It’s the end of the day, and darkness is closing in. I’m usually back indoors by this time. Yet last night, I was still high up on the hillside, trying to see where the sheep had come in. An old rusty gate had finally been released from the twine that held it in place for … Read more
Do we get so caught up in the destination that we forget to be here? Yet this is the only place we can ever be. One foot in front of the other, even in the darkness. And waiting. Not the stuck kind, but the expectant, hopeful sort. The kind that trusts that we can see … Read more
Waymarks aren’t always what we think we’re looking for. And certainly not when we’re in the dark. We’re searching for neon lights, a big sign that says ‘here’. When perhaps it’s a whisper in the shadows, a leaf turned upside down or a star in the sky. ~ My current fascination with darkness is arising … Read more
Seeing in the dark takes imagination. So what do you see with your eyes closed? And where does your imagination take you? Perhaps we’re so used to switching on the light that our ability to see differently has diminished. Or we fear what we might see and don’t go there. Yet this is often the … Read more
Even when we are in the dark, it’s not entirely black. For that, we would need to go way underground, as Robert Macfarlane’s book, Underland, explores. But it can feel disorientating when we have no markers to make sense of where we are. In these situations, we often look for the light. Any light. Yet … Read more
We are always surrounded. Even when we cannot see who is there. And even in the dark places. We are seen.
This is one of those plump acorns from earlier in the autumn. Can you see how it’s opening up and reaching for the dark? But it cannot grow into a sapling oak here on the path. So I moved it to a place where it could burrow into the leaf mould and the earthy soil … Read more
We want to know where we are, yet sometimes it only becomes clear as we look behind. And we can’t drive from the rearview mirror unless we’re going backwards. But we can hope that someday we can make peace with these in-between times. So for these current times, here is John O’Donohue’s beautiful blessing For … Read more
Gideon Heugh has just published a new book, Darkling: An Advent Journey, and I wanted to share it with you. This is a book for darkling days. A book for those who are hunkering down against the winter storms of life. A book for those who feel weary, lost, uncertain. It is not a book … Read more
Even in the deepening fall, when the leaves are shed, and vegetation is dying back, there is life. It just takes a little more to see it there. And when the darkness feels like it is closing in, remember that hope is not extinguished. A spark remains. RUMOURS OF LIGHT The hope that’s lingeringbeneath the … Read more