Creating Space

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.  Not any religion or cultural system.  I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all.  I do not exist, am not an entity in this world or the next, did not descend from Adam and Eve or any origin story.  My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless.  Neither body or soul, I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, out, inner, only that breath breathing human being.

Rumi  ( translated by Coleman Barks)

In July 2011, I was ordained as a One Spirit Inter Faith Minister and Spiritual Counsellor by the Interfaith Seminary, London, and am a member of the Interfaith Ministers Association (IMA).  

As a facilitator for RESTORE, prison workshops of The Forgiveness Project (TFP), I have completed TFP’s Diploma course, in conjunction with NAOS, in Group Facilitation, Conflict Resolution & Counselling Skills.  The diploma was awarded to me in January 2013.

My training also includes a background in theatre with a BA from the Naropa University, Boulder, an MFA from the University of Iowa, as well as training in bodymind awareness work and therapeutic massage.   I am a founding member and artistic director of LynchPin Productions Theatre Company.

For the past 10 years I have been a member of an on-going men’s group that meets fortnightly, and have worked in men’s initiation and the sacred masculine.  Recently, I stepped into the role as mentor to teenage boys through Journeyman UK.

My daily practice is a mixture of reading from a variety of inspirational and therapeutic texts, meditation, and bodymind centering work.  

During my studies at the Interfaith Seminary I stepped onto the Path of Compassion, being strongly influenced by the work of Karen Armstrong and the Charter for Compassion.  Because of these experiences, I have taken the title of Chaplain of Compassion which best describes my path.