I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect “history” to be anything but a “long defeat”—though it contains some samples or glimpses of final victory. — J.R.R. Tolkien
I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect “history” to be anything but a “long defeat”—though it contains some samples or glimpses of final victory. — J.R.R. Tolkien
I remember this night like it was last night. In the midst of all the crying and pain and pleading with God, I heard the words, “Not yet.” Two simple words. Peace enveloped me. Healing from the depression progressed over the next 6 months. Five years later, as I was reading the first part on […]
I watched a rosebud very long Brought on by dew and sun and shower, Waiting to see the perfect flower: Then, when I thought it should be strong, It opened at the matin hour And fell at evensong. I watched a nest from day to day A […]
Do you still get homesick? Do you dare let yourself feel that ache, That deep emptiness of longing, a hole of nothingness? Or do you cover it up, With half promises, with misdirected hopes, with distractions? Do you still long for wholeness, Completeness, oneness, with another? Do you still hunger? Do you still long for […]
A song by Regina Spektor (listen): No one laughs at God in a hospital No one laughs at God in a war No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very poor No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests No one’s […]
There’s a time I can recall Four years old and three feet tall Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar And both were out of reach And later on in my high school It seemed to me a little cruel How the right words to say always seemed to stay Just out of […]
Saw the movie, Henry Poole Is Here. Very, very good movie. Many levels of symbolism. Hope to write more about it later. Here are the haunting lyrics to the song played at the climax of the movie, “On An Ocean” by Lisa Gerrard and Jeff Rona. (Hear the song at Jeff Rona’s myspace page.) On […]
Hope is a step ahead of me.
So if I stand let me stand on the promise That you will pull me through And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace That first brought me to You And if I sing let me sing for the joy That has born in me these songs […]
It feels like I’m in Advent, waiting. (I never seem to be in sync with the current liturgical season.) I feel like an old dog trying to find a comfortable spot to lay down—he circles and circles around the same spot, but no angle quite looks comfortable enough to settle on. I am uncomfortable in […]
love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun more last than star — E.E. Cummings
From Br. Joseph —
Signposts point to where we want to go. Follow, or don’t follow. There are seven signposts listed below because seven is the number of completeness. No claim of originality is made for the signs, excerpt maybe for their grouping. Keep hope alive. Dare to trust. Surrender to grace. • • • Reflect love. • • […]
I discovered an essay titled “Hope” almost a month ago. I do not normally write in response to other people’s writing, and I am reluctant to even post this now, but the tone of the essay bothered me because it seemed to pit hope and faith against each. I agree with many of the statements […]
In The Shattered Lantern, Ronald Rolheiser quotes Dag Hammarskjöld: I don’t know Who—or what—put the question, I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone—or Something—and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in […]
From Br. Joseph — Hope keeps faith alive, and faith rekindles hope when all seems lost. At one point in Hannah Hurnard’s allegorical book of the spiritual journey, “Hind’s Feet on High Places”, the protagonist is having a particularly tough time. The Shepherd, an obvious symbol for Christ, says to her: Don’t you know by […]
There are times in life when a person has to rush off in pursuit of hopefulness. — Jean Giono, afterword to The Man Who Planted Trees I want to run and go search for it, but I know it is right here, if I look. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high […]
Found myself with a rare free moment during the day. After a quick check on the internet for something, I found this little signpost for encouragement. It is a strange signpost, but one none the less. And the trick to remember with signposts is to follow where they point, not to collect them or stand […]
I was talking with an older friend whose wife is the middle of battling the second stage of a debilitating disease. They chose to adopt two children years ago instead of passing this 50-50 chance, hereditary disease on to the next generation. Early in their marriage, he witnessed his mother-in-law progress through the disease that […]
Mother Teresa said, “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” Unfortunately my pencil lead keeps breaking.
Ran across a favorite old song from the early 90s by Gloria Estefan called ‘Don’t Wanna Lose You Now’. The haunting melancholy of her beautiful voice has a deep-seated sense of hope that cuts through to my heart. Upon a second playback, a moment of grace pierced my heart—the words are Jesus’s. It is just […]
An haiku of hope: Made is the promise: all lost things are someday found, if they want to be.
In one day, yesterday, I noticed the hint of green among the barren trees along the road sides. The blossoms on the Bradford pear trees are beginning to open, preparing to share their white bouques with the world. The pair of swallows returned to their mud nest over the porch. A bull frog could be […]
I was listening to “All Things Considered” on NPR the other evening, and this story about atheists came on. One segment of the story described how atheists are deeply offended, especially when used by the media, by the old axiom, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Apparently atheists find it degrading to expect them to […]
I have been struggling with purpose lately, my purpose. What specifically is my purpose in life? What is my part in the big picture of God’s plan? I know and trust that God has a purpose for all things, including me (see Psalm 139). Either life has meaning or it does not; either everything has […]