I am always happy to receive a regular newsletter by Maria Popova titled, The Marginalian. A recent edition looked like it could serve for some reflection on the New Year widening in front of us as you are reading this. Popova is a Bulgarian-born, American-raised author, poet, literary and arts commentator, and a cultural critic who... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com Do you find resolutions confounding? Do you dislike making them because you know you will break them? Do you think you often make them when you are fervent and dedicated to an issue or concern and you’re afraid if you make more resolutions based on these concerns, you’ll just toss them into... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com All of us are so swept into the meaning of Christmas not only for ourselves but for others we know who are suffering losses over the past year and simply cannot adjust that empty chair at the family dinner celebration. These losses represent the angst of having given a loved one up... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com A few years ago, a friend of mine shared a manuscript her late uncle, a Jesuit priest, had written about his time as a POW chaplain in World War II. I explored the manuscript to see what I could do to help her get it published but I was unable to accomplish... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com As I’m meditating on whether I’m an illuminary person or a diminisher person as discussed in last week’s post, I have come to realize that sometimes I’m a blend of both, but the challenge is to face the diminisher side and pray for the insight to recognize it when it veers its... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about Advent, the liturgical season meant to lead us to a fuller appreciation of what the birth of Jesus means to those of us who are Christian. I’ve been wondering what I could do to lift my soul and heart to become a better follower... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com Over many years I have read countless theological explanations of what intercessory prayer is - the prayer in which we ask for personal help, guidance, and help for others. Sometimes, we ask for miracles, the help that finds its way through scientific and natural explanations of phenomena. And we wonder: Do miracles... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com We have been discussing prayer these past few weeks, especially as we wonder if God hears us and actually intervenes. (That will be next week’s topic.) Remember: You know that deep in your heart, you cannot be happy or totally at peace without living an intentional spirituality, that is, the field of... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: M. A. Flannery, SC Occasionally, when the news gets almost too hard to bear, we give a report on the conversations of the White House pets—just for a bit of levity and understanding of the perceptions our pets have about life. Today’s report is a letter from a little dog who was saddened... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com In literary criticism, there is a term describing people who are essentially good persons but who have a gnawing trait that eats away at their goodness and sometimes emerges as the fatal flaw ending in tragedy. Think of Shakespeare’s Othello, a good man who is easily corrupted into a jealous rage about... Continue Reading →