CowPi Journal

I was cutting through the outpatient entrance at the hospital today a I made my way through the maze of hallways from a doctor’s appointment in the adjacent medical building. Subtlety, time began to slow. The ticks of the second hand on my watch began moving slower and slower. I eased into noticing much of […]

Somewhere in flatter-than-flat western Kansas, a patch of sky blue next to the edge of a golden orange-to-red cloud reflecting the setting sun is just so beautiful that you want to pause, hold your breath, soak it in all in, but it is so much bigger than you, you can’t take it all in, so […]

Is “image and likeness” a redundant phrase, or does it mark a distinction? Arguably the latter. To be created in God’s image is to be granted the potentiality for sharing in the divine life, a potentiality that may or may not be actualized and is shared in equally by all human beings without their consent. […]

Accidentally and pleasantly discovered this song by William Fitzsimmons called “Passion Play.” (listen) I should not have hid Where my heart can’t follow Cause this grace gets so far And too hard to swallow I’ve been running from Saul, He’s been giving chase When I look in his eyes All I see is his face […]

When someone deeply listens to you it is like holding out a dented cup you’ve had since childhood and watching it fill up with cold, fresh water. When it balances on top of the brim, you are understood. When it overflows and touches your skin, you are loved. When someone deeply listens to you, the […]

The song “Laughing With” is haunting me in a good way. When I searched for the lyrics yesterday, one of the first sites that came up was one of those song meaning sites. I read through some of the comments. Some were debating if the song was really about God or if it was a […]

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 […]

I need to unpack the meaning of the words of one sentence from this post: [G]race is the Holy Spirit Himself acting in our lives. Grace is not an object, not something that is collected or possessed, not an add-on, not I-It. It is not analogous to a magic spell from God that suddenly helps you […]

All was taken away from you: white dresses, wings, even existence. Yet I believe you, messengers. There, where the world is turned inside out, a heavy fabric embroidered with stars and beasts, you stroll, inspecting the trustworthy seems. Short is your stay here: now and then at a matinal hour, if the sky is clear, […]

Asking people to pray is like telling the wind to blow the ear to listen the eye to see We cannot not pray anymore than not be once given the gift of existence We can only shut it out or deny it Prayer is simply the conscious dimension of being when it opens out to […]

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond any experience,your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which i cannot touch because they are too near your slightest look will easily unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring […]

When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your womb tonight. […]

God is everywhere. That’s easy to say, but do we really believe it? Are we willing to admit that God is present even in what looks nothing like holiness or love, i.e. in our sin—before, during, and after? Here’s a powerful poem from Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, September, 2008. After the storm, […]

The taut wire hums before it breaks,      like the city in the morning      or late, when the lights go out. And the chain on the bridge gate—      before it snaps, one link turns over      slowly, and creaks. I watch an oak whose top      has forgotten […]

There is a line from a William Stafford poem: “It’s for the best,” my mother said, “Nothing can ever be wrong for anyone truly good.” And then I look at the suffering Jesus endured, and the suffering of all people. If any one was definitely good, it would be Jesus. As for me, the only […]

Silence is— the song of God, singing to every one and every thing to be, being, to be witness, with-ness, to each other, and to be with God.

Inspired by this article on constraints and brevity, and the website One Sentence, here is a story in one sentence: I would have searched the world over to find the words to heal her pain, but there are no such words, only time and someone to just be there.

Yesterday evening, I was reading this certain book by a particular author who was opening windows and doors for me to paths of insights into metaphysics, mysticism, the mystery of God, etc., when all of a sudden, in one paragraph, red flags and klaxon sirens went off in warning. My stomach knotted up, my pulse […]

From Br. Joseph — There are two sides to faith, just as there are two sides to a coin. One side of the “coin of faith” looks externally, that is, it looks outside of our selves to others for examples and models of living faith. They are witnesses, and it is in accepting their experiences, […]

From Br. Joseph — This is the sixth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Pray always. Prays always; if necessary, use words. Our words in prayer are very important, be them words of gratitude or of amazement, words for forgiveness, or words of need for others or for […]

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. • • […]

From Br. Joseph — Here is a simple prayer to start each day during Lent. As with all prayer, liturgy, worship, and spiritual reading, it is to draw us deeper into relationship with God, our Father. Father, I call upon You to be with me. I invite You into my heart,      into my […]

Near the end of the film Into Great Silence (technically it is a film, but it is something more), there is an interview with an old, blind monk. The years of solitude do not wear heavy on him. He is truly happy, and peace envelopes him, coming to you even through the camera lens. His […]

God does not reside in the tomb of my thoughts or words.