This time last week on Friday, October 23, I turned 61.
I took the day off work not only to mark my birthday but to attend my dear friend Brigid McDonald’s funeral. Later in the day I did some errands, put my car through a car wash, and visited the Prayer Tree. That night, my friends Noelle and John hosted a lovely dinner for me with our mutual friends Fred and Madeline.
All in all, it was a quiet birthday, which suited me just fine.
That’s because the “quiet art” of cultivating stillness is something that’s been an important focus in my spiritual life of late.
I’m thinking you’ll agree with me when I say that there’s just way too much noise, chaos and uncertainty in the world right now, more so than usual these past few years. As a result, I’m feeling the need to be extra mindful of creating time and space to take that “sacred pause” so as to align myself with the “living light” both within and beyond me.
I’m still engaging in things that matter – including, of course, my work as a Palliative Care chaplain; and I continue to stay informed and involved as best I can in the political scene. But I do so from a place of inner groundedness and a certain loving detachment from the need to control each and every outcome. Because, more often than not, I can’t control outcomes; I can only open myself to being guided by the sacred source within to “show-up” in ways that extend the love, understanding and peace of this same sacred source.
I’ve discovered that to both receive and extend the transforming flow of the sacred, of God, of the living light – whatever name we want to give it, I need to cultivate times of stillness and quiet.
I’m reminded of how author Marianne Williamson writes that the cultivation of stillness is the best preparation for our response to the unsettledness and urgency of the times we’re living through. The inner peace that this cultivation of stillness in turn builds non-reactivity. In other words, it keeps us calm and focused in the midst of upheaval, division and uncertainty.
Williamson also reminds us that the inner peace we cultivate through times of intentional stillness builds courage, insight and intuition. It deepens the mind and expands the heart. And through us – through our thoughts and actions – this divinely-infused inner peace contributes to the building of a new world.
As has been the tradition at The Wild Reed, I mark the occasion of my birthday this year by sharing a song, prayer and/or reflection that I find particularly meaningful; that speaks to where I’m at on my journey. This year, given everything I’ve just said about quietude and stillness being important aspects of my spiritual life and journey, I’m sharing “Quiet Art,” one of a number of stand-out tracks from Wendy Matthews’ 1992 album, Lily. I hope you find it as beautiful and meaningful as I do.
You show astounding grace
Among these dislocated souls
You’re not of this world
Where everything is bought and sold
I have tried but thankfully I’m flesh and soul
You’re just standing quiet
Another lost forgotten art
Either way you miss
For you are neither slave nor free
If you can stay with me,
Talk about the things that you most want to be
The quiet art of standing still
Hold on tight
We can withstand the coldest hearts
Just a world weary smile
You feel there’s nothing left to give
I want to help you carry this
If silence is consent
Then I have nothing left to say
If you can stay with me
Talk about the things that you most want to be
Well, it’s not past you yet
It’s the quiet art of standing still
This must be a test
I pray you can find the strength
Like moments you regret
Nothing can be done they’re gone
Sleep come take me quick
To the quiet art of standing still
Try and touch the place
Where everything was broken
By all that you resist
You cannot make a deal with God
I want to help you carry this
If silence is consent
There’s nothing left I have to say
If you can stay with me
Talk about the things that you most want to be
Well it hasn’t passed you yet
It’s the quiet art of standing still
~ “Quiet Art” by M. Connor and Wendy Matthews
(from Wendy Matthews’ 1992 album Lily)
Beloved One, Your peace is mine.
What need have I to fear that anything can rob me of what
You would have me keep? I cannot lose Your gifts to me.
And so the peace You gave me is with me still,
in quietness and in my own eternal Love for You.
– A Course in Miracles Excerpted from Lesson 273 (adapted)
We are coming up on a trio of days that I have loved for a long time: Halloween, the Feast of All Saints, and the Feast of All Souls. I am grateful for the thin place that these days hold, and for the ways they remind us how close the worlds always are, even when they feel horribly far apart.
At this time of year, I am thinking especially of those who have lost beloved ones since this time last year, and whose grief is new and raw. And I am thinking also of those who have carried their grief for a long time.
