Andrew Wendkith

I mean, it’s subtle but some folks may have picked up on it

May the works I manifest be genuine and true to my personal walk and vision
May I be firmly rooted in the world and connected to the nurturing energy of the Earth
Yet like the slender birch, be flexible and strong enough to withstand the storms, I will encounter to bend without breaking
Máire Durkan

May you find yourself rooted in the softening earth as we inch or sprint into spring. What is feeling hard to hold in this strange, beautiful, difficult world? What can be shared in joy or sorrow with community?

Can I light a candle for you tonight?

Sometimes I wonder if I made a good choice going to the undergrad I did, and other times I get texts from undergrad friends I otherwise have no contact with that read, “Any interest in 45ish coyote toes? Degreased not whitened.” and I am delighted with the weirdos I know 🤣

The bones deep appreciation for the warmth over the past couple days cannot be overstated.

This one is big for me, especially figuring out what vulnerability looks like when I’m leading or officiating in spiritual or ritual space.

What feels hard on this day at the cusp of seasons? What joys are waiting to burst forth with the snow drops? What would be easier to let come out of your mind and into words?

Can I light a candle for you tonight?

The sky this morning is steely gray above the mists of the sublimating snow, giving us the waning pieces of winter, still forceful even as the earth begins again to wake as she has year after year after patient, persistent year.

Silently,
I smell the wind for my ancestors
pale blue leaves
crushed wild mountain smell.
Returning
up the gray stone cliff
where I descended
a thousand years ago.
-Where Mountain Lion Lay Down with Deer (excerpt) by Leslie Marmon Silko

This question got a big response on one of my discord servers, and I’m curious what folks here think.

What makes something a devotional practice? Is the action alone enough (say, gardening) or does there need to specific intention in the action?

Standing in my kitchen, struck with sudden anxieties and memories, something told me to bake bread.

So I did.

Well, you’re welcome for the dream I shared with you earlier 🤣

It has been nine months since my friend Laura gave me this mug and it still cracks me up.

It says, “we do not invoke the Morrigan for sibling squabbles” which will forever be one of the best rules I found myself instituting for my kids.

How are you doing? Is there anything that you’re holding close that would be better shared? A joy that could be amplified, or a heaviness that community could help shoulder?

Can I light a candle for you tonight?

Breathe, my friends. Look at the sky and see her intensity or gentleness or sorrow or depth. Feel yourself rooted to the earth, underneath this sky. The two in conjunction have been witness to every moment of your life.

𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳,
𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴.
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯’𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘸𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦
𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.
-Remember (excerpt) by Joy Harjo

Right there with you, friend

Sing through my voice

Play through my hands

Let the way be open 

LMK if funny “Andy on pain meds” stories would cheer you up! Because I gotchu

We heal what we can see.
We heal what is illuminated for us.
We heal with comfort and warmth.
We heal what we can wrap in love.
-Irene Glasse

What in your life could use illumination? Where do you find yourself wanting comfort and warmth?

Can I light a candle for you tonight?

I love how the snow becomes matte as we move closer to the thawing time. It’s no longer the seemingly infinite number of sparkles spread out in puffy drifts along the trail but a sagging, soft blanket moving back into the earth.

Slowly the sun returns. The high 20s were a lovely break from the single digits. I love this space.

Circle ‘round for freedom, circle ‘round for peace,
for all of us imprisoned, circle for release,
circle for the planet, circle for each soul,
for the children of our children, keep the circle whole.
-Linda Hirschhorn

Can I light a candle for you tonight, friends?

The rivers run from the clouds to the sea and become the rain, and the sea is never filled.

So the beginning flows to the end and the end flows on to begin again.
-Jill Hammer

I wonder how many times I’ve made this meal in my life. My grandmother made it from the time I was an infant, and my first cooking memory is flattening the tortillas.

Sometimes it’s fun to experiment, and sometimes it’s fun to make a meal from scratch that you never need to look at a recipe for.

Beautiful walk this afternoon. I love this bit of land.

Last summer a friend suggested I use bread baking, or some other for cooking, as a devotional practice rather than a chore or even a hobby.

This has become known as Intentional Bread (or Intentional [Food]).

Here’s today’s Intentional Bread™

𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦; 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.

Can I light a candle for you tonight?

Some thoughts on the sanctity of voice shared elsewhere online. Screenshotted here due to character limits

Absolutely beautiful, cold 2 mile hike this morning. Sun streaming through the trees on the way back and delightfully squeaky snow underfoot.

I was unsurprisingly the only car at the trail head ❄️