Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

A recent experience being pulpit preacher gave me new insights into being a member of the family of preachers.    I had been invited as a MOSES leader to preach about risk at a Unitarian worship service. As preachers, we are part of a team.   Shown in the picture accompanying this post was the visible part of the team.   Fellow MOSES member, worship coordinator and yours truly.   I don’t usually smile well for pictures, but the camera caught me as I was recognizing a person I had recently met at a MOSES meeting. We had shared our passion for MOSES, (Madison Organizing in Strength, Equality and Solidarity.)   We work on prison reform. Her presence was a team moment for me. I spoke of risk for the biblical MOSES, Jesus the new Moses, Harriet Tubman the Moses of her people, and MOSES congregations. Members risk speaking up about injustice.   I enjoyed having a day in the pulpit, but the real preaching came from the people.   “I have fo...

I feel sad.  My body longs for light. I think that I should be a bear so that I could hibernate for this dark season.  SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder is descriptive of what this northerner experiences this time of year. Seeing the Christmas lights are a little comfort. For me taking time to light one advent candle at a time is more than just a symbol that Christmas is coming. When I sit in stillness the season of SAD and Advent reminds me that my soul also longs for light….. for enlightenment so I can let go of selfish plans and desires for freedom for 22,000 people in my state's prisons (Wisconsin) for healing for families I know that long for reconciliation for wholeness for the wounded earth smothered by carbon emissions for fullness of the universe where love and justice reside What are longings of your heart?   During Advent we pray for light.   Advent can be a time to share our longings with others in our life. Then we can remember, the ...

 We moved from Community  Days to welcome a new candidate for membership, receive another into a sacred year of novitiate and celebrate Saint Dominic Day.  This Saint Dominic Day I am basking in the energy of community days.  I AM A NEW PERSON. I am changed because I had the privilege of sitting in listening circles. We listened intently as each one told the story of what has brought her/him s to widen life circles.  With inspiration from Barbara Marx Hubbard   www.bararamarxhubbard.com we saw  our personal and communal growth as part of the evolving universe. We are called to choose to be  part of evolution, that is  to a higher unity in love. We saw  American Dominicans as  one of evolution's most potent forces Today I am carrying a new sense of power within me.  One place I share power is called WISDOM.   WISDOM groups work with others to reduce the prison population in the State of Wi...