Sunflower Seeds

 

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

Sunflower Seeds

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

Once I was reading an article on architects. (I enjoy reading articles on things I know little or nothing about!) In it, the author was trying to discover what distiguished the really good architects from the medicore ones. Her conclusion? It was not the fact that good architects did things

John Muir has many descriptive titles. He’s been called a naturalist, author, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, environmental philosopher, inventor, mountaineer, co-founder of the Sierra Club, and Father of our National Parks. His biographer Steven Holmes, added another title: the patron saint of 20th Century American environmental activity. So, who was this

Recently I was reflecting on the story of the prophet Elijah hiding in the cave. You are probably familiar with the story. Elijah is running for his life. He has angered the “wicked” queen Jezabel, and she has sent her henchmen to find him and kill him (1 Kings: 19:1-18).

(Introduction: September 28 is World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The Church has celebrated this day since 1914. That’s 111 years! I wrote this reflection not with that day in mind. But after I wrote it, I realized the words below are indirectly related to this day, a day on

As you know, I read alot. Besides reading scripture everyday, I also pray with small periodicals that nourish my prayer–such as Living Faith, Living with Christ, and Give Us This Day. In addition, I always have several books by my reading/prayer chair. Often I come across little kernels of nourishment,

For many years I have been drawn to using works of art during my prayer. When I made my annual retreat in the past, I would be sure to pack a couple of books of paintings and photography to take with me. Now I take my ipad and go online.

For me, the answer to that question is, “Yes!” So today’s blog is devoted to humor. I hope some of these make you smile, laugh, or at least groan! Let’s start with the kids: My 5-year-old couldn’t remember the word for tomorrow, so she called it “nexterday.” We gave our

The Gospels record many words spoken by Jesus, but these four words are never ascribed to him: “I told you so!” I think this fact gives us an insight into the way Jesus interacted with people. When someone says to us, “I told you so!” they are really telling us

The other day I was going through an old file and came across this story I used in some of my religion classes years ago. It’s a true story by Antoinette Bosco (1928-2020), an award winning journalist and spiritual writer. I will paraphrase her words. When I was 11 years

I was ordering something online. I needed to spend about $10 more to get “free” shipping. So I checked out the books. That’s when I came across The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. I saw that it was a New York Times best seller, a National Book Award Finalist,

Meet Sr. Melannie

Hi and welcome to my blog! I’m Sister Melannie, a Sister of Notre Dame residing in Chardon, Ohio, USA. I’ve been very lucky! I was raised in a loving family on a small farm in northeast Ohio. I also entered the SNDs right after high school. Over the years, my ministries have included high school and college teaching, novice director, congregational leadership, spiritual direction, retreat facilitating, and writing. I hope you enjoy “Sunflower Seeds” and will consider subscribing below. I’d love to have you in our “sunflower community.” Thank you!

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