Wow, this is so beautiful. I didn't know about the Cottage a year ago and so I am just reading this today. Thank you for the link to this in your writing today. I have never paid attention to Epiphany - didn't even know what it was before this year. It is a new enlightenment for me and this writing has a brought me to a deeper thinking and feeling about how this part of the year is important. When I read your excerpt, I immediately looked to see who wrote it because it was the most beautiful piece on the page. I will print this and sit with it and enjoy the beauty you have given us! Thank you!
I am a newbie so I am hoping that I am not posting this twice - had a little trouble logging in. Here is my original try at a post:
Thank you so much for this piece and the Zoom session with Ken. I am also very thankful that you made the recording available as I couldn't join on Thursday night. Like others I have shared this piece with my Sunday school class. I just wanted to let you know that in addition to making me think about epiphany your essay inspired me to write. I have never considered myself a writer, a teacher, professor but not a writer. After an epiphany experience I had now 10 years ago I became a photographer and a writer. Now I write regularly on my blog. Here is the link to the story of that experience and an image of light: https://klmwordandworld.weebly.com/image-blog.
Thank you, Diana, for sharing always from your heart. I miss the quiet of the snow that I grew up with in New England. My brother passed away in December and this season after the holidays seems especially difficult this year. I so enjoyed the cottage meeting this evening and hearing the beautiful music from Ken Medema and the stories and poems shared by the group. Another poem by Robert Frost came to mind as we were talking called, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Thank you for inviting others to join you on this journey of faith.
your writing is so poetical. It is inspiring. It is a gift that gives each of us, your readers, a blessing. I am grateful to be part of the cottage. This piece is awesome. Thank you for sharing your gift and thank you for being you. May the rest of your day be as blessed as mine has been by reading this profound piece.
What a beautiful piece of writing - finding the extraordinary in every day experience through curiosity, wonder, and daily living. I think of this as moments when the only response needed is ‘Wow!’ Many years ago, in the era of clown ministry, I had invited a ‘ church trained clown’ to share in the worship leadership.
The reflection time blew me away as, in silence, he wandered our cathedral sanctuary and every so often paused, lit up, and mouthed the word ‘Wow’. It could be his glance at a parishioner, a stained glass window, a glance at the vaulted architecture - 15 minutes we were in silence engrossed in his next ‘wow’ moment. When he finished, he joined me on the steps to the chancel and I was to lead in prayer. And I will never forget that I felt called to the simplest prayer I have ever offered - one word - this time spoken…l”Wow!”
Thank you for reigniting me to this deep sense of ‘wow!’ this epiphany - in the depths of winter in Canada.
Hi Diana - Really appreciated your reflection. And noted the winter season references. Here, down under in Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand we are literally flooded with light as it is the height of summer. There is so much bright, enduring light that sometimes it is difficult to darken bedrooms to aid sleep. So much light that it can seem impossible to notice the nascent, emerging light... And as its summer, the great Australian vacation season is in full swing, even as Covid Omicron bites deeply into plans for gatherings and stresses family togetherness. Everyone seems to be looking, even seeking for enlightenment that will foreshadow and welcome greater personal and communal liberties. The focus on the extraordinary that we can generate, share, and rejoice in fully. What I found helpful in your reflection today was the reminder that season sends us into to an exploration and discovery mode marked by curiosity, imagination, playfulness, and awe. Such a redirection of our seeking refocuses our attention - away from what we can do to change our circumstances collectively or individually, towards the cracks through which the Holy, in-breaking light gently seeps to eventually deeply soak us in new identities, fresh opportunities, and renewal. Thank you, and blessing and peace to you.
This is wonderful writing, imagery and insight. I am taken by the contrasts that you give between each miracle and subsequent events. It makes me think, that we are in difficult times; the end of Lent was the death of Christ, but now his message is all over the world. Therefore, we can infer, that things will get worse, even catastrophic, but if we are patient, there will be peace and a much better world.
Beautiful Diana. I wonder if I might have permission to quote a paragraph or two in a YouTube Evening Reflection I do for my congregation (Only about 25 people watch and I always make sure I acknowledge the source...) Thanks for considering the request.
Thank you Diana for these words. Like others I wanted to read them again and again! Reminds me of Jesus references to blindness, sleeping and awareness.
As always, you’ve given us much to think about. I especially appreciated the miracle/counterforce pattern you identified, as that is so true of much of life.
Here in Louisiana Epiphany is carnival season, leading up to Mardi Gras and Lent — King Cakes are everywhere and parades are frequent. Despite the fact that Covid has put a damper on those celebrations for two years now, the notion of celebration is endemic to the culture here in these weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, even for midwestern transplants like me.
Wow…just wow!!! Deeper and more appreciative than thank you expresses.