These days invite us into memory and hope – and sorrow and joy and, most of all, love. Wherever you are, whatever you are holding, may you be met with solace and mysterious grace. This blessing is for you. Every single day.
ALL HALLOWS BLESSING
Who live
in the spaces between
our breathing
in the corner
of our vision
in the hollows
of our bones
in the chambers
of our heart:
nowhere can they
be touched
yet still
how they move us
how they move
in us
made from the
tissue of memory
like the veil
between the worlds
that stirs at
the merest breath
this night
and then is
at rest.
I’m heartened by the number of Green Party-endorsed candidates running for all kinds of offices throughout the United States in this year’s midterm elections.
Following are two pieces about Maui’s Green Party candidate, Pāʻele Kiakona, who not only has significant community support but the endorsement of all five of Hawaiʻi's largest labor unions – Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association (HGEA), ILWU Local 142, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association (HSTA), United Public Workers (UPW), and UNITE HERE! Local 5.
These five organizations together represent nearly 96,000 workers across the state, marking an unprecedented level of labor support for a Green Party candidate in Hawaiʻi history.
________________
Aloha mai kākou!
My name is Pāʻele Kiakona and I am running as a Green Party candidate for Maui House Representative, District 14 (Lahaina, Maalaea, and Waiheʻe-Waiehu).
Many of you may recognize me from being on the front lines of the recovery and rebuild of our hometown. Together, we stood up a grassroots movement, activated the community and pushed for policy change to create a more balanced, safe home. However, my advocacy work started long before, where my family has showed what it means to be responsible stewards of this place.
My ‘ohana comes from Mala Village. Grandma always shares stories from pre-commercialization, when Honoapi’ilani highway used to be bush that she’d trek through to farm taro up mauka. Our family raised sow and fished the abundance of ‘opelu right in the front yard. Back then, they understood the relationship from mountain to sea and knew that we had a crucial role to play in giving back to what nourishes us. We look back at what was to shape what can be.
Iʻm running as House Representative to continue this path that my ʻohana has paved for me. I am passionate about protecting and preserving what is left of our home, honoring the rich history of this wahi, and finding solutions so that our people continue to remain here.
My campaign is focused on three things: opportunity for our communities, living in balance with ʻāina, and accountability in leadership. That means rebuilding Lahaina safely, making sure local families can afford to live here, and protecting the land and water that sustain Maui.
For Pāʻele Kiakona, protecting water resources and the ʻāina is key.
“Environmental studies has been my major, my background,” he told Hawaiʻi Public Radio. “I grew up in the taro patch, and I’m born and raised in Lahaina. I feel like that is something that sets me apart. And I show up. I’m accountable, and I always put community first.”
He has worked as a community organizer, advocated to shift housing priorities to local ʻohana, and served on the Maui Board of Water Supply. “If you look at a lot of our issues, whether it be cost of living, whether it be resiliency, regreening Lahaina, all of these things are almost always related right back to the health of our environment.”
Kiakona believes his campaign’s momentum has been building.
“I’ve seen a lot of people in my generation get so much more involved, and a lot of them getting even more involved because they know that I’m running for office. I’ve seen people come out and sign-wave when they've never done so before. I have people, hundreds of people that I know personally that are voting for the first time because they believe in what’s happening here.”
Kiakona hopes the education and awareness he’s raised along the campaign trail will have wider-reaching impacts, regardless of next month’s results.
“Getting in is also the goal," he said. “But part of the goal was to educate community and show them I’ve been fighting every step of the way for this community. I’ve shown up to every single community meeting. We’ve had a lot of success just doing the work and not letting your typical politics get in the way of doing that work. If the community sees this person that they’ve seen for three years fight and had success take a different route and jump into a separate party of the two-party system, then at least, it is my hope.”
Kiakona doesn’t feel that the status quo has been working effectively.
“I just saw how it was very much so relationships that put people in hard situations where they may not, say, support a bill because of the relationship with the person who wrote the bill, and I just didn’t feel like that was the right way to go about it,” Kiakona said, explaining his decision to run under the Green Party, while also describing it as “a much harder route.”
District 14 includes Maʻalaea, Olowalu, Lahaina and Kaʻanapali.
