In February 1975, I joined the Spiritual Life Institute’s young Carmelite community in Sedona, Arizona. As a college student, I fell in love with the red-rock chaparral beauty near Oak Creek Canyon. I wanted to learn more about Catholic contemplative life, which I first encountered on my occasional retreats at the Institute’s Nada Hermitage....
David Denny
Merton, Tamales, and I
It’s not a stretch to say Dave Denny is what Thomas Merton would have looked like today had he lived. Both avid writers, teachers, inter-spiritual pioneers, activists, and...
Lightning Bugs and Backyard Ice Cream
My brother has a friend who teases him about growing up in a Norman Rockwell painting. It isn’t far from the truth. I suspect few people grew up as far from death and loss as I did. My friend Tessa’s experience of June was not so carefree, and she speaks beautifully and poignantly about this in her recent post, "Rare...
A Scimitar and a Nibble
I love the word sierra, and not just because you get to roll the r in Spanish. It means a range of jagged mountains, or a sawblade. The serrated complexion of the desert cuts into me. It makes me cry out, if only silently. If I did cry out loud, it would sound like the Muslim call to prayer, a lament, a curse, or a mayday alert. That’s the...
April’s Opulent Desert: Breathing Room
Our latest Fire and Light podcast is now available: "Breathing Room for the Spirit." We explore ways to create breathing room in a world of speed and utility. We describe a recent desert camping trip and I recite “Superbloom Toast,” the poem that appears below. Since April is National Poetry Month, we ponder the value of poetry and its...
Holy Week Haiku
Photo by David Denny taken at the San Carlos Apache Reservation.
Breathing Room for the Spirit
As days lengthen and spring arrives in the Sonoran Desert, wildflower season begins. We went for a walk at nearby Sanctuary Cove and found fourteen species. My favorite is the yellow-golden Mexican poppy. We’re also planting petunias and marigolds on our porches. Tessa is a more avid and attentive gardener than I am, so her porch is...
Weird Stuff I Love
All my life, I have heard the adage: “Count your blessings.” It works for me. And our friends at Grateful Living offer myriad ways to cultivate gratitude. Romanian novelist Petru Dumitriu witnessed and did some terrible deeds in his life. Yet he was still amazed by a beam of light striking a staircase or a jumble of kittens playing on a...
Blessing Candles and Celebrating John Lewis
In our second Fire and Light podcast, we explore the beauty of candlelight and the Feast of Candlemas. In honor of Black History Month we reflect on the spirituality of the late civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis. We celebrate the universal appreciation of candlelight and blessing candles in spiritual ceremonies. We suggest a...
Mother of Candlelight and Sorrow
I grew up in a Protestant family, so I learned about Roman Catholic feast days such as Candlemas when I was in college and began going on retreats at the Spiritual Life Institute’s Nada Hermitage in Sedona, Arizona. I discovered the feasts that followed Christmas and loved the reading from Isaiah that accompanied the Epiphany mass. With its...