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happy earth day!

A print by an young local artist is now on display in the Queenswood dining room. It was commissioned by Queenswood to celebrate Earth Day 2009.   In this photograph the artist, Sara  Dent, re-interprets Leonardo Da Vinci's famous "Last Supper" painting.  Sara's "Last Supper?" helps us to consider both the ancient Christian narrative and contemporary ecological issues in a new and engaging way, motivating faith-based action for ecological  sustainability. You can view this photo on our photo page.

Sara Dent is a photographer, arts-based facilitator and permaculturist who lives on Cortes Island, BC.  She has been photo-journaling her life for the past fourteen years. "Photography for me is about my relationship with what I am capturing. I have been avoiding commercializing my process for a long time. My focus is nature. I am constantly in awe of her. Something has shifted inside of my psyche after farm school. I’m ready to show my images; I need to convey my deep passion for food and permaculture.”  Sara’s medium is still film. She shoots slide, recognizing the adverse environmental impacts of photo chemicals. If you are interested in seeing more of Sara's work, she will be our guest presenter on Sunday May 10 at Queenswood’s Evening with an Artist.  Her works will be shown on a slide projector.

the new feature wall

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Stefan Jonsson, Programs and Marketing Coordinator

And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to the winners of our 2009 photo contest!  We received over stunning 140 photos representing the grace, beauty and peace that typify our experiences at Queenswood.  The selection committee had a very hard time deciding on 16 photos.  The photos were judged without knowledge of who their photographers were.  The winning photos will be printed and mounted on our new feature wall by the end of April (in time for our open house!) for one year.  Because of the success of the photo contest, we're planning to hold the photo contest annually.

And the winners are:

There were so many outstanding photos, that we chose several honourable mentions as well.  If in the event that a winning photo cannot be reproduced (for example, because its quality is not high enough for a 12" x 12" print), a replacement photo will be chosen from the honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions:

A Mock-Up of the Feature Wall

Please note that the black frames in this image are actually twice the width that they will appear on the real feature wall.  You can click on each image to enlarge it (depending on your Internet speed, each photo may take several minutes to download).

Feature Wall
Janie Jolley
Lesley Preston
Joanie McCorrey
Janie Jolley
Joanie McCorrey
David Peterson
David Peterson
Joanne Balchin
Carol Martin
Colleen Cuggy
Purna Ma
Karen Porteous
Joanie McCorrey
Dean Helm
Joanie McCorrey
Janie Jolley

sunburst

Submitted on July 23, 2008 by a retreat participant.

There is a stained glass window in the Chapel at Queenswood that has a special place in my heart and in my prayer life.  When I sit in front of the stained glass, the light shines through and infuses me.  Here I am, God.

The colours are brilliant, dep, subtle, pure, changing, dramatic, soft, intense... To me, the deep crimson in the center represents 'the heart of God' from which all life flows.  Here I am, God.

The sheer thickness of the glass seems to have a mischievous audacity and I delight in it.  I get up and touch some pieces, exploring their individual nature of brokenness, rough edges and unique beauty.  I lean my forehead again the window, feel the coolness and feel part of.  Here I am, God.

I sit back down and gaze intently at the beauty of this marvellous stained glass work of art.  Knowing that it was created out of love and gratitude for Queenswood connects me even more deeply.  For I too have deep love and gratitude for Queenswood.  Here I am, God.

A divine thought touches me.  When we bring our jagged, broken pieces to God, we become part of a greater, beautiful wholeness.  Also, while each of us is an imperfect, broken piece, through God we are brought together in to a translucent, mysterious wholeness.

To me, this window embodies with stunning beauty the possibility and hope of transformation from brokenness to wholeness through God.

Here I am, God.

- July 23, 2008

special hours for easter weekend

Queenswood will be closed Good Friday and Easter Monday (April 10 and 13th).  Queenswood will be open on Holy Saturday (April 11) for scheduled drop-in classes and on Easter Sunday (April 12) for Zen meditation only.

We wish you all a blessed Passover and Easter!

reiki: a gift to our christian heritage

Posted on Apr. 9, 2009 by Eileen Curteis, ssa, Reiki Healing Ministry

To understand Reiki is to enter into an experience of healing, a kind of healing Jesus spoke about when He said, “Physician, heal yourself.” In our Christian tradition, Jesus was and is the great healer in our midst. Whenever Jesus healed a power went forth from Him, a power that came from the Holy Spirit of God and was often manifested in a physical and felt way when Jesus touched the people that He healed. When Jesus left the earth, He said that the Spirit would be sent to us and that if we were open to the Almighty One we, too, would share in the gifts that were manifested through the life of Jesus.

As we embrace this new millennium, it is my firm belief as a Reiki practitioner that God wants to break into our fragmented lives in a new and tangible way where we can experience in the very core of our being what it means to surrender to God’s divine energy, to that centre inside us where healing happens. Reiki, a Japanese word meaning universal Life force energy, is a divine gift that allows this surrender to happen. Reiki is a spiritual doorway into the true self, a doorway that promotes holistic and natural healing and brings with it an inner peace and harmony to all levels of our being – spiritual, emotional, physical and mental.

Before Jesus came, this wondrous gift of natural healing was already present in the Buddhist tradition in India and Tibet where these ancient people had tapped into the power of God’s energy coursing through them and the universe. Today, we draw on the wisdom of Jesus and these ancient healers as we enter into our own quest for spiritual transformation.

Dr. Mikao Usui, of Buddhist lineage, rediscovered Reiki healing in the mid 1800’s and it is from the knowledge of this ancient Buddhist tradition in union with our Christian tradition that we have received a gift of grace that brings us into deeper union with God, with our universe, with ourselves and with others.

As Reiki practitioners, we become committed healers and open ourselves to becoming channels through which God’s energy can flow more freely.

Eileen Curteis, ssa.