Somatic Faith: An Introduction

Faith is an intimately personal and secret shaping inside that is invisible to all but the host.  It is not logical. It can come on suddenly (or gradually) and builds a strange invincibility in the face of hardship, and a softness of heart that can provide rest and solace to the world in its quiet presence. 

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Beth Riley
Pomegranate Trees

My mother died in 1983. It was sudden and yet expected as she had a blood transfusion 15 years earlier tainted with Hepatitis C. It lurked silently in her body for all those years, and then reared its head, and in a few months, she was gone. 

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Beth Riley
Poetry, Continuum, & Creativity

Art makes a bridge, from the inner world of soulful truth to the outer world of social engagement and cultural expectations. Poetry was a portal to the otherwise inaccessible, inexpressible reality of my inner life. Through that portal, I entered into spiritual life. Poetry and prayer became synonymous.

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Beth Riley
Befriending the Death in Life

Driving from our home in Santa Cruz, CA southward on Highway 101, Mark and I are on our way to celebrate his Mom 80th Birthday. She has lived as a widow for over 20 years. Traveling alongside the Pacific Ocean we round the curve just north of Santa Barbara when the song, “The Streets of Laredo” comes on the radio.

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Beth Riley