Hello, Easter, My Old Friend

April 9, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

There is nothing, nothing, nothing, until, suddenly, there is everything: a haze of green on the trees, daffodils trumpeting in the breeze, and fruit trees bursting into blossom like popcorn popping. I keep, without even trying, a growing mental list: Saucer magnolia (check) Japanese cherry tree (check) Apricot tree (check) Donut peach tree (check) Early daffodils (check) Forsythia (check) I can’t wait to add: tulips, viburnum, and apple blossom. This is my seventh spring at Maplehurst. It now feels... Read more

Practicing New Life in the Cruellest Month

April 2, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

The opening of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” is often quoted this time of year. I always like to join the annual chorus: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. In winter, these lines are nonsense to me, though I will forever love their sound and their... Read more

The Practice of Watering Dry Bones

March 30, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

I write these Saturday morning posts … on Saturday morning. Coffee cup nearby. Cartoon noises drifting from the family room. The sun just beginning to brighten the room. Today, this room is a little brighter because the forsythia is in full bloom. Not outdoors. Outdoors, the trees and shrubs still rattle their dry bones when the early spring wind blows through them. This old farmhouse is sheltered by many very old maple trees. It is like living beneath a... Read more

A Feast in the Desert

March 26, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

We do not always get to choose whether we step into the wilderness or not. But every year as Lent begins, we are invited to make that choice. We are invited to step willingly into the valley of the shadow of death, where sin and brokenness are laid bare and where comfort and distraction do not obscure the harsh reality of the cross. What a surprise, then, to find that even the desert has pools of water. Even while... Read more

Pursuing Less This Lent

March 19, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

For too many years in a row, I’ve tried to observe Lent my own way. Giving up chocolate or sugar or my cell phone always seemed so paltry in comparison with a world’s weight of sin and suffering. And so I’ve gone my own way. One year, instead of giving up something, I added fixed-hour prayer. Instead of reading only the morning prayers in my much-loved copy of The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime, I set an alarm on my... Read more

Don’t Seize the Day (Let the Day Seize You)

March 16, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

I began this “Cultivating Glory” column assuming I would lay out for you (and myself) those seasonal practices that help me prepare the ground of my own life for the glory of God. I would describe the small habits and daily tasks that shape my ordinary days into fertile soil for something more extraordinary. Mine would be a posture of observation and reflection leading to mastery. Though the phrase “seize the day” has always seemed a little too energetic... Read more

Because We Are All Placemakers

March 12, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

That’s the claim I make in this book: like the God to whom we belong, we are placemakers. That’s right. All of us. Whether we have green thumbs or not. Whether we live in old farmhouses or share a dorm room with two others. Whether we are travelers or homebodies. We are all standing in some place, and we can choose to tend that place. We can choose to cultivate beauty, comfort, and peace right where we are. Maybe not... Read more

Practicing Spring While It’s Still Winter

March 9, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

The literal meaning of Lent is “springtime,” a fact I was reminded of this morning while reading Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. How ironic, I thought, glancing out the window at the remains of yesterday’s light snow. Whether you live in a place where winter’s grip is yet fast tight or in some place where summer’s heat is already warming up the edges of these March days, I believe Lent asks us to practice spring while it... Read more

Drawing Near to Broken Things (Lent for Placemakers)

March 5, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

Six years ago, we moved into a red brick farmhouse built in 1880 by a Pennsylvania Quaker family. We thought that most of the large repairs the house needed had already been made. The previous owners had dug a new well, replaced knob-and-tube wiring, and installed a lovely new kitchen. Somewhere in our minds, we understood vaguely that many of the bricks were cracked, the mortar was crumbling, and the window sills were slowly rotting away, but those things... Read more

Leaning in to the Ache of Waiting

March 2, 2019 By Christie Purifoy

This winter seems to be following the pattern of the previous two: in December we long for snow that does not come, but in March we resent the snow that will not stop coming. Weeks of cold and darkness and time spent indoors have prepared our hearts for spring. Which means, we are fairly bursting with a desire for sunshine and warmth and green, growing things. Waiting grows harder the longer we wait. Ironically, spring feels more and more... Read more