Casa Chiara Hermitage: Wind and Rain of Imagination

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Wind and Rain of Imagination

Wind woke us this morning, rattling the house, making St. Momo a little nervous, and enlivening the chimes hanging on the 400 year old oak in the back yard of Casa Chiara. Now the rain falls, and I am reminded of the wonder of imagination. Last night we had our weekly Buncum Mystics meeting with James and Lorie. (Buncum is the little ghost town about a mile from our houses). James brought CDs of talks on imagination recorded by John O'Donohue before his untimely death a few years ago. I wanted to take notes because of my hope to keep his words, to wonder at their meaning, to spin them into my spirit. But by doing so, I frustrated my equally powerful need to let those words wash over me like rain, to let them be the wind I breathe.

A mystical life is nourished by surrendering to the wind and rain of imagination. Imagination gives rise to wonder. Wonder hears the Call of the Divine One.

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I'm a writer and observer of beauty in nature and people, a singer of praise and a dreamer who stares into both light and darkness hoping to see someday the Face of God.

My journey has led from the northern lakes, to a convent on the prairie, to lifelong education including a doctorate in ministry, to a vocation of midwifery of souls, to this place, Casa Chiara, where the light shines and John Sack and I join our lives, care for nature, pray and contemplate, study and write.

Published Works: THE ROOT OF BEAUTY, THE EDGE OF TENDERNESS, THE FARNEAR JOURNALS, GYPSY BONES, ALTAR MUSIC, CIRCLE OF MYSTERIES, WOMANCHRIST, BLESSINGS, FINDING STONE, CARING COMMUNITY, A CRY IN THE DESERT.

Los Angeles Times Best Novel of 2000 for ALTAR MUSIC. Recipient of four prizes/commendations for CIRCLE OF MYSTERIES.

John R. Sack was born in Springfield, Ohio. He earned a BA in English from Yale University and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington.

As a young man, he spent two years as a Trappist monk under the tutelage of Thomas Merton, his novice master at Our Lady of Gethsemane Abbey in Kentucky. In the 1970s, he trained in a Hindu ashram in Ganeshpuri, India. Spiritual awakening and transformation are common themes in both his fiction and nonfiction works.

He is the author of the internationally acclaimed novel, THE FRANCISCAN CONSPIRACY and a companion work, ANGEL'S PASSAGE. THE WOLF IN WINTER is a fictional tale of the early career of Francis of Assisi. His nonfiction YEARNING FOR THE FATHER, a guide to contemplative prayer, is the culmination of years of research and reflection on the Lord's Prayer and his exploration of numerous spiritual traditions. Other works are listed on his Amazon home page.