Episode #59- Lectio Divina on the Lord's Prayer with Scion

Hi friends,

We are ramping up to our Christmas event, keeping our hearts soft and ready for all the beautiful things that may happen through our little efforts. We’re sorting out food, planning an evening of stories and song, decorating the garden, and getting some carols ready! It’s so fun and wild. 

 Here’s what to expect in this episode:

* Ro and I chat about the week, including another art launch from Leaf - this time at our garden in Pai!-, a sweet Sunday lunch, and the result of months of washing and drying turmeric- a golden spiced milk mix!

* Scion guides a lectio divina meditation on the Lord’s prayer, from Matthew 6: 9-13.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 08:37.)

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

We’ll be on break next week, but see you in the New Year!

I pray for the light of Jesus to be your guide in this beautiful and complex season,

Love,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #58- Contemplation of Nature with Ro

Hi friends,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode:

* Ro and I chat about the week, including Leaf’s beautiful art launch, more Christmas prep, and what it takes to be cozy when we spend a lot of our time outside.

* Ro guides a contemplation of nature meditation. Remember to find an object of nature for this meditation! It can be something you can hold in your hand, or something you can see or imagine.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 10:20.)

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

I pray for peace in your homes during this Advent.

Much love,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #57- Imagination Meditation on Matt 5: 1-7 with Claire

Hi beautiful ones,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode:

* Ro and I chat about the week, including talk about Christmas and a Thanksgiving feast.

* Claire guides an imagination meditation on Matthew 5:1-7, reading from the Message version.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 08:10.)

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Love and love,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #56- Lectio Divina on Psalm 91: 1-7 with Scion

Hi friends,

The weeks are speeding by and the air is getting cool and crisp around here. Yesterday we starting talking about what we will do for Christmas. Whoa! 

 Here’s what to expect in this episode:

* Ro and I chat about the week, including a village visit and intensive work in the food forest!

* Scion guides a Lectio Divina meditation on Psalm 91: 1-7

(Scion spent some time looking into the original words and language of the text, and used a paraphrase that he put together from that. It’s playful and deep.)

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 07:40.)

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Many blessings to all of you,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #55- Contemplation of Nature with Chinua

Hi friends,

These past weeks have been so busy! I’m thankful to be back here. Thanks for your patience as I work out a new schedule for the podcast. :) 

 Here’s what to expect in this episode:

* I talk a little about our week, including hay fever, Crafternoon, and a community lunch of about eighty people.

* Chinua guides a Contemplation of Nature meditation.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 07:40.)

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Don’t forget to send us your photos of your meditation moments or circles,

Many blessings to all of you,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

My Bright Abyss

A short excerpt this week from Christian Wiman, from his stunning book, ‘My Bright Abyss’:

You know the value of your doubt by the quality of the disquiet that it produces in you. Is it a furious, centrifugal sort of anxiety that feeds on itself and never seems to move you in any one direction? Is it an ironclad compulsion to refute, to find in even the most transfiguring experiences, your own, or others’, some rational or “psychological” explanation? Is it an almost religious commitment to doubt itself, an assuredness that absolute doubt is the highest form of faith? There is something static and self-enthralled about all these attitudes. Honest doubt, what I would call devotional doubt, is marked, it seems to me, by three qualities: humility, which makes one’s attitude impossible to celebrate; insufficiency, which makes it impossible to rest; and mystery, which continues to tug you upward - or at least outward - even in your lowest moments. Such doubt is painful - more painful, in fact, than any of the other forms - but its pain is active rather than passive, purifying rather than stultifying. Far beneath it, no matter how severe its drought, how thoroughly your skepticism seems to have salted the ground of your soul, faith, durable faith, is steadily taking root.

(a post by Ro)

Podcast will be back next week.

Hi everyone, I’m taking a short break from editing audio files this week.

See you next week with a new podcast episode!

Love and blessings,

Rae

Episode #54- Lectio Divina on Jonah 2: 1-7 with Neil

Hi friends,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* Ro and Josh talk about the past week at Shekina Garden, including the finished garden beds!!

(PS, Josh says in the intro that they took us four years to build… which is true… kinda. We built an entire set of wood veggie beds, then realized we would have to keep replacing them every time they rotted, and built the brick beds we have today! Woot!)

Here’s a picture of the finished beds!

* Neil guides a Lectio Divina on Jonah 2: 1-7

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 04:30 but don’t skip the intro because it’s not a rotten piece of wood.) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Don’t forget to send us your photos of your meditation moments or circles!