The following 15-minute video is from September 28, 2026, when Pāʻele Kiakona officially launched his general election campaign for Hawaiʻi State House District 14 at Hanakaʻōʻō, Canoe Beach in Lahaina. In 2023, a series of wildfires destroyed approximately 80% of Lahaina, resulting in the deaths of 102 people.
This past Saturday was an exceptionally beautiful day, and I made the most of it by talking a relaxed walk through my neighborhood here in south Minneapolis.
As you’ll see, the autumn colors were really popping! 🍂🍁🍂
Last Friday I attended the Celebration of Life for my dear friend Brigid McDonald, CSJ, who died October 2 at the age of 94.
Brigid was one of the renowned and much-loved McDonald sisters, four biological sisters who all joined the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet – St. Paul Province.
You may recall I had the honor of delivering a “homily reflection” at the funeral of second eldest sister Kate in February 2024.
The last (and youngest) of the McDonald sisters, Jane, is currently in hospice care at Carondelet Village in St. Paul.
Above: The McDonald Sisters (from left) Kate, Brigid, Rita, and Jane on their parents’ farm near Watertown, MN, back in the day.
As I’ve previously noted, I have Brigid to thank for my involvement in the Twin Cities justice and peace community. Our mutual interest in Celtic spirituality brought us together; we both attended a class on the topic at the College of St. Catherine in the fall of 1996. We got talking about all kinds of things, including her involvement in activism, something that interested me greatly. She picked up on this and invited me to join with her and others at the weekly vigil outside of the corporate headquarters of Alliant Techsystems, which at that time was Minnesota’s largest military munitions contractor.
Left: With Brigid (right) and our mutual friend Sue Ann at my 50th birthday celebration in October 2015.
As I note on my Faces of Resistance website, it was my participation in this weekly vigil and the community that faithfully gathered for it every Wednesday morning come rain or shine, that introduced me to the crucial role that militarism plays in U.S. foreign policy. It also made me aware of many other justice and peace issues, their underlying causes, and various creative and nonviolent responses and alternatives to them. This awareness compelled me to get involved in a range of social justice issues and to creatively document via photography, the people I encountered and the events I witnessed, participated in, and, in some cases, helped facilitate.
Such activity was very energizing and ensured the building of lasting friendships with many interesting and inspiring individuals, including, of course, Brigid and her sisters.
Above: Standing at left with Brigid outside the Hopkins, Minnesota corporate headquarters of Alliant Techsystems, where with other citizen-activists from 1996 to 2011 we would vigil each and every Wednesday morning for peace and an end to war profiteering.
Spun off from the Honeywell corporation in 1991, Alliant Techsystems was at one point the 23rd largest supplier to the Department of Defense of component parts for weapons ranging from cluster bombs to guidance systems for Cruise and Pershing nuclear missiles. It also had international sales offices in 33 countries – including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Pakistan, Greece and Turkey. At one time, the corporation was the largest manufacturer of antipersonnel landmines in the United States.
Left: Jane McDonald at the Alliant Tech vigil, July 1997. “The drum beat is a symbol of the heartbeat of the earth and the pulse of the people,” said Jane when I took this picture for my Faces of Resistance exhibit. “It calls us to conscience; calls us to honor the earth, its resources, and its people. Working to stop military madness is part of this honoring.”
My parents, Gordon and Margaret Bayly, visited me in the Twin Cities from Australia in July 2005. In the image above, Mum (center) and Brigid (right) are pictured with (from left) Marilyn, Betty, and Pepperwolf at the weekly Alliant Tech vigil.
Brigid and her sisters’ mother was also named Margaret. I like that we have that in common.
Above: Kate, Rita and Brigid with Marv Davidov, Barb Mishler and Betty McKenzie, CSJ.
Marv (1931-2012) was a longtime justice and peace organizer and activist in the Twin Cities. A Freedom Rider in the early 1960s, Marv later founded the Honeywell Project in 1968 and the Midwest Institute for Social Transformation (MIST) in the 1980s.
Above: That’s Brigid and Jane beating their drums at the Vigil for Solidarity with LGBT Catholics, an event that saw over three hundred people gather at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 2, 2007.
We gathered to express our disagreement with then-Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt’s declaration that people who encourage and support their LGBT family members and friends are “cooperating in a grave evil.”
Above and below: Taking time out with Brigid and a number of our mutual friends at a local piano bar – May 18, 2008.
And there were no sad songs for us, no siree. Instead we led the crowd in some rousing anti-war songs, which was no doubt a first for this particular establishment!
In the summer of 2008 my older brother Chris and his family visited the Twin Cities. Pictured above are my nephews Mitchell, Liam, and Brendan with Marguerite Corcoran, CSJ and Rita McDonald, CSJ.
Above: With Brigid and my nephew Brendan – August 1, 2008. During the visit of my brother and his family, Brigid arranged for a lovely pool party at the home of our mutual friend Molly Culligan.
Above: Brigid with my nephews Brendan and Liam.
Above: With Brigid and our friends Molly Culligan and Michael Zieghan at 24th annual Bloomsday celebration at the University Club in St. Paul – June 16, 2009.
Bloomsday in St. Paul also celebrated a little something Australian as Brigid, Molly and Michael (who accompanied us on guitar) joined with me in a rousing rendition of “The Wild Colonial Boy.”
As well as singing “The Wild Colonial Boy,” I also read an excerpt from Jamie O’Neill’s novel, At Swim, Two Boys. For more about this book (and to read the excerpt I shared), see my 2008 post, A Beautiful Novel.
The following video shows Brigid and her sisters singing their appreciation for Marv Davidov in 2010. Brigid was an incredible lyricist! She could change the lyrics to any song to fit any kind of celebratory occasion . . . or protest.
Above: At the 2014 Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Ministries Foundation Gala at the Minneapolis Hilton. Pictured with me from left: Rita, Kate, Brigid, and our mutual friend Kathleen.
This annual event helps raise money for the St. Mary’s Health Clinics. These clinics are an ecumenical ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and are located throughout the Twin Cities metro area. They offer primary care, referrals to specialists, laboratory, radiology, in-patient, and prescription medications – all free to patients who otherwise would have no access to medical care.
Above: On the afternoon of Friday, January 30, 2015 I hosted a tea party for a number of the wise and inspiring women in my life. Pictured from left: Brigid; Marguerite Corcoran, CSJ; Rita McDonald, CSJ; Theresa O’Brien, CSJ; Paula Ruddy; Rita Quigley; Florence Steichen, CSJ; and Kate McDonald, CSJ.
Above: Brigid at an anti-war protest in November 2015.
Above: Brigid with Peggy O'Connell, the actress who portrayed her in Doris Baizley’s 2019 play, Sisters of Peace.
Above: Brigid’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party – March 17, 2016. Pictured from left: Darlene, Kathleen, Brigid, Tom, and Kate.
Above: Another one of Brigid’s St. Patrick’s Day parties. This one was in 2012.
Above: With Brigid at a tea (and mimosa) party I hosted on January 15, 2017. (For more images and commentary, click here.)
Above: Brigid with a photo of herself as a child having tea with her dog! This photo was taken at my January 20, 2018 tea party.
Above: Perhaps the last photo taken of Brigid. She’s pictured with our dear mutual friend Kathleen – September 2026.
Following is Brigid’s eulogy, delivered by her cousin Mike last Friday.
Good morning, I am Mike Neaton, one of the many favorite cousins.
Envision a 19-year-old, overwhelmed by the Vietnam conflict, standing on a desolate railroad track to help interfere with ammunition transfer. In sight is a little woman approaching and soon beaming with a greeting. . . . Sister Brigid enters my life as she has so many others.
Brigid is many layered . . . a second grade teacher who could identify with a child, combining lessons and play. Often teaching with Gerbil races, songs, and shenanigans. An example of kids being in on a secret happed when she greeted parents at the rear of the classroom. She would have a mannequin hand up the sleeve of her habit, and when ending the conversation, she used it to shake hands and leave it with the visitor.
Everyone was made to feel supported and that extended to all those underserved.
Brigid evolved from the religion of “expected obligation,” expanding to a spirituality of humanism anchored to justice and love. It was nurtured in the Spirit of St Stephen’s Community.
