I have been described as a dreamer, a star-gazer, a rainbow chaser. That leads me to imagine what can be, and figure out how to make the impossible possible. This call has been manifested in my work life as a first grade school teacher, a religious educator and Biblical storyteller, a mission volunteer in Hungary, and a non-profit executive director.  Now in retirement I serve as Senior Warden of my parish as it creatively reinvents itself.

My soul place is our family’s camp (Maine term for a cottage on a lake) on Sand Pond (really a lake). We are there May through September. Living Water was written there one summer, accompanied by the loons.  

Otherwise, I live with my little dog as a member of a residential healing community for women that I helped found in Lewiston – Sophia’s House. I volunteer in my neighborhood, practice “free listening” on the street, and with the help of Maine Audubon’s “Bringing Nature Home” program, am learning to “re-wild” by landscaping our house and church yard with native plant for birds and pollinators.

Living Water began as a parish program of preparation for confirmation.  It became my thesis project for an MEd at Boston College.  In 2002, in collaboration with friends and colleagues, it was enriched and published.  It is now available in a 20th anniversary, revised and expanded edition. The collaboration continues with this website and social media sharing.  I hope you contribute stories of your experiences living the vows of baptism, and help crowd source related books, movies, artwork and music for each section. 

 Unfortunately, in the last minute, the beautiful forward to the 2nd edition, by Sharon Pearson, was edited out due to page count limits. It is a double loss as Sharon, while an editor at CPG, and before she retired, was the one who advocated for the book to be revised, updated and re-published. Please enjoy her words HERE. You also might enjoy Sharon’s website – Rows of Sharon.

Authors and their books that have inspired me on this journey:

Parker Palmer – Hidden Wholeness and Let Your Life Speak. Also see his work at The Center for Courage and Renewal.

Reshaping Ministry: Essays in Memory of Wesley Frensdorff. Now out of print, but in libraries. 

Marjory Zoet Bankson – The Call to the Soul: Six Stages of Spiritual Development 

Elizabeth O’Connor – Journey Inward, Journey Outward 

I am now reading a new book, just out : 

Kevin Adams – Living Under Water: Baptism as a Way of Life (Happens to have the same subtitle!)

The singer songwriter, Carrie Newcomer, has provided the soundtrack for my life lately.