Various lines from Don Henley’s song, “The Heart of the Matter”: What are these voices outside love’s open door Make us throw off our contentment And beg for something more? — — — These times are so uncertain There’s a yearning undefined And people filled with rage We all need a little tenderness How […]
I was asked by my principal to do the prayer for the first of our teacher meetings this week. She requested that it be connected to the theme for the school year, which happens to be an emphasis on the school’s mission statement. Fortunately we have a very good mission statement. In fact, the mission […]
In further reflection on the song “Laughing With” (see lyrics and this post), the word transcendence has popped into my head. Paradox points to transcendence, to something more. To transcend means to rise above, to see more. It does not deny what is, it just gives a wider vision of what is, depth, a larger […]
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 […]
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, […]
You have to wonder what kind of reflection it is on a man’s life if on the way to the cemetery his hearse gets a flat tire? Coincidence? Maybe. Perhaps we should focus not on the incident itself, but on how his family and friends react? That is where the choice is, where grace happens, […]
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 […]
Old bumper sticker read, “Shit Happens”. To be more positive, I wanted one to say, “Life Happens”. Now I think it should say, “Grace Happens”.
From Br. Joseph — This is the fifth reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Gravitate to humility. This signpost points in the exact opposite direction the world points by pointing to the First Beatitude, the Beatitude from which all the Beatitudes spring forth—blessed are the poor in spirit. […]
From Br. Joseph — This is the third reflection on seven signposts for the season of Lent (and for all seasons). Surrender to grace. This signpost comes from a line in the book, The Lord by Romano Guardini. (A highly recommended book full of short, deep reflections on nearly every episode of Jesus’ life.) Although […]
From Thursday’s collect in Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours (emphasis added): My mind is scattered among things, not because of my work, but because I am not detached and I do not attend first of all to God. On the other hand, I do not attend to Him because I am so absorbed in […]
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. • • […]
At the end of the movie, American Beauty, the main character Lester Burnham reflects on his life: …there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax, […]
Father, I ask for the grace to be in the present moment, to live in the now where You are.
Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love. — Thomas Merton
I have a friend who says that there is no such things as coincidences. Everything happens for a reason. The mathematician inside of me is skeptical with images of probability calculations and statistical charts. I am resistant to ascribe a higher meaning to why I ran into a former student yesterday, but it feels at […]