Defiant to keep her religion alive. When she was refused the host because she was wearing a rainbow sash, Brigid reached in the chalice, snatched a host, and declared: “I came for Jesus and he is coming with me!”
In her commitment to fight against the capitalistic-propelled military, she spent countless hours joined with Women Against Military Madness (WAAM), AlliantTech protesters, Vets for Peace, those protesting for Free Palestine and gay rights, and against Line 3, and many others to bring justice. She developed deep ties with many, especially her siblings. Brigid devoted her life to protecting ordinary people and making change.
Several years ago at the Irish Festival ticket booth, three of us were passing out WAAM flyers. A young cop asked us to move to the public sidewalk sixty feet down the incline. Mary Beaudoin and I obeyed. Brigid moved only eight feet. The cop told her again to move to the sidewalk. Reluctantly, she moved another eight feet. Out of frustration the young cop said he was getting his superior. Hearing this we marched up to encourage de-escalation. I looked up to see an older beefy 6’2” cop right out of Heat of the Night towering over Brigid and getting right in her face . . . and then he kissed her.
Shocked, I asked what in the hell just happened. Brigid’s response: “I was his favorite 2nd grade teacher.”
For many years she organized a huge St Patrick’s party; a true Irish event – complete with a singing dog. The “parade contingency” was called the “Brigidtine Society.” We championed to bring back the snakes (a symbol of female power). Each year she instructed us to enter the parade at the precise number of 33-and-a-half, unknowing we were illegal; non-permitted . . . just contributing to the merriment.
Not to be overlooked with all her zest for life, she was a serious activist. I ask the activists present who have stood with Brigid for justice please stand and share a moment of silence in unity. You will carry Brigid’s spirit forward.
Thank you.
I conclude this tribute to Brigid with the following 5-minute extract from the 2003 documentary, Four Sisters for Peace. Created by a class of sixth to eighth grade students at Southside Family School in Minneapolis working with their teacher Susie Oppenheim and the artist Media Mike Hazard, this film is rated “R” – for rebellious.
I choose to start this week with what is for me a particularly meaningful and beautiful passage from A Course in Miracles.
This “passage” is comprised of the last three paragraphs of Section V (“The Undivided Will of the Sonship”) of Chapter 8 (“The Journey Back”) in that part of A Course in Miracles known as the Text. And who is speaking these words? The image at left provides the answer to that question.
I share this passage with no accompanying commentary or interpretation, just an invitation to whoever has come across it here and chooses to read it, to take from it anything that for you “shimmers” with deep truth.
___________
When you unite with me you are uniting without the ego, because I have renounced the ego in myself and therefore cannot unite with yours. Our union is therefore the way to renounce the ego in you. The truth in both of us is beyond the ego. Our success in transcending the ego is guaranteed by God, and I share this confidence for both of us and all of us. I bring God’s peace back to all His children because I received it of Him for us all. Nothing can prevail against our united wills because nothing can prevail against God’s.
Would you know the Will of God for you? Ask it of me who knows it for you and you will find it. I will deny you nothing, as God denies me nothing. Ours is simply the journey back to God Who is our home. Whenever fear intrudes anywhere along the road to peace, it is because the ego has attempted to join the journey with us and cannot do so. Sensing defeat and angered by it, the ego regards itself as rejected and becomes retaliative. You are invulnerable to its retaliation because I am with you. On this journey you have chosen me as your companion instead of the ego. Do not attempt to hold on to both, or you will try to go in different directions and will lose the way.
The ego’s way is not mine, but it is also not yours. The Holy Spirit has one direction for all minds, and the one He taught me is yours. Let us not lose sight of His direction through illusions, for only illusions of another direction can obscure the one for which God’s Voice speaks in all of us. Never accord the ego the power to interfere with the journey. It has none, because the journey is the way to what is true. Leave all illusions behind, and reach beyond all attempts of the ego to hold you back. I go before you because I am beyond the ego. Reach, therefore, for my hand because you want to transcend the ego. My strength will never be wanting, and if you choose to share it you will do so. I give it willingly and gladly, because I need you as much as you need me.
Today Lula won. And with his victory it is reaffirmed that Latin America can write its own future, without external tutelage or imposed recipes. Down with colonialism, down with intervention! Sovereignty and social justice are not negotiable.
