Threading the Gold: Poems Written During Artist-In-Residency at Westminster Presbyterian Church 2023-2024

This poetry collection takes us on a journey from Advent to Lent during a time of conflict and chaos on the global stage and an increase in those who are in dire circumstances, through reflections and responses to what was heard and experienced while attending worship services and adult education classes as artist-in-residence at Westminster Presbyterian Church. These poems consider the balance between a mystical path of inner contemplation and a heartfelt desire toward activism. They ask how do we align with Divine Love and what is our responsibility to our neighbors, even when those neighbors are in a country across the globe? What does it mean to be broken and whole at the same time and who do we turn to when we feel devastated by loss and outrage? Where do we find the Divine in difficult times and what do these ancient stories have to teach us? These poems include imagining several Biblical figures and their choices and decisions, and what we might learn from them. They reflect on loss and grief and grace. They take us through a portal to witness the holy in the ordinary and the power of prayer to uplift our consciousness. They pay attention to sorrow and joy and the dance between repose and ecstasy. They are grounded in spiritual practice and inquiry that lead to healing and transformation. From the weariness of Santa trying to find the homes of those who do not have a home to the joy of finding connection and community, these poems illuminate the gold of spiritual awareness threaded through all circumstances.