Many blessings to all of you,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #53- Imagination Meditation on John 2: 13-22 with Ro

Hi friends,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* Ro and I talk about this past week at Shekina Garden, including a power outage, juggle jam, and devotion circle.

* Ro guides an imagination meditation on John 2: 13-22.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 06:40 but don’t skip the intro because you won’t hear Ro’s description of chopping ingredients for salsa!) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Don’t forget to send us your photos of your meditation moments or circles,

Many blessings to all of you,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #52- Lectio Divina :: Verses on the Voice of God with Rae

Hi friends,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* Ro and I talk about our week, including a benefit evening, my new book, and the mosquitoes that are biting us.

* I guide a Lectio Divina meditation on the theme of the voice of God.

The verses I used were: 

Job 37: 1-3

Psalm 29: 3-8

Ezekiel 10: 5, 43: 2

1 Kings 19: 11-13

Matthew 3: 17

John 10: 4

Revelation 3: 20

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 07:13 but don’t skip the intro because you’ll miss all the talk of bats!) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

We mentioned my new book in the intro. Here’s a link you can follow to find it. 

Much love,

~ Rae

***

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #51- Lectio Divina on Luke 6:27-36 with Neil

Hi friends,

 Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* I introduce the podcast with a little of what has been happening this week, including a visit from Leaf and Brendan, crafting together, and kids going to camp.

* Neil guides a Lectio Divina meditation on Luke 6: 27-36 

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 05:24 but don’t skip the intro because it’s not an old peanut shell.) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

I pray that you would find time to sit in the quiet this week. Much love,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

same and different

During a Nature Meditation recently, I spent some time inspecting an okra seed pod, which had dried on the plant. Grey, spiky and splitting open, these pods are rather beautiful in their own way. I opened up the seed pod, inspecting each little crevice where the seeds were tucked away - 81 little round seeds. Each one with the potential to grow another entire plant, dripping with okra fruit, full of their own seeds.

I thought about how all the okra plants in our garden - probably around 25 plants - came from one single pod like this one, that my landlord gave me just a few months ago. And now each of these plants has many many pods with many many seeds in each one. So much potential! So much life!

Chinua guided us to think about some questions regarding the element of nature we had chosen to meditate on:

How are you and this element of nature connected?

In what ways are you and this element of nature the same or very similar?

In what ways are you and this element of nature different?

How are God and this element of nature connected?

In what ways are God and this element of nature the same or very similar?

In what ways are God and this element of nature different?

I thought about the cycles of life in okra plants and how the scriptures tell us that the Divine is unchanging. Does God grow or change? I thought about how much joy comes to me through learning and growth. Does God get bored of always being the same?

Then I found something unexpected - there was another seam of seeds in the seed pod! 14 more perfect, round seeds. A total of 95, not 81. More than I expected, though I had looked carefully.

I almost heard a chuckle from the Divine - There is more! More than you know or expect, dear one.

(A post from Ro)

Episode #50- Lectio Divina on John 1: 29-34 with Neil

Hi friends,

Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* Ro and I chat about the week, including the first community lunch of the season, weird mud, and whittling.

* Neil guides a Lectio Divina meditation on John 1: 29-34. 

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 08:45 but don’t skip the intro because it contains lightness of spirit.) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

You really are lovely, I hope you know it!

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #49- Lectio Divina on Matthew 6: 25-33 with Laura

Hi friends,

And, we’re back! Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* I share a little about my trip and jet lag in the intro, as well as what we are up to this week.

* Laura guides a Lectio Divina meditation on Matthew 6: 25-33. (In the intro I accidentally say it was recorded at Shekina Garden- it wasn’t, it was recorded at a nearby guesthouse. You can even hear a different bird than usual.)

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 09:35 but don’t skip the intro because it’s not a withered vine. It’s not!) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Love and love, 

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Giving Is A River

Giving is a river

Ever flowing between

Open hands & hearts

The mystery of giving & receiving

Inseparable both intertwined

A trust in an abundant supply

A constant movement

May we remain open

Borders stretched wide

Learn the art of generosity

Connected to this stream of life

(poem and photo by Laura)

A little update.

Hi lovelies, it’s Rae, and I’m back from my travels, completely overcome by jet lag, and easing back into life.

We’ll take a break from the podcast this week and be back on Monday with a new episode. Things are progressing here in Pai… we’re out of flood danger and cleaning up, ready for community rhythms to begin again, hopefully next week! See you then.

Episode #48- Lectio Divina on Psalm 131 with Ro

Hi friends,

Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

*Ro and Neil chat about what’s happening in Pai, including long drives, acro jams, and two hundred birds.

