Centering Prayer at St. Mary's House

We've offered Centering Prayer at St. Mary's House (Episcopal Campus Ministry, Greensboro, Walker Street just a block up from Tate Street) for three Wednesdays now and will continue, every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. All are welcome.

8:30 Taizé chant, introduction, “how-to”
8:40 Silence: Centering Prayer
9:00 Taizé chant followed by silence and conversation
9:30 End with Taizé chant (chanting begins around 9:25).

As you can see, we have a visual focus to greet people upon arrival and for when we open our eyes after Centering Prayer. We sit on the floor, though there are chairs for those who prefer. All are welcome. There is a ramp to the left of the house, for those who use wheels, crutches, or a walker.

Come to the quiet, where G*d awaits you.

Crocuses, Day Two

More crocuses today (or rather yesterday, since it is now Wednesday, 1 a.m.). They came in threes. The first cluster was yesterday's lone crocus with two new companions. The second cluster was behind the house.

An old poem that still has power

My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed

I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,

with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.

*****Adrienne Rich, "Natural Resources"
*****in The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977


Photo: Women of Greenham Common

(Don't know what the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was? Have a look here.)

International Women's Day: taking action

Casa Myrna Vasquez in Boston urges us to support

the International Violence Against Women Act.

So does Amnesty International-USA.

International Women's Day

In a post from a year ago an Irish feminist, Aileen O'Carroll, posted this photo from New York a century ago. (Thanks to Indymedia Ireland for hosting Ms. O'Carroll's post.)

... With no profit to be made out of it, Ms. O'Carroll writes, the day is not exactly one that jumps out and grabs the attention. International Women's Day is an expressly political day. In 1907 women sweatshop workers marched in New York and thus the first International Women's day was born. Often when women are celebrated it is because they are either cute (Valentine's Day) or caring (Mothers' Day).

There is nothing wrong with being cute or caring, but on International Women's day we get to highlight those of us who are politically active, those who are fighting for a better world, those who know that there can be a better world.