My wife’s surgery went well today and she was very grateful for the many prayers offered on her behalf. She’s on the road to recovery. My father-in-law’s surgery did not provide such good news. He has cancer which we hope is treatable. Please pray him if you are of a mind to do so. This has been a very busy month and I have not had time to write much, but my thoughts have been about this blog. I have been reading a great deal lately and much of it on Kindle. One of my latest reads has been, “A Hidden Wholeness,” by Parker Palmer. I enthusiastically recommend it to you.
The road ahead
In reflecting on my earlier post and coming upon this photo taken today with my new Motorola Droid I see a connection. I love walking along the Mountain Road at Mt. Irenaeus and although it was a bit damp today from the rain it was enjoyable nonetheless. In fact when it’s raining I often think of how grace filled my life is, but only when it rains do I sense a connection between the enveloping mist and droplets and God’s ever abundant grace in my life and in all our lives.
Walking along this road is always very peaceful and today I thought of my many trips here and splitting wood with Br. Paul whom I often split wood with in the summer of 2000. I don’t know where Paul is these days but every time I walk along this road I think of him. I love these woods and the peace of this place.
Please pray for my father-in-law who will have a serious operation on Tuesday and for my wife who will have a serious operation on June 30th.
Anniversary
Yesterday marked the 27th anniversary of our wedding. Like most couple who mark such milestones we remember what we once looked like and the people who were at our wedding. Some of that number is gone from us now and so we remember them perhaps more vividly. Others like our own children, the very fruit, of our union and who have been and continue to be the focus of our lives seem to have with us since the beginning. That cannot be but it seems that way.
We spent an overnight in Buffalo, New York. Traveling a short 50 miles from our home doesn’t seem like much of a trip yet it provided us with a memorable overnight in the Queen City. We had great accommodations at the Embassy Suites there. A short trip to Niagara Falls last night after a great dinner at our hotel.
This morning we rose early to watch our daughter, Dara compete in the Buffalo Marathon. She actually competed in the half-marathon. A thirteen mile run in no mean accomplishment and she did it in two hours and two minutes. We were very happy for her. Following the race and checking out of our hotel we traveled across the border to Ft. Erie and then up the Niagara Parkway past the Falls and on to Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. Niagara-on-the-Lake was mobbed today and so we only tarried long enough for a couple of tarts and juice. On our return trip on the Parkway we decided to pull off and enjoy the peaceful backdrop of the Niagara River.
There is something about the peaceful and contemplative setting of still waters. Whether I find myself along the Cooper River in South Carolina or the still waters of the Niagara along the Canadian border I return renewed and refreshed.
“he leads me beside the still waters.”
Laudate Dominum
Today was the gathering of our Secular Franciscan fraternity of St. Irenaeus. Our meeting began with nearly thirty minutes of Eucharistic adoration. I love adoration and it’s very simple at the Mountain. Just three small candles, some incense in small vessel and silence. We had skipped this activity for a couple of months and I was glad to see that we had it today. Laudate Dominum, Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes, Alleluia!
Blind guides
I read today on one of the news blogs that Glen Beck and some Republican congressman are touting that a vote on health care on Sunday is dishonoring God. It reminds me of the quote from Jesus taken from the Gospel of Mattew 23:24.
You blind guides strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
Where were these two guys when we voted for war? Where was their phony moral outrage when wars were started? Repeatedly in the Bible we are admonished to care for the less fortunate. I’m personally a fan of single payer health care and unfortunately that won’t pass in Congress because too many of our lawmakers are owned lock, stock and barrel by the insurance cartels, but at least this bill provides a measure of relief to the uninsured and those who are targeted by unscrupulous insurers. This bill is far from perfect but at least its a start.
A call from Him who has no voice
This came today from the Merton Institute and I really liked it. It’s my experience with contemplative life.
Contemplation is also the response to a call: a call from Him Who has no voice, and yet Who speaks in everything that is, and Who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being: for we ourselves are words of His. But we are words that are meant to respond to Him, to answer to Him, to echo Him, and even in some way to contain Him and signify Him. Contemplation is this echo.
Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. (New York: New Directions Books 1961) P 3
The birds
This morning when I first arrived at Mt. Irenaeus I did not see any of my feathered friends and thought that perhaps since I was running a bit late that they had already made their way further up the trail toward the chapel. However, after stopping at the House of Peace to leave off my gift of eggs, orange juice and fresh cheese curd, I emerged from the house to see these little fellows in the bushes near the trail. I greeted them and held out my hand and soon one then another began to land in my hand spend a few seconds and then off to the bushes and trees again. They repeated this cycle for many minutes and had I not begun to walk towards the chapel I’m sure they would have blessed me with their presence even longer.
The chapel was full this morning. Ten students from nearby Houghton College were guests as were a small group of Secular Franciscans, the resident Friar community and some other visitors from the surrounding countryside. Today was one of those lovely sunny days that remind us that spring is coming. I’m grateful for the birds as they remind me that we are all one. We are all made by the same creator and he loves each of us and we are surrounded by his love and we need to share that love with each other.
Stillness
It’s 8:36 am and the only sound in our kitchen is the electronic tick of the clock. Tick-tocks came from pendulums, but they are no longer needed to power an electronic clock, but the sound is an assurance that the clock is running. That’s the only answer I can think of this morning. Other than that noise and the tinnitus in my ears the house is still. I’m writing these words on a MacBook Pro which is connected to the internet and someone somewhere today might read them. I’m connected but unconnected too in an increasingly connected world.
Yesterday a fellow educator wrote about the need for quiet and stillness and especially for his children and I could not agree more. There is a point of over stimulation. That’s part of why I don’t watch the news. I don’t want to be programmed to think a certain way. I’m not Republican nor am I a Democrat. I’m fiercely independent. You can’t put me in a box, I’m bigger than that. I refuse to be a yes/no dualistic thinker. Life is way more complex than that. I’m neither liberal nor conservative. I’m me and I’m created in the image and likeness of my creator and I think you are too. I used to have these words above my desk until I removed them last year, but the thought is still in my heart and it’s borrowed from one of the greatest men to ever live, Robert Holbrook Smith.
“Perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me.
“It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and pray to my Father in secret and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and about is seeming trouble. “
Worshiper or follower?
This past week I had dinner with my friend, Br. Kevin Kriso, OFM. We’re both reading a book by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM entitled Naked Now. As we chatted over dinner at the Linger Longer Cafe in downtown Allegany, New York Kevin mentioned that one of the points from that book was whether you were a follower of Jesus or a worshiper of Jesus. I think it’s an important distinction and actually very radical too in the best sense of that word.
In the past eight or nine years I’ve had many discussions with pro-war folks who worship Jesus and are very devout in that worship. They justify their support of military intervention with the just war theory of St. Augustine and even the Vatican itself says that war is justified under certain circumstances. I’ve found that troubling and though I’m not a Quaker or a Buddhist I’m drawn to try to their practice because it seems more in line with following Jesus. During our conversation Kevin made a good point and that is, “did Jesus ask us to follow him or to worship him.” I think there is an interesting distinction here and one that will keep me thinking for a while. God blesses the warriors and the peacemakers too. Peace.
White desert
Today is one of those typical January days that define winter in the western southern tier of New York. It’s 9 degrees Fahrenheit and there is a mist of snow and ice crystals in the air. It’s a good day to be close to the fire. Frigid days and nights are said to produce a good crop of maple syrup in a few months. Maybe that’s just legend but if it’s true then today is filled with sweetness. For most of my life I’ve wished I lived someplace else at this time of year. I’d still prefer the sun’s warmth to days like today, but I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of the white desert. I’ve been privileged to visit the Sonoran desert of Arizona at certain times and a few weeks ago as I made my way in this winter wonderland I came to appreciate the parallel between the Sonoran desert and our countryside in winter.
We all need deserts in our lives to help us better define and appreciate the lushness of creation in our day to day life. I’ve felt a closeness with my creator which I cannot describe when I’m in these deserts and it has been the desert experiences which have blessed me.
I will lead you into the desert; there I will speak to your heart. — Hosea 2:14