Our Hearts Are Breaking: A Talk by Penny

Hello, everyone…I was invited to preach at St Johns UCC Church here on Madeline Island last Sunday. I gave a talk on welcoming our grief, for in our grief we also will find the seeds of kindness and healing. This is a link to the whole service; my talk begins about minute 13.

 

11 thoughts on “Our Hearts Are Breaking: A Talk by Penny

  1. How wonderful to find this talk in my inbox Penny. I needed this acknowledgement that it is ok to be in my grief during this time of extreme distress in our country and homes. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and wisdom with us. Much love to you.

    1. oh dear dear Polly…how wonderful to hear from you! Think of you two so often….how strange our lives have been. And our world – good grief, it is startling and scary, and full of grief and fear. Grateful for you both…love

  2. Hi Penny.
    Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and knowledge. I look forward to to all of the teachings you have to offer.
    Much love,
    Terry

    1. oh dear Terry….thank you for your post, and for your (still unanswered”
      email…I’m swamped. So so glad to be in touch with you…love to you both

  3. Dear Penny,
    Thank you for your profound and heartening sermon. As we navigate through these turbulent and uncertain times, listening to your sermon was such a blessing by allowing our grief to come to the surface. Thank you for letting my mind and body soften.
    In addition to being an excellent Professor then, you are one of the most compassionate people I have ever come across in my life. It resonates in your talk here and thank you for always being kind in every step of your life. I am certainly blessed by your kindness.

    With much metta and many blessings,
    Tsering

    1. deep thanks to you, dear Tsering, for this beautiful comment. I’m so grateful for our friendship, and for all you have taught me over the years.
      Blessings to you and your family….Penny

  4. Thank you Penny for the email connecting me to your talk! I appreciate the time, energy and creativity you put into it. I miss connecting with you in person and hope that could happen in the coming weeks.
    Sending Hugs (virtual of course).

  5. Thanks you for sharing your thoughts on grief and compassion, Penny. I totally agree that we need to recognize our own failures and hurts and forgive ourselves to arrive at the space of compassion for others… even for the people who are doing so much of the hurting of others…. who are using power in selfish ways….

    I am interested in working on working toward self healing through creativity (painting, drawing) as a first step on the path of dismantling white privilege. If this resonates with you, I would love to talk!

  6. What a wonder-full, moving and heartening ‘sermon’ of ponderings and powerful poetry, Penny. Thank you, kindly!

    I have finished my first read of your book and am so loving your essays on how you received the teachings and those on compassion, starting with Noah’s wife. How brilliant to explore her perspective as a way to investigate the dark goddess energy. My next adventure is to delve into the ones on fear before I re-read the book.
    Meeting you online through Barb and Einstein and being gifted with your book and now the resources on your website have been huge blessings, and very welcome miracles at this time of such huge shifts and ”Showers of Spirit.” I also greatly enjoyed your interview with Patricia Pearce.

    I have been ‘willing forth the highest reality available to me at this time’ for many months now and I do feel that connecting with you has been a most delightful result of that.

    I trust that you are taking excellent care of your precious self during these unprecedented times of enormous potential for enlightenment.

    Hope to see you again sometime, online or maybe in person…maybe even in Canada once things open up again….

    Hugs and blessings of highest good to you,

  7. What a profound and beautiful talk, dear Penny! Yes, grief… as a culture we’ve learned ways to avoid it. So true that we need to face our fears and our grief. This is the gift–and the challenge– of the spiritual path.
    I recently heard someone read a book they’ve written for children of all ages on inviting their sadness in for a cup of tea! Poignant and powerful, it was evocative of Rumi’s Guesthouse poem which you shared. And, yes, the creative possibilities before us are exhilarating but first there’s the grief needing, longing to be embraced. So wonderful to see you and hear you speak, such eloquence, so much beauty. Much love to you.

Leave a Reply to Polly Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives