Uncategorized

Oak Openings’ yellow trail is a study in opposites. Hard ground gives way to sandy soil. Sweet smells turn to brackish odors. Shadows part in a shaft of sunshine raining down like wheat from a hopper. A wooded park is a place to contemplate opposites, those paradoxes that are integral to our Christian faith. Emptiness…

When I walk around the lake or into the woods, I have a feeling of expectancy. Will I see deer? Will a heron fly across the lake? Will I need to sidestep poison ivy? When on a leisurely stroll or an urgent errand, I am attuned to whatever will be, to whatever I’ll meet. Something…

I picked red raspberries last evening, a good night to do so with wind and few mosquitoes. The secret to getting every berry is to pick carefully going in one direction, then coming down the same row in the opposite direction. The different perspective yields more berries. Paula D’Arcy in her book Seeking with All…

Today we celebrate St. Benedict. He reformed the way monks–and we–pray the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office). He chose the “Lite Psalter” method of fewer psalms and shorter hours (prayers prayed periodically throughout the day). Before his reform some monks would claim “One for the strong!” meaning they would allow themselves only one hour…

Who invented the phrase “feet in the air”? Could it have been the apostles as they looked up as Jesus ascended? Was their last visual memory of their Master “feet in the air”? I’ve been reading about the Jesuits who so often went off to a mission land at a moment’s notice. Probably most members…

When people need our attention, sometimes we can give them only a minute or two of listening. And maybe their spoken or unspoken requests can find only a little space in our heart. Perhaps we’d like to give them more of ourselves and our time. Or maybe we begrudge the little we give. Regardless, the…

 We might wonder, “What did Jesus look like?” “What does God look like?” Then remembering that we are made in the image of God, we may hear God say to us, “I look like you.”

Perhaps you’ve asked someone to write you a letter of recommendation. If so, you chose someone you could trust, someone honest (but not brutally so), someone with good language skill. The one who knows us best is God. What would God write for our letter of recommendation?

My typical day is filled with ordinary tasks. As a liturgist/musician I write General Intercessions, select songs, practice music, post hymn numbers. As a member of a team caring for Lial Renewal Center, I perform many mundane activities: weeding, sweeping, dusting, washing windows and dishes. In some way these tasks coincide with the creative work…

Appreciating creation and then thanking the Creator is a beautiful way to know and love God. A waterfall reminds us of the God of Life. A newborn reveals the God of Tender Love. Flowers, insects, and animals are an endless source of amazement in the God of Infinite Creativity. When appreciating nature leads to thanking…