Today is my 57th birthday and I'm spending time in gratitude and quiet, recalling people and places who have shaped me into the person I am today:  My parents and sons, Dave and Chris, have taught me the most about life and love.  Bob and my closest friends have added a layer of learning filled with texture, truth, mercy and unconditional love.  My three brothers are individuals in their own right who I cherish.  And then there are the people I have known through Quaker meetings and Episcopal churches over many years who, through word and action, have deepened my faith and encouraged my unique journey as an artist and a priest:  artistpriest.  For all of you and the many opportunities afforded me in this lifetime so far, I am deeply grateful.

Yesterday I spent time with other folks in the garden here at the Guild, clearing out old growth so that the new will have space to come alive.  So it is with my own life as I prayerfully discern what is trying to find space to grow and what I need to clear out in order for this to happen.  As I go through this process, I am being attentive to the details of each day...whether that is in the dirt of the garden or noticing what is happening around me.

On Tuesday one of the staff members, Erica, worked with a young student studying weaving.  He completed his first ragrug, made of t-shirt strips.  I got to see the final steps and thought of God as Weaver of our lives.  Sometimes it's hard to see the pattern but eventually it emerges over time.

And then I worked on my own clay pieces...God as the Potter in our lives, shaping us into vessels.  I love, love, love working in clay, fabric and paints!

Scott, the potter/sculptor at the Guild, showed me how to do scraffito--which involves putting porcelain slip over a clay piece and then carving into it.  Way cool.

Peace, Hannah