Approx. read time: 1:30 min. Now and then I say something that surprises me. I take it as pure gift, and so I write it down. Friends tell me, recently, of the situations of chaos and pushback they’ve been experiencing. “It’s so hard,” one says. “I feel like I’m not making any progress!” When you’re bucking… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:10 min. My face aches already from all the well wishes, given and received, for a “Happy New Year.” The phrase itself speaks of hope and yearnings for a fresh start. Fresh starts are good! Fresh starts are merciful. But I’m thinking, now, of a different possibility. What if we… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:30 min. One day in prayer, a year or so before the pandemic, I receive an understanding. It arrives so clear that I know I need to make note of it: A time will come when I will be deprived of Eucharist. Maybe calamity will visit the land. Maybe churches… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:00 min. Wrapping up coffee downtown with friends, my next errand is to drop off my ballot in the Big White Box outside City Hall. I unzip my backpack, retrieve the ballot, and … here it goes. The sealed and signed envelope slides down the chute. I notice that this small… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:45 min. In stillness I await the rising sun beyond these Oregon Cascade peaks. It’s quiet here along the river channel, so I let my mind drift. And the unexpected question arrives: How much does my nation spend on war? What I really want to know is: How much does my… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:45 min. Please note, Gentle Reader, I don’t mean anything prescripted, dogmatic, sharp-edged, exclusionary, confined, or confining. I think now of that whispered invitation into the sacred, the gate swinging wide, the verdant archway fresh with river dew, ready, beckoning, and the startle of the heart, the surprise that washes over… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:05 min. Jesus, with his unexpected and frankly unsettling pronouncements, must have startled folks in his time. He instructs his Twelve (hey, that would be us): “As you tour the towns and villages, announce this: The reign of God is at hand!” Do any of us get what he’s really saying?… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:45 min. I receive emails, have conversations, about one a day, from folks who are distraught with “how things are.” And the words of the Teacher keep coming to mind: DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. These are not the consoling words of a mother to a child. These are… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:30 min. Frankly? I’m tired of the which-side-are-you-on wars. Whether the wars are political, military, cultural, ideological, or just bad blood between siblings, neighbors, coworkers, or former spouses, these endless battles exhaust the life out of everything. Pitting one side against the other flattens the conversation, dulls the imagination, and cedes… Read more »
Approx. read time: 1:20 min. I read in today’s New York Times morning newsletter that “Help is on the way.” That would be U.S. funding for a fresh round of armaments in support of Ukraine’s protracted battle against Russia. Meeting firepower with firepower does not end war. Only humility and courage—the excruciating pivot—can end… Read more »
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