Mary van Balen

I wish I had a photo of the campfire, of someone holding up jumbo marshmallows flaming on the end of a stick looking like a torch, or another women eating the gooey treats like a drumstick. Or a photo of a woman sitting by the pond casting and catching fish into the night. Or of the supermoon edging the dark rain clouds with silver and then emerging glorious and bright.

On Saturday I attended the first quarterly potluck at the new Bittersweet Discoveries B&B, a new venture by a friend who, after years of thinking and praying about what to do with her lovely property, decided to jump in and see what happens.

I drove down after a long day at work but was in plenty of time to enjoy food and conversation. I reconnected with an old friend and made some new ones. On each table my friend had papers and pencils. The papers told a bit about her hopes for the B&B and a list of possible retreat or workshop topics that would be of interest to those attending. The offerings ranged from drawing, journaling, centering prayer, nature studies to how to catch and fillet fish. (I think I know who would teach that one after watching her enjoy angling for much of the evening. )

Whatever choices are made and gatherings offered, the central goal of Bittersweet Discoveries is to offer a safe place of nurture and healing for woman, wounded by relationships, family, or just difficult encounters with life. A good idea. A needed ministry. Read More 

Four saints are mentioned for remembrance today on Universalis The first, St. Elizabeth of Hungary was daughter of a king and became the loving wife of Ludwig, a count, and mother of three which is cause for sainthood itself. Ludwig supported what some considered her extravagant generosity to the poor and the sick. After her husband's death, Elizabeth continued her life of service.

St. HIlda, also mentioned today, shared Elizabeth's eagerness to reach out to all regardless of status. She is known as a woman of great learning and wisdom who was the founding abbess of the famous monastery of Whitby, a double monastery that had both women and men as members. They lived together in small houses of two or three people, and the men and women came together to worship. All types of people sought her out for guidance, including royalty. She gave freely of her gifts to all, and I imagine, teaching women to read and study Scripture, as well as to pray with it, was not common in her time.

She encouraged the man who cared for the animals, Caedmon, in his poetry and song. He became a brother at Whitby and is the first English poet that we know by name.

St Hugh of Lincoln is another mentioned today. He was a Carthusian at the monastery of La Grande Chartreuse until, asked by King Henry II of England, he became prior of a Carthusian house in England. Later he was named bishop, a position he accepted only when directed to do so by the abbot of La Grande Chartreuse. He worked with his hands helping to extend the cathedral building, but is known primarily for his commitment to justice and service to the poor.

These three saints stood out to me as I read readings from Amos for the Hours today. Amos was prophet in the 700's BCE, when both Israel and Judah knew times of great prosperity and excess. The rich lived lavishly at the expense of the poor, and Amos spoke out forcefully against that, reminding them of God's vengeance against those who do not keep his commands Read More 

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ ...The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ – Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied:
‘If you only knew what God is offering
and who it is that is saying to you:
Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask,
and he would have given you living water.’
‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’
Gospel Jn 4

Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman was extraordinary. Not only was she a woman and a Samaritan, her history could suggest that she was of questionable character, having had five husbands and presently living with a man who was not. That she came to the well alone might be interpreted as her lack of acceptance by other women of her town since drawing water was a social as well as a practical task.

Reading their conversation, one gets the sense of friendly banter. As the priest at Mass this morning commented: "He said, then she said. He said, then she said." Jesus was not put off by her past or present for that matter. He seemed to enjoy the conversation and offered to her the truth that his disciples did not yet know: He was the Christ. Read More 

IMAGE: Saint Brigid

Last month I presented a reflection on being "Mystics in the Marketplace" to a group of Catholic business people and their spouses. Today is the feast of Saint Brigid of Sweden, a woman who could be called a patron saint of mystics involved in the world. Years ago, my daughter took the name Brigid at Confirmation, but I had not thought of the saint for years. Reading about her reminded me of the many reasons Kathryn had for choosing this woman as one to inspire her.

At the age of thirteen Brigid married a nobleman, Ulf, who shared both her noble background and her religious commitment. Together they raised four boys and four boys. Read More 

PHOTO: Mary van Balen
After nine hours of selling bras and underwear and cleaning out dressing rooms, I looked forward to getting off my feet. Hot humid air blew across the parking lot as I looked for the little Civic with an Obama/Biden sticker on the bumper. I collapsed into the driver's seat, turned the air conditioner on "high" and started the long drive home.

Traffic wasn't bad. I popped a voice therapy CD into the player, started taking deep breaths, and progressed through the four exercises that are helping combat chronic hoarseness. Eleven minutes and miles later I was cooling off and feeling less like a dishrag and more like a person. Read More 

I always liked walking into an elementary school building an hour or so before classes began, when quiet covered every classroom and office, inviting unhurried reflection as well as preparation for the day. Occasionally I saw a janitor pushing a wide mop down the old wooden hallways and making them shine. Now that I work at a large department store, I find similar calm when I arrive before its doors open for business. I also see the people who work behind the scenes to make most American department stores shine.

On Mother’s Day, I walked in the employee entrance and made my way downstairs to clock in at the register. I passed a number of workers, women mostly, wearing full aprons, pushing mops and buckets down wide aisles that reflected the dim lights of the early morning store. Read More