A Single Burning Thread

Two Photographs. One Thread.


Untrecht, Holland, 1986. I'm 3rd from the right in the middle with sunglasses. A volunteer steward for Billy Graham Crusade.

Steens Mountains, Oregon, 1996. On a vision quest.

These two events led to my ordination in 2001.

Outside my window frost rises sprightly up every single blade of grass. A raven chortles from within a foggy scree of fir and hemlock. The hut that I built above the ocean shore has now been moved 251 miles to our field. How many days have been like this with the frosty raven and glowing cabin as companions? How many more? How many days of travel and exploration are left? How many seemingly ordinary?

As I approach fifty years I'm astounded by the diversity of life events. There is a breadth of happiness and languishing and the seeming ordinary in between. There's a single thread that has pulsed throughout my life. I've tried to capture, refine and honor that thread through several poignant openings.

One opening so long ago was working with a fervor, try and reflect a God that I knew loved me unconditionally. I had my perfectly pressed maroon coat and my ideals and and a seeming solid code for salvation. Ten years later I spun inside peak experiences from several sojourns to meet the Compassionate Spirits. There are other pivotal events like being anointed by my Celtic mentor and dear soul friend in 2001. There are visits with death and resurrection in 2004 2005 that I cannot explain.

After each event came not only an opening of the heart but also a stumbling in being present and happy on this earth. A searing longing also came to me. There was a secret thread that pulsed and burned inside. It became an unchanging current even as life courses changed and and challenged me.

My stories are akin to the stories of everyone else on earth.There are unique details. And there is the secret thread that is a burning like a lover. That thread is so mysterious. It's ravelled into the fabric of everyone and everywhere. And it motivates me. I want my poems and lessons to make a difference in the world. I want that thread to stitch the wounds of my friend who is losing his father this week. I want the thread to vibrate as a song that is holy and happy for YOU dear reader. I want to feel the thread in my veins as I gather all my stories for the next phase in life.

How does that mystery of life force and love want to manifest in your life at this moment?
How can we all learn to touch that singing and longing? And what difference will that make in our world that so needs healing?


Peace and blessings to you in the one life you can call your own.

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