The third component is the path. Initially, I had a title for the work and called it Mary in the Woods. After reading Diane Schoemperlen's Our Lady of the Lost and Found, I became intrigued with milagros. Milagro is a Spanish word for miracle. In places like South America and Mexico, people line the shrines to Mary with votive offerings, either a prayer for something, or a thanks for something received. I put out a call for milagros, asking for small spiritual objects that have a meaningful content. I asked people to put their religious affiliation aside and to think of Mary as a spiritual sister. They came through as you can see. I pondered every one of them in my heart. It is with the deepest appreciation that I regard these offerings. I believe the milagros gave the work the meaning it was meant to have.

The research has inspired me to contemplate on containers such as begging bowls, sea shells, cups, pots and even the interior space of the church. Many writers have nourished my soul, such as Sue Bender, Joyce Rupp, Soetsu Yanagi, and Margaret Visser. Then I try to apply these insights to the women vessels. There is still mystery in the interior space, but for me that is often the beauty. It is not always the solution that counts the most, but more often it is in the searching.