forgiveness were that to forgive is to be born. This is a beautiful thought, full of spirit. Yet the reality remains that to be born is to need and to be vulnerable. Here, in this tenuous space, the line of the prayer Jesus (Yeshua) taught His disciples, “…lead us not into temptation…” speaks. The reason for this is because what.. Read More

Living and Seeing—Life

There are two doors. I was passing by the other after I had called them for dinner and caught this stacking up in the corner of my eye yesterday. Though I no doubt miss many of these moments, this preciousness caught me. Then this morning I realized I had taken a picture of their three older siblings a little earlier in the day. We had just finished a biology lesson… Read More

Take Us Into The Real: Teach Us How to Forgive

When summer was new and beginning here in Washington, we would walk along the river’s rocky shore and often comment to one another how we are firmly walking where so briefly ago there were waters raging so deeply and fiercely that it would be over our heads—literally. There were times this reality was so felt my body would momentarily shiver from the remembered force that would have swept us, all,.. Read More

For When We Lose Our Way

Contemplating “our daily bread” lately, in my world, makes more sense imagined like this image — but it feels good and satisfying and I want to capture that. That’s where this photo came from, a place in my soul that says, “take joy”…even if that is more instructive than felt presently. I’m on my way. Yeah, today — this first fresh day of the Biblical year 5779 — I have sought.. Read More

Thresholds: The Way (every) Day, River, & Mercy Speaks Peace to Fear

So many thresholds being crossed this summer, I don’t know how or where to begin. I want to tell you all about it all. Knowing I can’t, I’ve been trying to gather and find the big picture in the miraculous, multitudinous details. Last fall when we arrived here, we played in the river, taking our shoes off and wading into the shallow parts even though it was chilly, we’d wait.. Read More

Walking in Health, Listening to The River: Simple Helps to Detox From Stress

The intensity of the river can be heard from our front road, an entire acre away. Its continual word, shh. It’s shushing us. Even as we turn to leave the drive, we’re being reminded. Shush. Maybe we’re learning. We’ve been practicing putting our hands over our eyes while we pray. We’re taking our sense of sight away briefly in hopes to notice it better when it is returned. Maybe, with.. Read More