For, as the wise monk [Thomas Merton] taught us, the real journey is what happens inside of us. More important than our accomplishments, careers and titles, is the way we have grown inside ourselves during the time we have been given. More important is our growing awareness, acknowledgement and, ultimately, surrender and response to the “creative action of love and grace in our hearts,” which is about as good a definition of God as you can find anywhere. …
Tag: vocation
I am very pleased to announce my first-ever retreat on the intersection of spirituality and creativity. If you live near the St. Louis area, think about joining me on Friday evening, October 11, and all day Saturday the 12th at Mercy Center to explore what happens at that very special place where God, prayer and our own creative activities meet. …
This is why Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This is why he taught that our neighbor is anyone in need. It’s why he told us to love the least of our brothers and sisters. Because that’s where he is and where we will most readily find him. Serving others is more than charity, more than good works, more than a quick foot washing. It’s a chance to meet Jesus face to face. …
I am very close to beginning a new walk, as retirement from my position at the university looms large (target date: June 14). The question I hear most frequently, you might imagine, is “what are you going to do?” It will likely come as no surprise to those who know me if I say, “I have a plan.” …
Like many, I was impatient and restless as a young person. My favorite prayer was something along the lines of, “That was fun. What’s next?” What I learned as I grew older was the importance of savoring the gift of the present and the little. …
Pope Francis recently acknowledged the “shame and repentance" of the Catholic Church's failure to act on decades of sexual abuse by clerics against our young people. He stated emphatically that the Church “showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them." Like many Catholics, I appreciate his words, but they are not enough. …
We live in unsettled, dangerous, destructive, confusing times, and it would be easy to allow our only response to be one of resignation, of saying to ourselves and to the rest of the world, “I give up. It’s just too big. It’s just too destructive. I have nothing to offer that will make a difference.” But such a response is lazy and not a response of faith. A response of faith allows us (perhaps propels us) to roll up our …
Pondering, at least it seems for me, is a most appropriate approach and primer to a life of prayer. When we can arise each morning and listen for the sound of our favorite bird and then connect it to the movement of God in our lives, we are certainly on to something mystical and yet very real. …
There’s always an “unknown blessing” on its way. We’re all walking headlong into a blessing every day that we can’t see coming, and it might have taken a long and winding road to get to us. We just need to live with our eyes wide open and watch for it. We need to show up and do stuff. We need to take chances. We need to not miss the blessing when it appears. …
As we begin a New Year, perhaps the best resolution we can live out is the resolve to answer the call that has been given to us, and that begins by learning to pay attention to our lives and to those things that give us life and joy. For in those moments, we find God and begin to hear a call. …