Emmaus Blog

Friday,  May 8, 2026: 7 Words that Could Change the World About 80 years ago in a public school in Springfield, Oregon my day began with the Pledge of Allegiance. There had been a number of pledges ever since 1892 but this one was the official one adopted by Congress. It contained those words we all know affirming that the United States of America is indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Well, there never has been liberty and justice for all. Furthermore, the nation was not indivisible at that time and it certainly is not now. We are very divided into partisan tribes. One day long ago in that classroom in Springfield, the next thing on the agenda was a Protestant missionary who spoke about some nation in Africa where he “labored for the Lord.” He got my attention when he described the poverty of the people. My parents and all the folks I knew were working class people who had just emerged from the Great Depression. We knew poverty. Our home was two rooms in a broken-down f...

Monday, May 4, 2026: A Poem called "Please"  by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer If you are one who has practice meeting the pain of the world, we need you. Right now we need you to teach us it is possible to swallow what is weighty and still be able to rise. We need you to remind us we can be furious and scared and near feral over injustice and still thrill at the taste of a strawberry, ripe and sweet, can still meet a stranger and shake their hand, believing in their humanness. We need you to show us how we, too, can fall into the darkest, unplumbed pit and learn there a courage and beauty we could never learn from the light. If you have drowned in sorrow and still have somehow found a way to breathe, please, lead us. You are the one with the crumbs we need, the ones we will use to find our way back to the home of our hearts. Please I am adding Please to my collection of inspirations to stay sane and mentally healthy and able to find truth and beauty in the world these days. If y...

Sunday, May 3, 2026:  imagine a community that listens deeply, includes widely, and builds generously.  Reading 1 Acts 6:1-7 As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists (the Greek speaking converts) complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution (of food, clothing and other necessities). So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task The proposal was acceptable to the whole community. Reflection:  Living in the politically fragmented situation we find ourselves in, it is imperative that we see anew and live out with courage the vision of church that we find in today’s reading.  In our reading from Acts, we hear a complaint: the Greek speaking widows are being neglected in the daily dist...

Tuesday, April 28, 2026: More gifts from Saturday's Retreat; Dream Work and RAIN   Jeremy Taylor’s  Basic Dream Work  Tool Kit  • All dreams speak a universal language and come in the service of health and wholeness.  There is no such thing as a “bad dream”- only dreams that sometimes take a dramatically negative form in order to grab our attention.  • Only the dreamer can say with any certainty what meaning his or her dream may have.    This certainty usually comes in the form of a wordless “aha!” of recognition. This “aha” is a function of memory, and is the only reliable touchstone of dream work.  • There is no such thing as a dream with only one meaning.  All dreams and dream images are “over-determined” and have multiple meanings and layers of significance.  • No dreams come just to tell you what you consciously already know.  All dreams break new ground and invite you to new understandings and insights.   • Wh...

 Monday, April 27, 2026: Quotes from the Emmaus Retreat:  All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there. (Rumi) Home is the place we all must find, child! It’s not just a place where you eat or sleep. Home is knowing. Home is knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage. If we know ourselves, we’re always home, anywhere. (Glinda, the Good Witch, The Wizard of Oz)  In a dark time, the eye begins to see. (Theodore Roethke) We are what Christ is. (John Phillip Newell) Let go…or be dragged. (Old Zen saying) Many of us know the feeling of having abandoned some part of ourselves as we’ve journeyed through life. (Jane Pretat) You want to cry aloud for your mistakes. But to tell you the truth, the world doesn’t need an y more of that sound. (Mary Oliver) In our souls, as on the sea, storms subside gradually . ...