This afternoon I returned to Mount Irenaeus for the first time in over three months. It’s been the longest absence in the past twenty plus years of my life. It was Sunday March 8, 2020 when I last walked the grounds here. That Sunday was the first time that we didn’t share a hug at … Read more
We are deeply flawed and broken. Our racism and bigotry are on full display for the world to see. White folks who don’t want to wear masks storm state capitols with assault rifles and other paraphernalia. Yesterday police in riot gear answer a protest by black Americans angry over the brutal murder of a black … Read more
Earlier today I saw a clip where Franklin Graham attributed the coronavirus pandemic to the sinfulness of the world. According to him God is capricious and looks for ways to inflict pain and sadness on us. This reminded me of a chapter in Thomas Merton’s, New Seeds of Contemplation, which was published many years ago. … Read more
One of my favorite Thomas Merton quotes begins, “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.” That’s certainly true now in this global pandemic. What should I be doing? How much distance do I put between me and the virus. Am I washing … Read more
To deliver oneself up, to hand oneself over, entrust oneself completely to the silence of a wide landscape of woods and hills, or sea, or desert; to sit still while the sun comes up over that land and fills its silences with light. To pray and work in the morning and to labor and rest … Read more
Earlier today I took a canoe onto the lake where we are staying and maybe it’s because I had ridden in motorized craft a lot this trip, but it was very refreshing to be paddling along in a still cove. I think there is a lot more to solitude than prayer or maybe it’s that … Read more
Today I applied to St. Bonaventure University Graduate School. Though I’ve never been a Bona student before, I’ve been connected to St. Bonaventure and Franciscans most of my life. Last night I attended an informational session about graduate programs at St. Bonaventure at Hilbert College, another nearby Franciscan college. I spoke with a representative of … Read more
Contemplation is life itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from … Read more
Loving their own noise. Tonight’s presidential debate seemed like a lot of noise to me. I listened to perhaps thirty-five minutes and then I turned it off. Debates usually lack substance and this one seemed more devoid than others. It was like Senator Obama was debating a five year old. Same rhetoric of the last … Read more
I came across this very good TED Talk by Phillip Zimbardo and it reminded me of the writings of both Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh. We all have within us the seeds of good and evil. Good and evil reside within us all. They are not external forces acting upon us.