* Ro guides a Lectio Divina meditation on Psalm 131.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 05:35 but don’t skip the intro because you won’t hear what Neil spotted as his 200th species of bird. The suspense!) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Love and love, 

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Episode #47- Lectio Divina on Isaiah 40: 28-31 with Rae

Hi beautiful ones. I’m on a little road trip, AND regular rhythms are not happening at the garden due to flooding, hence the late podcast episode. 

However, here are some things to think about: rivers, seas, smiles, music, carrots, and apples. Also trees. 

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father told the older son, “All that I have has always been yours.” He said this because the older son was having a hard time, feeling like he worked hard and was left out of the party.

Whether or not you feel like that, it is always true for you. 

All that I have has always been yours.

 The sky, that pool of rainbowy water on the ground (don’t drink it, but you can look at it), the friendly dog who comes to say good morning. 

It belongs to our father, so it is ours, when we reach out for it. When we receive love through it. When we treasure what we have, no matter where on earth we are roaming. 

Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* Ro offers a ground level insight into the flood, as well as talking about dear friends who are on their way and what’s been going on in Pai.

* I guide a Lectio Divina meditation on Isaiah 40: 28-31. 

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 07:10 but don’t skip the intro! It’s delicious.) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

I really love you, thank you for listening. 

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!

Beautiful Garden Beds and Flood Mud

During this low season in Pai - with less travellers here during the heavy rainy season - we have been working on a few projects at the Garden. Chinua has been revamping the workshop, organising and researching what tools we need to set it up as a decent woodworking space. Joshua has finished the Labyrinth. And Neil (and I, and other helpers who come along, but mostly Neil!) has been making beautiful red brick garden beds for all our vegetables and flowers at the front of the Shekina Garden property. The progress has been slow but satisfying, as we learn how to lay bricks together. If you listen to our podcast, you’ve probably heard Rae and I speak about them often over the last months. Many hours have gone into these garden beds, and as we creep closer to them all being finished, we have been talking about throwing a party to celebrate their completion, with Neil as the guest of honour! They’ve been planted with ginger, corn, okra, beans, mint, rosella, zinnias, lettuces and amaranth, and have been truly looking beautiful.

But as you may have read last week, three floods (so far) have come through our property, bringing mud, debris and chaos.

Thankfully they haven't been as high as the flood we experienced in 2016, and we had a little bit of prior warning, so were able to move valuable things up high onto benches and shelves. However, the whole property has gone underwater 3 times and there is weeks of cleaning and fixing and gardening work ahead. The frustrating and disheartening thing was that after the first two floods - which happened within 24 hours - we spent a whole week cleaning, fixing the fence, removing debris, setting fruit trees upright, high-pressure hosing out the kitchen and workshop, salvaging wood and other items... Just to have that work totally destroyed again a week later.

We are so thankful, however, that we haven't had any really serious damage - all our buildings are still standing and most of our fruit trees have survived. As have our beautiful brick garden beds! The ginger is happy as ever, the beans and okra are fruiting like mad and the mint seems ok too. There’s even been a papaya seedling and some sweet potato spring up that we didn’t know were there.

And we are so so thankful that we all have safe, dry homes to go to. So as the rains continue every day, we are waiting until the threat of any further flooding passes before we do any serious cleaning work.

There really is so much to learn from the work of gardening and interacting with nature in a hands-on way. Sometimes our work is undone. Sometimes it endures, or is changed. Our patience is tested, our bodies are tired out. We learn new ways to co-operate. We are reminded how tiny and helpless we are. We give thanks.

(a post by Ro)

Episode #46- Contemplation of Nature with Chinua

Well, finally!

I’m happy to be getting this podcast episode up. 

We’ve had a wild couple of weeks, with three floods overcoming our garden. The last one was the highest and the most disappointing, as some of our superhero Shekina fam had commenced with a LOT of cleaning.

Rainy season is not always like this, but we’re learning about patience and acceptance, I think, through this rainy season.

Here’s what to expect in this episode of the podcast:

* I talk a little about the flood and our beautiful bhajan night at a chai shop in town. (Indian traditional worship songs- these ones have been compiled and written by friends and Jesus devotees.)

* Chinua guides a contemplation of nature meditation.

(If you want to skip to the meditation, it’s at 09:10 but don’t skip the intro! It’s not a soggy donut.) 

Here’s the podcast on iTunes. 

Here’s the episode on Youtube.

Stay dry friends.

Love to you all,

~ Rae

The podcast will always be free, but you can support us on Patreon.com and get extra audio each month. We're so thankful for your support, which helps our communities to offer this kind of meditation and other Christ-centered practices for free. We need it! So, thank you!