Category: Spiritual Practices
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Living With A Tender Heart – A Reflection On The News And Staying Informed
Delete. Delete. Delete. I just can’t, I said to myself as I deleted another email, unopened and unread. The subject lines were enough: Breaking news; What you missed over the weekend; The latest on the war in Iran; Trump says, …; A federal judge ruled …; What you need to know about …; ICE Deports… Read more
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Making A Pledge To Normalcy
Late last Friday afternoon I went for a bike ride. I chased dirt roads through a neighborhood forest, spooked some deer, enjoyed cool weather, and kept an eye on the cloudy and darkening skies. My only goal was to get back to my truck before the sun set. It felt nice to be out and… Read more
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Managing The Advent Crisis
In my previous post I suggested that Advent is less about a countdown to Christmas and more about a crisis. I’m not talking about our usual understanding of crisis as one of those “Aw, shhhiiioot!!” events in which something has gone wrong. I’m talking about the older, original understanding of the word. It comes from… Read more
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Thanksgiving And Prayer
“Thus we should all give thanks to Him, as it is said: ‘In everything give thanks’ (1 Thess. 5:18). Closely linked to this phrase is another of St Paul’s injunctions: ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess. 5:17), that is, be mindful of God at all time, in all places, and in every circumstance. For no matter… Read more
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Confessing
What on earth were you thinking Mike? Why would you do that? What an idiot. There it was again, that familiar inner voice. At one time those words, that voice, were about what I had done. Now they were about having scheduled an appointment with Fr. Kelly to confess what I had done. Those words,… Read more
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Fasting From Words
A Word from the Desert Abba Macarius the Great said to the brothers at Scetis, when he dismissed the assembly, ‘Flee, my brothers.’ One of the old men asked him, ‘Where could we flee to beyond the desert?’ He put his finger on his lips and said, ‘Flee that,’ and he went into his cell,… Read more
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Detaching From Another’s Scorn or Praise
A Word from the Desert “A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, ‘Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved.’ So the old man said, ‘Go to the cemetery and abuse [insult] the dead.’ The brother went there, abused [insulted] them and threw stones at them; then… Read more
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Is it Yours?
A Word From the Desert “The same Abba Agathon was walking with his disciples. One of them, finding a small green pea on the road, said to the old man, ‘Father, may I take it?’ The old man, looking at him with astonishment, said, ‘Was it you who put it there?’ ‘No,’ replied the brother.… Read more
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Lent with the Desert Fathers: Detachment and Simplicity
A Word From the Desert Abba Zosimos said, “In time, through neglect, we lose even the little fervor that we suppose we have in our ascetic renunciation. We become attached to useless, insignificant, and entirely worthless matters, substituting these for the love of God and neighbor, appropriating material things as if they were our own or… Read more