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Time to say Hello again Hi friends, Here it is, more than midway through 2022, and I am finally taking a few moments to connect with you here on my website. Hopefully, many of you have been following my posts over the last many months on Facebook. I haven't been silent. I guess age has played a part in my absence from this website. Frankly, and I apologize for this, I forget that I have more than one way to reach out to all of you. So here I am today, asking for your forgiveness. You have not been forgotten and I have spent this past week or so updating my w[...]

Hi friends, It's been far too long since I have written a post here. I do post on my Facebook page pretty regularly so I hadn't checked out the many responses here for some time. I am delighted so many of you have written. It has been quite a year we have all lived through. The quarantine and the murder of George Floyd impacted all of us I'm sure. I am still trying to find answers for why our country is so divided. I'm not sure we will ever close the divide that has developed between the "warring" sides but I am a believer in hope and prayer so I know my "work"[...]

I remember as though it were yesterday the first time I heard “The Peace Song.” It was at the close of a Sunday service at the Unity Church in Golden Valley, MN. I was just a few months sober and had gone to Unity at the suggestion of one of my new friends in AA. At the close of the service all the congregants stood and held hands. And then the singing began. I was mesmerized. As the tears streamed down my face, I stood transfixed by the simple beauty of the words, the beauty of the voices that surrounded me and the quiet beauty of the truth of the message tho[...]

Step Eleven softens my heart every time it’s the topic of discussion in one of my meetings.  That wasn’t the case when I first got sober however; it wasn’t the case for the first year or two.  Not because I didn’t believe in the possibility of the power of prayer or meditation; but because I had never tried it before walking into AA.  And then when I did, I simply couldn’t sustain conscious contact when I did try.  Nor could I fathom what God’s will for me might be.  Actually, I had never ever considered the concept that God might have a plan for[...]

Rapt attention, as I mentioned in an earlier essay, surpasses in value every other character trait we may possess.  The decision to honor our fellow travelers with devoted attention, in regard to their every word, their loud as well as their quiet behavior, their very presence in our lives regardless of what the expression is; is a gift beyond measure.  This idea may feel suffocating, when first considered.  However, it offers any one who embraces it freedom at a very deep level.  Freedom.  No other decision about life’s journey and our responses to any one[...]

  Karen Casey Writing Workshop The Past is Never Really Past:  Following the Thread of our Life September 13-15, 2013 Friday 7-9 • Saturday 8:45-4 • Sunday 8:45-12 at the FRESH Renewal Center in Augusta, MO Our present is the accumulation of past experiences, but quite often seen with greater clarity and a willingness to share what we have learned with others.  During this weekend workshop we will invite “our memory” to look with fresh eyes at experiences and people who made their mark on our lives.  Bring your special it[...]

I spent a few days this past week enjoying a silent retreat at the Benedictine Center in Maplegrove, MN .  In fact, the retreat was more than enjoyable.  It was a blissful experience.  I had gone to many retreats in my lifetime and have led even more retreats than I have attended.  But I have never been silent for three days.  I unplugged my phone; left my computer at home; had no television, radio or newspapers at my disposal.  The quiet claimed my attention. Nothing more. Many asked me what was I looking for, including the spiritual director I met with[...]