By Jayne Hugo Davis “How would you dispose of a dead body?” Our staff team was playing a board game called Loaded Questions last week. We had gotten together for a meal and some forced family fun and that was…
‘I beg to differ’
By Jayne Hugo Davis “When I light a candle at midnight, I say to the darkness, ‘I beg to differ.’” This quote is attributed to an unnamed philosopher in the first century. I don’t know what caused this person to…
All I want for Christmas is rest
By Jayne Hugo Davis As we closed a committee meeting last week, I reminded the group that our next gathering would be our annual Christmas party. There was a collective gasp, but the calendar didn’t lie. Yet again, the days…
Sometimes it’s just a matter of showing up
By Jayne Davis It was really such a simple plan. The group would meet at my house at 4:30 for coffee and dessert and then head off together to the nursing home at 6 to sing Christmas carols for residents…
The spiritual practice of putting down roots
By Jayne Hugo Davis “In whatever place you find yourself, do not easily leave it.” — Abba Antony I love finding tiny volunteer maple saplings around my yard. They spring up between the bushes in the landscaping bed or behind…
The spiritual practice of listening
By Jayne Hugo Davis When two of my sisters asked me what I wanted as a gift for my 50th birthday, I told them a collection of family stories — their personal recollections of family history, anecdotes or folly that,…
The spiritual practice of stacking stones
Stacking stones claims ordinary moments of life for God and invites those who pass by to notice the holy ground on which they already stand. Truth be told, an altar was the last thing I expected to find at the…
The spiritual practice of load shedding
By Jayne Hugo Davis Does it ever feel like the demands upon you require more than the resources you have to give? Maybe it’s time or energy that’s in short supply. Maybe it’s money or creativity or answers. Or compassion…
The spiritual practice of stacking stones
By Jayne Hugo Davis Truth be told, an altar was the last thing I expected to find at the end of a long hike. We were hot and sweaty, a bit worn out from the steep climb up the cliff…
The spiritual practice of pressing on
By Jayne Hugo Davis There are few places as special to me as St. John’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville, Minn. The peace of the lake, the beauty of the art, the stability of the community, the ordering of…
Sabbath: The spiritual practice of exhaling
By Jayne Hugo Davis I never thought of myself as living life holding my breath. Certainly, not like a child demanding the resolution of some grievance, willing to voluntarily turn blue. Not even with wonder and delight in anticipation of…
‘It is finished’: The spiritual practice of daily examen
By Jayne Davis “When Jesus had received the drink, he said, ‘It is finished.’” — John 19:30 “It is finished.” Such powerful words. Jesus’ last words in his earthly life, the culmination of all that the Father had asked of him,…