Author: revdbeth

I am a retired Episcopal priest after serving over thirty years in Diocese of Texas and a Benedictine Oblate of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana. I'm also an eighth generation Texan. My daughter, The Homesick Texan, has moved back home to Texas. My son and his wife live in Bend, Oregon, with my two grandsons who call me Grandma Texas.

Thresholds of the day

Thresholds are places we cross as we travel from one space to another. Wise ones write about intentionally considering thresholds as a spiritual practice.


One of my practices on this Lenten retreat on Tybee Island is being mindful of sunrises and sunsets as thresholds of the day. I’ve been up at 6 each morning to walk to the beach to watch the sunrise. On the other hinge of the day, I’ve been intentional about being present on the marsh to see the sunset.  

These pauses have been spectacular not only because of their beauty, each unique to the conditions of that particular morning or evening.  The experiences before, or even at that very moment, have also been part of what is being received. 

This morning two doves, sitting in stillness, waited on the boardwalk I cross as if to give a blessing of peace to the day. 

Soldiers from a nearby base ran along the beach as the sun rose, with heavy backpacks weighing them down, each young man leaving deep impressions of his boot prints in the sand. I offered a silent blessing, one by one, as they jogged past. 

Since before Jesus’ time, holy men and women have stopped at thresholds throughout the day and offered prayers to God. I join them. 

Receiving Photography

Several years ago when I was traveling in Turkey, my new digital  camera was stolen. A sister pilgrim had brought a back up film camera that she leant me. Rather than taking endless photos, I had to be very intentional about which moment to photograph. I found myself being a much more careful observer without a camera to “capture” the places I went.   
As I walked to the beach this morning for the sunrise on Tybee Island beach, I remembered the words of Christine Valters Paintner who invites us not to take photographs but to receive them. 
Here I was with my brand new iPhone in hand, bought particularly for my upcoming trip to Iceland with it’s reportedly improved camera.  Swirling in my head were other words from my friend, Meredith+, a gifted Episcopal priest, who invites those in her parish to refrain from taking photographs during worship because it’s difficult to worship through a camera. 

As the sun rose in the sky, a handful of early risers gathered on the beach, all of us with our phones raised. 


And then God stepped in. Our phones were lowered, and we began to chat. In the shared receiving of the spectacular rising sun, we began to share our lives. 


Three young women from China, attending college in North Carolina, studying to be teachers. A couple from Virginia on a road trip.  So many smiles. Photos exchanged and given. So much joy. So very much received. 

A Sabbath’s Day Walk

It’s my Sabbath. The day for the monkey brain to rest. For email checking to cease. To give to God the many, many things left undone.  

To take a Sabbath’s day walk. 
On my list of things I’ve wanted to do is walk to my neighborhood Starbucks. It’s only a mile away, but being a Texan, I always drive there.  
Still.  It’s my practice not to drive on my Sabbath.  And I had a reward for free food that expires today. So I decided today was my day to walk for my breakfast. 
I downloaded the new Kate Campbell cd. A perfect choice since she recorded it on the road, and the songs have a traveling theme. 
Walking in Houston can be a challenge. No sidewalks. Cars whizzing by. Direct routes blocked by security gates.  

Once safely arrived, I enjoyed my free breakfast sandwich and was quiet amidst the morning rush. 

I read my morning devotional and decided to respond to the 40acts challenge immediately. I bought a Starbucks’ card and loaded it with cash.  On my way home, I stopped in the bank next door to the Starbucks and gave the tellers the card, inviting them to enjoy coffee on me today. I left with them sending me God’s blessings. 
On the way home, I listened to a podcast I never have “time” for. I also received the gift of a butterfly sighting and the first bluebonnet of the year. 
In the Orthodox tradition, a Sabbath walk is about half a mile. I’m grateful that mine could be longer today.