Thoughts to Thread

Claiming the Heart of Winter

2012-02-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

February is the month of love.

And while we may love the idea of warmer days...perhaps it's time to CLAIM the heart of winter.

Our LOVE and THANKS to Diane D'Souza who helped us claim it all well on January 28th. Check out her blog for what you missed, and the feedback should inspire you:

“Provoking, excellent—just what I was looking for!“
“Beautiful, thoughtful, inspiring…”
“Thoroughly enjoyed [Diane’s] presence, essence and way of leading.”
“Extremely relevant and wonderful way to connect to others I have yet to know.”
“Inspirational, [Diane is] a gentle presence and spirit.”
“The format was wonderful, participants voices were encouraged and the thoughts expanded.”
“Coming from an Eastern perspective Diane has a lot more to teach us.”
“Insightful.”

Hope to see you next time!

Walking the Connected Path

2012-01-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

~ Henry David Thoreau

Threading into a New Year

2012-01-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Sacred Threads!

Here's a few things we resolve to do in this new year:

Expand our audience
Connect among our interfaith sisters and brothers
Promote the Center in wider circles

Sacred Threads is off to a terrific start by ringing in the new year with 3 amazing programs to come. JOIN us Saturday, Jan 28th for a mini-retreat with Diane D'Souza. We can't wait!

Thoughts of Gratitude

2011-11-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

Normal day,
let me be aware of the treasure that you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in the quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow,
or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky
and want, more than all the world, your return.

~Mary Jean Iron

What We Know...

2011-11-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Our thanks to Diane D'Souza who joined us for a dance workshop on grief and loss yesterday. The impact was powerful and the emotions were alive in the room. We learned some beautiful movements from classical Indian dance, but more so, we honored the wisdom in the room about grief and loss..

When asked what we know about grief and loss, here's a few comments from our participants:

losing someone you love transforms you forever
tells me about what is or who is meaningful to me in my life
physically…the cheek caves in where the caress would have come
incomprehensible that you can survive or that the pain will lessen
loss can turn into a gift

Thanks to all who joined us. May these words of wisdom continue to enrich the experience.

Prayer

2011-11-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Every day I want to speak with you. And every day something more important /
calls for my attention -- the drugstore, the beauty products, the luggage /

I need to buy for the trip. /
Even now I can hardly sit here /

among the falling piles of paper and clothing, the garbage trucks outside /
already screeching and banging. /

The mystics say you are as close as my own breath. /
Why do I flee from you? /

My days and nights pour through me like complaints /
and become a story I forgot to tell. /

Help me. Even as I write these words I am planning /
to rise from the chair as soon as I finish this sentence.

~Marie Howe, The Kingdom of Ordinary Time, W.W. Norton & Co.

Challenged Together

2011-10-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Sacred Threads was thrilled to welcome Michael Woodnick where he spoke on "Spirituality in the Second Half of Life: From Doing to Being." His thought-provoking story and guided conversation questions challenged our attendees to grapple with some poignant questions...

We want to share them with you to discuss with us:

Where has life stuck you, fixated you, caused you to limit your possibilities?
Where has life blessed you, given you a gift, and what have you done with it?
Where are you blocked by fear, leaving you resistant to change?
What is the fear beneath that fear?
What do you need to let go of to move on?
What brought you to this place in your journey, this moment in your life?
What is holding you back from the larger journey of your soul?
What have you always felt called toward but feared to do?
What new life wishes to come into being, through you?
Is now the time for you to answer the summons of your soul and live a second, larger life?

Comment below to begin the conversational thread...

This Life I Lead

2011-09-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

"And then the knowledge comes to me that I have space within me for a second, timeless, larger life."

~ R. M. Rilke

While few of us can pinpoint when life transitions from the first to second half, there is a moment. Some may name it by chronological age, others by physical health and mental clarity. But that second half of life, where some could argue true wisdom surfaces, is full of rich, spiritual moments. We look to see what Michael Woodnick shares with us on October 15th at Regis College on this very topic...as we all shift from "doing to being."

Maybe you'll join us, too.

I Seek One

2011-09-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

Thoughts of peace are prominent in my mind.

Perhaps as the violence of 9/11 is remembered,
my mind and heart ache for peace.

When I am seeking wisdom and solace, I often look to Rumi,
the 13th century Persian Muslim poet and Sufi mystic, where he says:

"I am neither Christian, nor Jewish, nor Muslim.
Doing away with duality, I saw the two worlds as one.
I seek One,

I know One,

I see One,

and I call One."

May One show us peace.

Portraits of Grief

2011-08-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

As we approach the 10 year anniversary of September 11, 2001,
a few things came to mind:

We have become more aware of our everyday surroundings, especially during travel and probably a little more judgmental of our fellow humans.
We know all too well how real terrorism is in the world.
We have mixed reactions to the long, extended search for and eventual death of Osama bin Laden.
What we may not know...The life details of the victims

The NY Times ran a series called "Portraits of Grief" shortly thereafter the events of 9/11 and have updated their version. The stories of these men and women are moving.

May it help us prepare to commemorate this day in American history.

Venture Forward

2011-08-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

"It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself,

which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable."