Wow, this is so beautiful. I didn't know about the Cottage a year ago and so I am just reading this today. Thank you for the link to this in your writing today. I have never paid attention to Epiphany - didn't even know what it was before this year. It is a new enlightenment for me and this writing has a brought me to a deeper thinking and feeling about how this part of the year is important. When I read your excerpt, I immediately looked to see who wrote it because it was the most beautiful piece on the page. I will print this and sit with it and enjoy the beauty you have given us! Thank you!
This is marvelous. Would it be OK to use this as a reading for my small church group? I would love to introduce them to your blog.
I am a newbie so I am hoping that I am not posting this twice - had a little trouble logging in. Here is my original try at a post:
Thank you so much for this piece and the Zoom session with Ken. I am also very thankful that you made the recording available as I couldn't join on Thursday night. Like others I have shared this piece with my Sunday school class. I just wanted to let you know that in addition to making me think about epiphany your essay inspired me to write. I have never considered myself a writer, a teacher, professor but not a writer. After an epiphany experience I had now 10 years ago I became a photographer and a writer. Now I write regularly on my blog. Here is the link to the story of that experience and an image of light: https://klmwordandworld.weebly.com/image-blog.
Thank you, Diana, for sharing always from your heart. I miss the quiet of the snow that I grew up with in New England. My brother passed away in December and this season after the holidays seems especially difficult this year. I so enjoyed the cottage meeting this evening and hearing the beautiful music from Ken Medema and the stories and poems shared by the group. Another poem by Robert Frost came to mind as we were talking called, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Thank you for inviting others to join you on this journey of faith.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost - 1874-1963
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
The Cottage started appearing in my inbox about a month ago. How? Why?
your writing is so poetical. It is inspiring. It is a gift that gives each of us, your readers, a blessing. I am grateful to be part of the cottage. This piece is awesome. Thank you for sharing your gift and thank you for being you. May the rest of your day be as blessed as mine has been by reading this profound piece.
What a beautiful piece of writing - finding the extraordinary in every day experience through curiosity, wonder, and daily living. I think of this as moments when the only response needed is ‘Wow!’ Many years ago, in the era of clown ministry, I had invited a ‘ church trained clown’ to share in the worship leadership.
The reflection time blew me away as, in silence, he wandered our cathedral sanctuary and every so often paused, lit up, and mouthed the word ‘Wow’. It could be his glance at a parishioner, a stained glass window, a glance at the vaulted architecture - 15 minutes we were in silence engrossed in his next ‘wow’ moment. When he finished, he joined me on the steps to the chancel and I was to lead in prayer. And I will never forget that I felt called to the simplest prayer I have ever offered - one word - this time spoken…l”Wow!”
Thank you for reigniting me to this deep sense of ‘wow!’ this epiphany - in the depths of winter in Canada.
Hi Diana - Really appreciated your reflection. And noted the winter season references. Here, down under in Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand we are literally flooded with light as it is the height of summer. There is so much bright, enduring light that sometimes it is difficult to darken bedrooms to aid sleep. So much light that it can seem impossible to notice the nascent, emerging light... And as its summer, the great Australian vacation season is in full swing, even as Covid Omicron bites deeply into plans for gatherings and stresses family togetherness. Everyone seems to be looking, even seeking for enlightenment that will foreshadow and welcome greater personal and communal liberties. The focus on the extraordinary that we can generate, share, and rejoice in fully. What I found helpful in your reflection today was the reminder that season sends us into to an exploration and discovery mode marked by curiosity, imagination, playfulness, and awe. Such a redirection of our seeking refocuses our attention - away from what we can do to change our circumstances collectively or individually, towards the cracks through which the Holy, in-breaking light gently seeps to eventually deeply soak us in new identities, fresh opportunities, and renewal. Thank you, and blessing and peace to you.
This is wonderful writing, imagery and insight. I am taken by the contrasts that you give between each miracle and subsequent events. It makes me think, that we are in difficult times; the end of Lent was the death of Christ, but now his message is all over the world. Therefore, we can infer, that things will get worse, even catastrophic, but if we are patient, there will be peace and a much better world.
This is lovely. The descriptive writing, the unexpected insights. Thank you for the encouragement. The revealing is upon us.
Beautiful Diana. I wonder if I might have permission to quote a paragraph or two in a YouTube Evening Reflection I do for my congregation (Only about 25 people watch and I always make sure I acknowledge the source...) Thanks for considering the request.
Wow! Just Wow! Thank you!
Thank you Diana for these words. Like others I wanted to read them again and again! Reminds me of Jesus references to blindness, sleeping and awareness.
So beautifully described. It truly spoke to my heart. Thank you, Diana.
As always, you’ve given us much to think about. I especially appreciated the miracle/counterforce pattern you identified, as that is so true of much of life.
Here in Louisiana Epiphany is carnival season, leading up to Mardi Gras and Lent — King Cakes are everywhere and parades are frequent. Despite the fact that Covid has put a damper on those celebrations for two years now, the notion of celebration is endemic to the culture here in these weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday, even for midwestern transplants like me.