I arose early this morning — earlier than planned and an hour earlier than the alarm — because may brain started swimming with everything I needed to do today. I glance at my to-do list and my calendar, and I get a glimpse of everywhere my car will take me today. I roll my eyes and shake my head. How did I get so busy? Why did I book so many meetings in so many different locations? Why did I …
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Dear friends, On this ordinary day just a few days past the American holiday of Thanksgiving, I write to share a reminder (in words and in the video below) that faith requires an ongoing commitment to this idea of Thanksgiving — to awareness and living with our eyes wide open to our blessings. Above all, to gratitude. We are called to recognize the holy when God puts it right before our eyes. It should be our life’s work to pay …
I am slowly making my way through Larry Warner’s book, “Journey with Jesus,” yet another modern (and insightful) take on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. This past week, the theme was “reverence,” and over and over I was praying for the grace to be in awe of God. Here are a few thoughts from my journal… — Yesterday I walked the wooded path that loops around Mallard Lake near my home. I was still contemplating the theme from …
For my friends in the Greater St. Louis area, I wanted to let you know about an advent retreat coming up soon, December 9-11, in case you’re interested in a quiet weekend away on the banks of the beautiful and meandering Meramec River in the northern reaches of the Ozarks — one of my favorite places on Earth. Except for the COVID year in 2020, I’ve been presenting this annual advent retreat with my friends Fr. Tom Santen and Lucia …
A few weeks ago, Sue and I drove up the California coast from San Jose all the way up into Oregon. Along the way, we stood and walked and rested in the glory of God’s creation. The first half day of driving, north of San Francisco, it seemed like we were pulling into every single scenic view parking lot we encountered on the Pacific Coast Highway. We were so struck with the beauty of waves crashing into rock, so reminded …
Although a little longer than some of my recent “(Very) Short Stories,” I offer you on this Thanksgiving Day a story of awareness, gratitude and friendship. Take some time today to look around, to count your blessings, and so say thank you to the Giver of all. Adam was up early again on a cool, Thanksgiving morning, just after the sun, and although it was just a few days shy of December, the morning was still more like autumn than …
At dusk, he walked the same paved path he walked just about every day through and around his suburban neighborhood. It was good for his health but boring. On most days he saw only the cookie cutter condos, the powerlines, and the comings and goings of the other neighbor-pilgrims who trod the same concrete. It was a long way from the land his ancestors had walked, he thought. He was Osage, somewhere deep in his bones and blood, but that …
Dear friends, readers and occasional visitors to my blog: As we look toward the beginning of Advent in just a few weeks, I wanted to make you aware of two advent retreat opportunities in which I am involved as a presenter and member of the retreat team. First, whether you are near me in the Greater St. Louis area or not, I invite you to participate in a virtual retreat that in the past has drawn retreatants from all over …
NOTE: This post includes a video, which is not visible if you are reading this from an email notification. Click on the underlined title or the “Comment” button below to go to my website and see the entire post, including the video. Welcome to the next episode of “Two Minutes.” This week’s reflection features a short visit to a “branch” creek in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina just outside of Asheville, a short spoken-word prayer …
A number of years ago, when I was praying my way through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, I “met” someone in my prayer, and he made his way into my journals. He was a younger version of myself, maybe 12 or 14 years old, and for some reason he allowed me to see in new and clearer ways just what was going on (or at least what was going on in me) in the stories of the life, …