Like the windows I create, at my best I’m a window to God. We all are. Each of us is a unique word spoken by God into the world in love. One of my gifts is listening. As I companion people in spiritual direction or wait in silence for the words of an essay to suggest themselves or breathe into the gestures that allow an icon to be born, the ears of my heart are open. Another of my gifts is creativity. I love to open boxes, think new thoughts, listen for how the Spirit is moving in color and gesture. In this I am God’s creature, for God God’s self is pure creativity, don’t you think? Creation is ongoing, always surprising, never static.
In my mid-twenties, in Jungian analysis, I learned a healthy, creative relationship with the soul. On that path of self-discovery I realized that I wanted to be a companion to others as they took the same journey, and so I became a psychotherapist working from a Jungian perspective.
These days I know that the real work of healing lies in establishing a dynamic relationship with what is Holy. This is the most important thing — what we’re created for. We think we can take or leave the Sacred, that God is somewhere outside us if God exists at all. In reality, God is part of the very fabric of our beings, and we get sick if we fail to acknowledge this.
Each of us comes to our own right relationship with the Sacred — a very personal one — using a language that makes sense to us. It is built from the stories of the traditions that speak our hearts. I am an Episcopalian, a progressive Christian, and a Jungian. I love the Christian stories, first because I grew up with them, and then because they teach me, personally, how to be in
I love sharing Christian holy men and women and their stories in my iconography. I become a conduit for their essence, for their wisdom and passion.
I was born in Wyoming and lived in many states west of the Mississippi as I was growing up. I love the wilds for their silence and vastness and feel a kinship with all created beings. I now live in Fort Collins with my partner, Rosean, and my sister, Carrie. We have four children and ten grandchildren, and many wonderful friends.
My novel, Loving the Six-toed Jesus is available here. Also, every Thursday I write a reflection for Speaking to the Soul at the Episcopal Cafe.
Contact me at: [email protected]