Don

I came across this humorous little animation while looking at the blogs of Houghton College students and faculty. There is a powerful message in this short clip. One of the most enjoyable aspects of blogging is my own curiosity about other bloggers who are writing about subjects that I am writing about. Almost always I … Read more

Tonight I heard that a young man who was once part of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes “Huddle” I oversaw is headed to Iraq. He doesn’t know that I’ve been praying for him ever since he was in college and that I knew that eventually he’d go to Iraq. I hoped against hope that somehow … Read more

A sacred illness is one that educates us and alters us from the inside out, provides experiences and therefore knowledge that we could not possibly achieve in any other way.–Deena Metzger I like the quote because it resonates with my experiences. In the past two years I’ve had two sacred illnesses. At the time I … Read more

It’s actually just thirty minutes past midnight and Midnight Mass ended nearly two hours ago, but Christmas Eve Mass has always been a highlight for me even in the many years when I didn’t attend Mass regularly. It’s a mystical time and full of wonder. What was it like in the countryside over two-thousand years … Read more

Today on my way to Mass I was listening to John Michael Talbot sing about the primacy of Christ and as I contemplated the world scene with the United States debacle in Iraq murdering thousands this year. Soon our warships will be on station off the coast of Iran ready to visit more carnage on … Read more

Today, I was out driving around Olean and Allegany, New York. My travels took me directly in front of St. Elizabeth’s Motherhouse. That’s the home of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. Every year the Sisters have a lovely display of a creche along Route 417 in front of the Motherhouse. Today I couldn’t find my … Read more

In some circles insanity is defined as “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” That could well describe President Bush’s Iraq policy. “Iraq policy” seems in fact to be an oxymoron. There seems to have never been a real policy in Iraq. The reason we went to war has changed nearly … Read more

Today one of the nation’s premier talking heads, George Will, cynically indicted bloggers as self absorbed folks who seemed to think that people cared to read about their thoughts. This came after Time Magazine essentially cited bloggers as “person of the year.” I sometimes read Mr. Will’s column and it seems that what I write … Read more

I’m going to change course a bit and talk about one of my other passions. I’m a technology director for a K-12 school district and in that assignment I’m always looking for ways to provide the most bang for the buck for a small school district. About 5 years ago I read about the K-12 … Read more

A couple of years ago I read “Genesee Diary” a book written by Henri Nouwen about six months spent at Abbey of the Genesee, a Trappist Monastery in upstate New York. Abbey of the Genesee is one of my favorite haunts. I’ve been visiting the Abbey frequently over the past 28 years since I first … Read more