This result is not only Brazil’s, it is a message for the entire region. Against those who seek to divide us, plunder us, or decide for us, the peoples of Latin America raise our voices for integration, cooperation, and peace. Hope is not naive: it is organization, participation, and dignity.
Let no foreign power, no corporate interest, and no colonial legacy impose itself on our people again. Latin America deserves to be free, sovereign, and just. There is hope for Latin America!
Bora Lula!
– Gilda Lemos via social media
October 25, 2026
Reports BreakThrough News:
Workers’ Party leader and incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defeated far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil’s runoff election. Flávio, son of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, had clinched a first place victory over Lula on October 5 in the first round of elections. Since then, progressive movements had focused on intense street mobilization and outreach on social media in an effort to flip the vote.
In recent weeks, reports emerged that U.S. tech giant Meta had had been favoring Bolsonaro’s content across platforms and deliberately restricting Lula’s.
On election day, further interference in favor of Flávio was registered when right-wing leaders in several states considered progressive strongholds, intentionally cut or decreased transportation services, directly infringing on Brazilians’ right to vote. In response, the electoral court extended voting for two hours.
Today’s outcome marks a significant defeat of the pro-U.S. far right in Latin America.
I established The Wild Reed in 2006 as a sign of solidarity with all who are dedicated to living lives of integrity – though, in particular, with gay people seeking to be true to both the gift of their sexuality and their Catholic faith. The Wild Reed's original by-line read, “Thoughts and reflections from a progressive, gay, Catholic perspective.” As you can see, it reads differently now. This is because my journey has, in many ways, taken me beyond, or perhaps better still, deeper into the realities that the words “progressive,” “gay,” and “Catholic” seek to describe.
Even though reeds can symbolize frailty, they may also represent the strength found in flexibility. Popular wisdom says that the green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm. Tall green reeds are associated with water, fertility, abundance, wealth, and rebirth. The sound of a reed pipe is often considered the voice of a soul pining for God or a lost love.
On September 24, 2012,Michael BaylyofCatholics for Marriage Equality MNwas interviewed by Suzanne Linton of Our World Today about same-sex relationships and why Catholics can vote 'no' on the proposed Minnesota anti-marriage equality amendment.
"I believe your blog to be of utmost importance for all people regardless of their orientation. . . . Thank you for your blog and the care and dedication that you give in bringing the TRUTH to everyone."– William
"Michael, if there is ever a moment in your day or in your life when you feel low and despondent and wonder whether what you are doing is anything worthwhile, think of this: thanks to your writing on the internet, a young man miles away is now willing to embrace life completely and use his talents and passions unashamedly to celebrate God and his creation. Any success I face in the future and any lives I touch would have been made possible thanks to you and your honesty and wisdom."– AB
"Since I discovered your blog I have felt so much more encouraged and inspired knowing that I'm not the only gay guy in the Catholic Church trying to balance my Faith and my sexuality. Continue being a beacon of hope and a guide to the future within our Church!"– Phillip
"Your posts about Catholic issues are always informative and well researched, and I especially appreciate your photography and the personal posts about your own experience. I'm very glad I found your blog and that I've had the chance to get to know you."– Crystal
"Thank you for taking the time to create this fantastic blog. It is so inspiring!"– George
"I cannot claim to be an expert on Catholic blogs, but from what I've seen, The Wild Reed ranks among the very best."– Kevin
"Reading your blog leaves me with the consolation of knowing that the words Catholic, gay and progressive are not mutually exclusive.."– Patrick
"I grieve for the Roman institution’s betrayal of God’s invitation to change. I fear that somewhere in the midst of this denial is a great sin that rests on the shoulders of those who lead and those who passively follow. But knowing that there are voices, voices of the prophets out there gives me hope. Please keep up the good work."– Peter
"I ran across your blog the other day looking for something else. I stopped to look at it and then bookmarked it because you have written some excellent articles that I want to read. I find your writing to be insightful and interesting and I'm looking forward to reading more of it. Keep up the good work. We really, really need sane people with a voice these days."– Jane Gael
"Michael, your site is like water in the desert."– Jayden
