As we approach the New Year, lots of people start thinking about goals and what they hope to accomplish in the next year. It’s good to experience a renewal, a time to make things right. For many years I’ve chosen a word for the year. I’ll post about that soon. I’m still a little unsure…
Author: Cindy Thomson
The Writing Life
This post originally appeared on my previous blog March 30, 2011. When I recently re-read it, I realized that my past self had something to say to my present self! I recently began watching a DVD titled A Celtic Pilgrimage with John O’Donohue. His message about the landscape and what it meant to him growing up is…
Listening
This post originally appeared in a previous blog site on Dec. 3, 2010. Later today I’ll be interviewing J. Philip Newell and that has prompted me to explore again his book Listening For The Heartbeat of God, A Celtic Spirituality. It’s not his latest book but it’s my favorite. The book begins with an introduction that is not…
The Gathering that Wounded Celtic Christianity
This post first appeared on my old blog Sept. 8, 2010. Whitby is a seaside community on the northeast coast of England. In ancient times this was in the kingdom of Northumbria and the king, Oswy, celebrated Easter the Celtic way. His wife, however, was of the Roman tradition. This caused them to fast, both…
Listening to Voices From the Past
My grandmother was born on December 10, 1900. Her ancestors were Welsh, although I doubt she knew that. They came over in the 17th century. She did have a desire to remember the past. She collected names and dates and photographs, and lucky me I inherited those and traced the family tree. We called her…
Fairy Bushes
There are fairy bushes or trees growing in Ireland. That probably doesn’t surprise you, I bet. If you are superstitious, you will not cut one down or disturb it in any way. These trees are usually hawthorns. Apparently the folks at the Saint Patrick Centre are not superstitious because they transplanted this one in their…
Thinking About Dreams
On this day many years ago I woke up after having what I thought at the time was an odd dream. I dreamt about my oldest sister. I had no reason to be dreaming about her. I’d seen her about a month earlier after her granddaughter spent a few days with me. My sister had…
Catherine O’Leary’s Cow
On this day in 1871 Chicago burned. How someone could blame a woman (an Irish woman no less) for leaving a lantern burning in a barn is a perfect example of casting the blame elsewhere. Chicago had a population explosion, resulting in haphazardly built immigrant buildings made of wood. And the sidewalks and bridges were…
Rejoice! Re:Joyce! Frank Delaney Is in the House
Today I’m privileged to have a guest post by my friend Jamie Chavez. I am a fan of Irish writers, contemporary and not so: Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Flann O’Brien, Fergal Keane, Seamus Heaney, William Trevor, John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Patrick McCabe, Nuala O’Faolain, Tana French … I could go on (and no…
The River of Life
Some thoughts today on the Celtic view of rivers and flowing water. Pre-Christianity, the Celts named their rivers for goddesses because they were life-giving, like a mother. The image of God’s spirit flowing like a river is, in my opinion, a powerful one. If you think of God like a river, instead of a far-off deity that…
