prayers + writings — Water & Bones

May we remember that we are meant to be free.

prayerKristen PsakiAugust 17, 2021love, Freedom

Grounding Meditation

In the wake of community trauma - most recently the mass shooting in our community - Boulder, CO - let's breathe together.

meditation, videoKristen PsakiMarch 23, 2021grief, gun violence, mass shooting, breathComment

Shaping Change

“All that you touch, you Change.
All that you Change, changes you.
The only lasting thing is Change, God is Change.”
These are the wise words of Octavia Butler - we’ll come back to them in a moment.

Chaplains for Whiteness

Reflections after the Jan. 6th insurrection.

I’ve been thinking about chaplains for whiteness.
Well actually all I could really say at first was “white supremacist terrorists!” - loudly - as if really accurate language would at least reveal the devastating hypocrisy in it all.

Kristen PsakiJanuary 15, 2021grief, collective grief, white supremacy, death, dying, insurrection, prayer

Winter Solstice Blessing

Thank you.
Thank you to these long nights.
These reminders to rest, to restore, to heal.
To move in our cyclical bodies.

prayerKristen PsakiDecember 21, 2020winter solstice, blessing, cycles, beauty, womb, bodies, life, luminous darkness

Finding Our Way In Chaos

And I needed to evacuate.
Maybe some of you have had a moment like this - maybe even more than one moment - the rise of unprecedented weather events touching more and more - and more - human lives in recent years.

Calwood Fire Prayer

Prayers for all life - human life, more than human life.
For human families whose homes are in flames,
for forest families whose homes are in flames.

prayerKristen PsakiOctober 17, 2020fire, climate grief, water

My Apologies

This High Holy Day season reminds all who are listening - to pause - and to turn toward all the places within our lives that sit heavy in disrepair. But what really makes a good apology? And what exactly is forgiveness?

To Kill a Pig/Shaped by the Harvest

On one side the image of verdant and watery globe with the headline - “How we saved the world: an optimists guide to life on earth in 2070.” Flip the magazine over to see a dry, scorched earth with the words : “How We Lost the Earth: a pessimists guide to Life on Earth in 2070.”

sermonKristen PsakiApril 26, 2020life, death, climate grief, farming, pigs, Earth DayComment

Climate Grief

Climate grief can’t be fixed - it can only be felt.

And so perhaps its time that we remember how to grieve.
To not look away, but to move in closer.
To let the tears flow as long as they want to flow.
To find a place to yell.
To sing a song about the earth’s beauty with both joy and sadness.

sermonKristen PsakiFebruary 23, 2020grief, climate grief, despair work, dr bayo akomolafe, shauna janz, sacred grief, joann macy, emotions, ellen bass, love, nayyirah waheedComment

Fire Communion Blessing & Prayer

May what you have released here be forever gone from your spirit and cease to trouble you, that you might move forward to embrace new gifts, and new life.

prayerKristen PsakiDecember 29, 2019Fire, New Years Eve, Letting go, RenewalComment

Ashes: Celebrating Fire Communion

What old stories are holding you back from rebirth? From singing your song?

homilyKristen PsakiDecember 29, 2019New Years Eve, fire, Communion, Ritual, Letting go, Jan Richardson, Phoenix, Burning DayComment

Sacred Ground: Call to Worship

What if each and every time we gather
we land on sacred ground

call to worshipKristen PsakiSeptember 29, 2019Comment

Drink in Beauty

When you take a bite of something warm and delicious cooked for you by someone who makes you laugh, when you share sticky fruit with another who you love, relationships of love and sex, based in trust and honest communication, the sound of the crunching forest underneath your feet, the smudge of paints.

sermonKristen PsakiMay 5, 2019Beauty, Pleasure, Desire, Eros, Adam and Eve, Bible, Audre Lorde, Erotic, adrienne maree brown, Freedom, SpringComment

Invocation

prayerKristen PsakiJune 23, 2018invocation, prayer, queerness, ancestors

The Big Squeeze

The big squeeze is - valuing a shared meal with your family - cooking, planning, coordinating for the one agreed meal of the week - and being met with someone who is grumpy, someone else complaining about the food and the dog peeing on the floor.

The Wisdom of a Dandelion

sermonKristen PsakiApril 22, 2018Biomimicry, Darkling Beatles, Earth Day, Climate Change, Oppression, Love, Justice, Wisdom, Heart, Healing, white supremacy, racism, beauty, wisdom, Standing Rock, Water, Indigenous Leaders, Prayer

A Prayer for Your Longing

Spirit of Love, Spirit of Beauty, Spirit of Mystery
Many of us long to connect.
To feel connected to something bigger than ourselves.
To feel that tug of larger purpose, deeper purpose moving us through each day.

prayerKristen PsakiMarch 11, 2018prayer, longing, beauty, spirit

A Prayer for Balance

Spirit of Life, Spirit of Long Journeys - of Joys and Sorrows

We long for balance.
For that place of rest.

prayerKristen PsakiMarch 4, 2018prayer, balance, breath, spirit, connection, that which holds all Comment

These Hands

We give thanks for these hands
hands that have worked hard for many years
hands that have held many tools in many settings
hands that have welcomed new friends,
held babies,
wiped away tears,
written letters,
molded pottery

prayerKristen PsakiJanuary 14, 2018prayer, gratitude, breath, ancestorsComment