Easter Sunday
O Divine Light, in the darkness of this hour we watch and we wait
as you shed your brightness once again upon a frightened and hurting world.
We pray that by your Light, new light is kindled in our hearts
that we may become beacons of your Love and healers in your name.
May the Light of Christ shine upon the whole Earth,
restoring all people, all creatures, and all beings
to Oneness with You.
Amen.
Staying Put
Two months ago, I wrote about my commitment to stay in my poustinia in the forest through Pentecost, on May 31,...
Voices of Dawn
I awake early this morning. The sky is lightening, just enough to show contrast with the dark form of the trees. I...
Morning Greetings
Early in the morning, I walk in the forest, exchanging greetings with the woods creatures. The birds, of course, sing...
Gratitude & Grief
My head is all in a muddle this week, not knowing which way to turn. My heart is filled to overflowing, but I can’t...
What Holds You?
The usual props of daily life have fallen away. Routines are disrupted, or exploded into bits. Not only the outward...
Earth Day
Fifty years ago today, as a freshman in high school, I walked the streets of Lexington, Massachusetts, with a parade...
One Body
Dear Friends, I am on the other side, now, but the passage through Holy Week, in my solitude, was intense. The...
A Light in the Darkness
Easter Sunday O Divine Light, in the darkness of this hour we watch and we waitas you shed your brightness once again...
Hold the Emptiness
For the past several days, as I have been walking at Church of the Woods, my eyes and feet have been guided toward...
Pockets of Love
I pray this morning in the holy juxtaposition of life and death. Before the sun was up, I heard the knockety,...
Renewing the Face of the Earth
When this land came into our hands, in 2012, it was a holy mess. My friends, Mark and Jenny, had brought me here seven...
Without a Path
I walked in a part of the woods, this morning, that does not yet have a path. It will one day, I know, possibly quite...
Stephen Blackmer
Stephen Blackmer is founding executive director of Kairos Earth and chaplain of Church of the Woods. Steve comes to this with 30 years of conservation experience, having founded and built conservation organizations including the Five Rivers Conservation Trust, Northern Forest Alliance and Northern Forest Center.
A midlife shift led him to Yale Divinity School and ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church, carrying the question in his heart and mind: “How can being a priest deepen my work to conserve the Earth? What does the Christian tradition have to offer to this work? How can the Christian tradition be re-understood and re-imagined in a time of need? How can the conservation movement recover its understanding of the Earth as holy ground?
