Writings & Ruminations
Patchouli Dreams
With long nights falling in the season of epiphany, January is surely the time to celebrate dreams.One of my favorite things is reflecting on my dreams in my early waking...
Sacred Relics
This past summer a new collaboration, The Bethlehem Project, was born between Love Welcomes, Thistle Farms, and the Center for Contemplative Justice. We commissioned three hundred chalices and patens from potters living...
Cloudy Haloes
During monsoon season it rains every day, surrounding the mountains north of Kathmandu in distant cloudy haloes. It is magical seeing Tibetan nuns running through the rain towards their temple...
We Can Do Better Than Being Civil
Civility seems like a low bar for our common life together, and yet it also seems that often we can’t even reach that. We struggle to be kind to one...
Beauty & Love in Brokenness
I love stained glass. I love the artistry, the history embedded in small fragments we piece together, and how it calls us into prayer. But when I walked into a...
It's About Friends
It's about friends. I have been thinking a lot about how we have grown Thistle Farms and Thistle Farms Global into a movement for women's freedom. It didn't happen by finding a life coach, a...
#ChurchToo: Reflections on Willow Creek
The latest incarnation of #metoo unfolded recently at a megachurch in Chicago, and my thoughts have been with the woman who brought her dark secret to light. I am in awe...
I've Been a Beggar Most of My Life
It is a gift in the season of Thanksgiving to show up to wherever you are, with gratitude. It makes all the small irritations fade into sweetness like marshmallows on...
Take Your Shoes Off
I was born barefoot and, God willing, I will die with bare feet. When I read the story of God telling Moses to take off his shoes because he stands...
Beyond Words, Joining with Women in Ukraine
Recently I sat with 13 women from the U.S. and Ukraine in a small town in Poland.
“The Woman I Am Today:” A Guest Blog
Kristin McWilliams, a talented organizer, leader, wife and mom, reflects in the following blog on her first year as an Executive Assistant to me at Thistle Farms. Read on to...
Midsummer Daydreams
This has been a summer of travel, work, and high altitude dreams. From the Sleeping Giant Volcano in Hawaii, to Porter's Cabin 10,000 feet up in Idaho, to the shrine on the mountain...
Easter 2018: The Peace That Passes Understanding
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb...” — John 20:1
"Just a Blessing All Around:" Ty's Story
Ty in Manufacturing (Photo Credit: Peggy Napier) I was recently given the assignment to interview one of the amazing survivor leaders at Thistle Farms, and I am so grateful to be...
#hereweare: The Beloved Community
None of the women of Thistle Farms made it to the streets or prison alone. It took a bunch of failed systems and communities to help them get there
Guest Blog: "A Mother's Story" from the Ritsona Refugee Camp
Abi, the Director of Thistle Farms Global, just returned from the Syrian Refugee Camp in Ritsona, Greece, where the women of The Welcome Project are still leading with strength, grace, and hope in...
It is not what we are looking at, but what we see
Mark 9:2-9 We hear the story of the Transfiguration twice a year in church. The first is the last Sunday of Epiphany and then again at the feast of the...
"Be Quiet So That I Can Hear:" A Sermon on Silence
Deuteronomy 18: 15-20 Mark 1:21-28 I know it’s important to know when to be quiet. One time when one of my kids was little and had done something horrible,...
2018: #Embody Love
We all need to be safe and grounded in our actual body if we want to be at peace in our work or home life.
Mini-Blog from the Road: Delayed...& All is Well
Recently, I was sitting in the airport, and the departure board flashed the saddest word of all: "Delayed." Nothing else in my day was delayed but the flight. Not the speech,...
God Will Make Time: Love Heals Stress
It is a misconception that the stress we feel today is because of the current pace of life, the spread of technology, or the political turmoil we see around us...
Love's Humility, Courage, & Compassion: Holy Week 2018
A sweet reminder from a photoshoot we did a few years ago “But whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first...
Serve This Faith: Seminary of the Southwest 2018 Commencement Speech
It’s hard to entrust our faith to another generation, as happy and thankful as we are for their willingness to pick up their cross and follow love! It’s always been...