I was in the middle of the first part of a three-step prayer yesterday evening when my whinny little four-year suddenly bursted into my room and demanded he needed a fresh pair socks at that very moment so he could put on his shoes to go back outside. It jolted me out my prayer and […]
From Reference.com: The most common translation of Pantocrator is “Almighty” or “All-powerful.” In this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek words for “all” and the noun “strength” (κρατος). This is often understood in terms of potential power; i.e., able to do anything, or omnipotentent. Another, less literal translation is “Ruler of […]
The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) This is, in my opinion, the saddest line in the whole of Scripture. It hints of God’s heart ache for us. It is a response to a choice Adam and Eve made that formed a great chasm between God and […]
Listening to the song “Epiphany” by Staind on the iPod. The music is loud enough to drown out the background noise. At this line, I drift off… But I know I’ll do the right thing If the right thing is revealed The right thing—what is that? Has it been revealed? Yes, of course, in Jesus! […]
Inspired to react to a Frederick Franck quote, I wrote this. While watching the six o’clock news, I am forced to face the poverty of my spirit. I am powerless. I am impotent. I am not in control. There is nothing I can do to effect a change. But I do feel compelled to do […]
You tried so hard to be someone that you forgot who you are You tried to fill some emptiness ‘til all you had spilled over Now everything’s so far away that you don’t know where you are When all that you wanted And all that you have don’t seem so much For you to hold […]
I’m bad about shopping for books. I cannot stop in a bookstore without rummaging through the religion/faith section. If a book looks good, I’ll purchase it in hopes of reading it some day. Sometimes, I’ll start the new book the same evening, pushing other books back in the queue, and finish the book. Sometimes, I’ll […]
Another parabox—joy and suffering, both come from love. A friend shared this meditative reflection with me recently. I asked permission to post it. I feel waves of suffering coming from within my being. It’s as if they are at regularly determined intervals and I am just riding them; allowing each one to bounce me up […]
Every day I say to myself—today I will begin. — Saint Anthony of the Desert
image of God born of God’s breath vessel of divine love after his likeness dwelling of God capacity for the infinite eternally known chosen of God home of Infinite Majesty abiding in the Son called from eternity life in the Lord temple of the Holy Spirit branch of Christ receptacle of the Most High wellspring […]
The felt the big emptiness this morning. It actually started yesterday afternoon, but I did not notice or label it as such until this morning. It is not depression. I know depression. It’s close, but not the same. There is no despair, no deep sadness or lowness that comes with depression. It is just an […]
Affliction is a marvel of divine technique. It is a simple and ingenious device which introduces into the soul of a finite creature the immensity of force, blind, brutal, and cold. The infinite distance separating God from the creature is entirely concentrated into one point to pierce the soul in its center. The man to […]
As one has to learn to read or to practice a trade, so one must learn to feel in all things, first and almost solely, the obedience of the universe to God. It is really an apprenticeship. Like every apprenticeship, it requires time and effort. He who has reached the end of his training realizes […]
Breath is as essential attribute of one’s person, whose existence we may only infer through other media: the sight of our chest rising and falling, the sound of air rushing into our sinuses, the disturbance of the atmosphere near our skin. We mentally connect this evidence-of-breath into a coherent whole, and then label it “my […]
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves—goes itself; myself it […]
In front of TV, on the couch sits Apathy, quite comfortably.