a priest
I am a bread breaker and a storyteller. I am a priest in the world who believes that God is inviting us all to discover our own lives being broken open, blessed, and offered up to the world as a beloved gift bearing the love of Christ. I served the church in the Diocese of Maryland as a lay and ordained leader since 1996. After 20 years of ordained ministry, I renounced my vows in June of 2023. I am currently practicing my vocation in the wilderness, a church without roof or walls, cared for by wild beasts, ravens, and angels of mercy.
a yogi
In the last two years, my yoga practice with the community of people at Sol Yoga in Frederick has been a shelter in the storm and an invitation to thrive. I have begun to weave together my Christian theology and the practice of yoga in this community of love. It is a miracle and gift to discover that the yoke of Jesus and the yoke of Yoga are drawing me towards a union of body, mind, and spirit with God’s resurrection love. I still feel shy about claiming this calling, it is so new and it feels vulnerable and fragile. However, each Saturday at 9:30am, I am leading an hour of asana and pranayama practice at Sol. Come and join me!
an artist
I grew up with art, creative supplies, and artists all around me. Art has always been a language for expression. Now, I find myself turning to artistic expression as a language to process and share my journey with others. Some days I create visual art, other days I’m writing poetry, and sometimes it’s storytelling that tumbles from my soul. This artistic work is like a river that flows through me. If I do not make a channel for creative expression, a dam forms and grows a swampy bog full of decomposing organic material and breeding mosquitos. Really, it’s much better for all of us if I keep creating and let the spirit flow. It is the work of becoming a new creation.
a teacher
I love to teach because I love to learn. I get excited to share doorways into new understanding about the world and our place in it. I love to experience the joy and mystery of other people learning. As a teacher, it is my job to come alongside the learner and point the direction towards the light shining through their questions. Together, as fellow learners, we find our way into ever deepening knowledge that becomes wisdom when we practice it in our lives. I teach conflict management and transition management at the inpatient and outpatient Orenda Centers for addiction recovery. And I teach Life Skills with Living Well Youth Works after school program to middle schoolers at Frederick Classical Charter School.
a woman
In this season of exploring gender identity and questioning the binary culture of man-woman, I identify as a woman. I also honor the unique expression of womanhood that is present in my body. I am growing in my own embodiment and discovering that my flesh and bone, blood and spirit, is integrated with my experience, intellect, memory, imagination, and thought. My emotions reside in the tissues of my body and energy emerges from the intersections between my cells and my soul. My womanhood is expressed through this energy of my embodied life.
a mother
I have given birth to two daughters. The gift of becoming a parent invites me to raise my daughters to bring their whole selves to every moment and wrestle with the gifts and the challenges that have been given to them. I believe that they are forming me as a parent as much (or more) than I am forming them as my children. We are lovingly shaping each other like stones rolling in a stream. Sometimes this work is gentle, sometimes it feels like a flash flood, and sometimes our riverbed is dry. Parenthood is a mystery of changing circumstances and needs.