~ Maya Angelou

West African symbol of life transformation meaning:
"change or transform your character"

Change is always among us. That's what makes humanity so fascinating; decisions, actions, behaviors, etc. are always on the move, leaving us in a constant state of asking...what will happen next? And the tough part for many of us is learning to feel "ok" in the presence of such unpredictability.

I begin a new job on September 1st. It's familiar enough territory for me, seeing as I'm not changing companies, just positions into a field I formerly worked. But the process of deciding TO change was hard enough when I felt like so much had changed in my life recently. What did I do to make the decision? I weighed two very important questions my sister posed to me early in the process:

1. Do you WANT to make the change?

2. Will this change elicit happiness?

Such simple questions- and while reminiscent of Michael Himes' questions about discerning vocation (check out Doing the Truth in Love for his take)- it took me a long time to answer them honestly, recognizing that not everyone important in my life would agree with my decision.

My "change" happened when I took a step back and trusted that sense of relief in my body and heart and that said, "Yes, this is needed, and YOU will be happy." I knew it was my God whispering to trust and venture into that unknown, even if it means I am anxious and scared at times. I am human after all.

~ submitted by D.M.F. (to submit your thoughts to thread, email mdsacredthreads@gmail.com)

"Sending My Daughter to War" by Ann Marie Mahoney

2011-08-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

My daughter is a thrill junkie. She was a shy child and a reserved teenager with a dry sense of humor like her father. Although thoughtful and deliberate as an adult, she inherited her father’s calm ability to dance on the edge of danger. She is a distance runner, a baker, a problem solver, and a military police officer in the United States Army. My daughter is a warrior. This tall, lanky young woman of thirty, who lives by the principals of duty, honor and country, would rather hump 60 pounds of gear around Afghanistan than be “bored” guarding an American Army training post. Thus, after a brief leave at home I did the “good-bye” trip to Logan Airport, again, to send her onto her third deployment to the Middle East.

How does a mother send her daughter to war? I picture her in a smocked dress and patent leather shoes, dragging her stuffed friend, “Doggie” behind her. It is startling to see photos of her in ACUs (camouflage uniform) and desert combat boots, toting an M-4 rifle. We raise our daughters to be independent and self-sufficient. We encourage them to pursue their dreams, to become doctors and business owners, pilots and scientists but we never imagine they will choose a life of rushing into harm’s way.

My daughter has sacrificed much to pursue a career as a soldier. She has missed attending the weddings of her best friends, joining classmates at reunions, celebrating holidays with her family, even dressing up and going out on a Saturday night. Instead, she has worked with the Iraqi police in Baghdad and insured the safety of churches in Mosul. Saturday night is just another stretch of military police action in a foreign land.

I have not mastered the role of mother of a soldier in a time of war but I have come to rely on several virtues to manage the stress. I have learned to be patient with those who don’t understand that political views have nothing to do with supporting a child in a war zone. I have learned to quietly persevere through the constant worry that grinds me down. I have learned to cherish hope for her safe return that is buoyed by her infrequent calls and e-mails. I have learned to find joy in baking cookies and shipping them to her week after week.

I hang the blue star banner on my front door – the same one my mother-in-law hung when my husband went to Vietnam- in recognition of her combat service. I light the candle in the upstairs window that will burn continuously as the outward sign of my silent but anxious vigil. I wear a small blue star pin on my lapel to honor her faithfulness to duty. Mary worried about Jesus on his mission but willingly took each day as it came, even when it meant helplessly watching her beloved son die. I, too, will treasure all the things my daughter is in my heart (Luke 2:51b).

The only thrill for me, however, will be meeting my daughter at Logan Airport a year from now.

*Special thanks to Ann Marie Mahoney for her submission, her courage and her continued hope. To submit an entry, please email mdsacredthreads@gmail.com

Poetic Reflection by Meg Turner

2011-08-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

The End of My Marriages

My long loveless marriage ended this month.

January weather fits its civil dissolution

White, cold, unquestionably dormant

No sweetness.

Did you know that in 1995 Mother Theresa

Appeared in a cinnamon roll

To a coffee shop customer in Nashville?

This did not astonish me.

I already knew the power of pastry.
My affair with sugary pleasures

Was my marriage’s twin.

If that saintly nun could be embodied in a roll

Surely I could find affection in a confectionary.

Confusing warm saccharine stickiness with loving sex

This affair is much harder to end than my marriage

Rather than a court of law

I need a court of caring.

Where I will judge myself

Worthy of the restraint needed

To know the difference between real love

And an apparition in a bun

(*special thanks to Meg Turner for sharing her poetry and creative wisdom. To submit an entry, please email to mdsacredthreads@gmail.com)

Remembering 9/11...10 Years Later

2011-07-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

Threading the First Idea

2011-07-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

This won't be your traditional blog. We want it to be different. And we want our readers to feel different after having spent seconds, minutes, maybe hours looking through all we offer.

It's not about having the most sophisticated ideas, but more that it sparks something in you. Maybe something you read here will give you reason to think longer, breathe deeper, or pray longer. Whatever happens is rooted in the idea of transformation, and we at Sacred Threads are seeking transformation, especially for women.

So, you ladies, trust us- we don't have all of the answers. But we think if we start to share some ideas and see who's on board, we may be pleasantly surprised where the Holy is working.