This book offers short, soulful reflections on the passage of time—how we spend time, how we remember time, and with whom we share time. It fills a need for simple reflections that ground us when so much of life has been upended by a pandemic, climate chaos, and political polarization. In Passage, readers will find a calm pace to consider the wisdom of ordinary life experiences.
These essays speak to people in grief, people in recovery, and people in life transitions, such as retirement, widowhood, career change, or health crisis. They encourage readers to pursue mindfulness, presence, and reflection as an antidote to the anxiety amplified by the ever present demands on our time, attention, and energy. They speak to the universality of the human spirit.
Let these essays open you to the power of your own story, your own transitions, your own journey. Savor these short pieces one at a time—before bed, at an afternoon break, or as part of an early morning reflection. Let them be a quiet balm in an otherwise noisy world.
Mary Lou Logsdon is a writer, spiritual director, and retreat leader. She is a graduate of Saint Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After retiring from a career in information technology, Mary Lou returned to Saint Catherine's to earn a master's degree in theology and a certificate in spiritual direction. She has been a regular columnist for The Phoenix Spirit (thephoenixspirit.com) since 2012. She notices seasonal patterns from the perspective of her garden, where she meets and greets passersby, sharing produce, blooms, and stories. She lives in West Saint Paul, Minnesota.
"For over a decade, Mary Lou Logsdon has offered readers a calm, grounding voice, amid life's uncertainties. Passage gathers her most cherished essays—short, soulful reflections on time, loss, resilience, and everyday grace—into a single companion for seekers, survivors, and anyone navigating the beautiful, difficult passages of life." — The Phoenix Spirit
"This book is a gift. Reach for it when the world feels too fast, too loud, too harsh. Mary Lou Logsdon will sit with you for a few moments, remind you to breathe, remind you to slow down and return you to the quiet wonders of being human." — Jacqui Banaszynski, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
"We don't often think of the words practical and spiritual as going together, but here they are, together at last! Mary Lou's essays feel like mini-pilgrimages, and we get to journey with her along the way, disovering golden nuggets of wisdome and hope. So much more meaningful that what to believe, this book is about how: how to practice living the best kind of life for ourselves by noticing what is real and true both within and all around us." — Peter Watkins, MDiv, spiritual director and faculty member at Sacred Ground Center for Spirituality
"In the sixteenth century in France, Saint Jane de Chantal urged us to do small things with great love; 500 years later Mary Lou Logsdon shows us how with humor, wisdom, and practical daily living. She draws her varied and thoughtful comments from universal experiences—her encounters with nature, books, and people. Throughout her writing she reveals the power of community. I look forward to dipping into this wise book often." — Maureen O'Conner, retired English teacher and lifelong lover of words
