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About Laurie
“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God…This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is like a pure diamond blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody.”
~ Thomas Merton |
My Mission
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My mission is to inspire fellow travelers to discover the “pure diamond” True Self about which Merton writes that is already living inside each of us. It is in everyone. No matter what our experiences, what we have done and what others have done to us, our diamond Self waits to be freed from the surrounding debris that separates us from the precious goodness inherent in all. Through my writing, spiritual direction practice, retreat work and prison ministry, I encourage others in the patient process of gently embracing all parts of themselves and claiming who they are as a manifestation of God.
For nearly three decades, I have been dedicated to working as a counselor for women and families who have experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence and homelessness. Through my work, I became increasingly aware of the profound healing that comes when we are given the opportunity to deeply share our real experiences in the safe and hallowed presence of another. The gift of being seen and heard touches hearts and knits wounds so that we can begin to move towards healing and wholeness. To this end, I continued my training and received certification in Spiritual Direction from the Claritas Institute Interspiritual Mentor Training Program. My mentor and program director, Dr. Joan Borysenko, is best selling author and pioneer in mind-body science. I also received certification as a Spiritual Director and Supervisor for Spiritual Directors from the Mercy Center in Madison, CT. I am a member of Spiritual Directors International. For the past ten years, I have offered spiritual direction to incarcerated women and facilitated a transformational program designed to provide the opportunity for inmates to deepen their spiritual lives and develop tools for spiritual and emotional healing. Most recently, I became spiritual director for a newly developed Reintegration Center which focuses on preparing inmates to lead responsible, spiritually enriched lives that are drug-free and crime-free upon their release. I sit with women who have committed atrocities; yet there is always an under-story. Not that I condone the harm they have caused. But I can feel beneath the story and see a glimmer of illumination within. My eyes become the mirror into which the women can begin to see their own goodness and light. What a profound privilege to bear witness to the transforming power of compassion, the crucible in which wholeness is forged. In addition to prison ministry, I facilitate spiritual retreats and maintain a private practice of spiritual direction in which I mentor individuals and small groups of all faith traditions. My reflection on my prison work, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, was published in March 2011 in Presence Journal, an International Journal for spiritual directors. The essay, What Nourishes your Soul? was published in Sacred Journey, March 2009. My book, Moments of Grace, published this year, 2018, is available on Amazon. 
Available on Amazon.com
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