Each year, Companions gather in a memorial service to remember our sisters who have died in the past year. We celebrate lives well lived and mark a Companion’s move to what we lovingly call the Paradise Chapter.

Sometimes the “changes and chances of this life,” instead of wearing us down, present us with something life-giving instead. Which is how I found myself drawn to spiritual direction.

Mystic, visionary, artist of transcendent word imagery, self-described “unruly woman of God” – Mechthild of Magdeburg has a voice that soars with radiance across the 800 years since she was alive.

In her inspiring keynote, Civil Rights leader Ruby Sales insisted on the connection between love and liberation. To people of color she said, “You have to love yourself. You can’t let yourself be defined by those who do not love

Surprise! What a rich experience meeting on Zoom is turning out to be for Companion chapters. We are getting good at enjoying each other in little boxes.  Of course we miss the hugs, the spontaneous laughter, singing together, but it’s