Icons are a form of religious art designed to lead the viewer into prayer. The eyes are the mirror into the soul, the focal point of the Icon. A friend and mentor of mine on the spiritual path shared her experience with religious Icons. My friend went into a workshop on praying with Icons thinking, […]
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“When trouble strikes, head to the library. You will either be able to solve the problem, or simply have something to read as the world crashes down around you.” (Lemony Snickett) When trouble hits, head to the mountains! There you will either be able to clear your mind enough to solve your problem, or find […]
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During Lent many people come up with self-imposed sacrifices, giving up chocolate, cheese, alcohol, adding fasting and penance. Myself, I may give up something but I usually wait to see what sacrifice God is going to give me each Lent. What God sends us is always more meaningful than the ones we come up with. […]
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As I look back over my life, I can recount incidents where I walked in and out of harm’s way, unaware of the potential for danger. I was clueless. But God kept me safe – as the saying goes, God watches over fools and drunkards. I’m not a drunkard, so I guess that leaves me […]
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“O Lord, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth!” (94:1) So begins Psalm 94, but what is this vengeance? Is God’s vengeance the same as human vengeance? Psalm 94 Psalm 94 is a lament in two parts. The first fifteen verses comprise a lament of the community against evildoers who oppress the most vulnerable […]
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“Our years come to an end like a sigh,” Psalm 90 tells us (9b). Will your life end like a sigh? A single breath let loose as a final “Amen” to a life well-lived? Or will you burn out quickly, like a candle burning at both ends? Paul speaks of this life as a race […]
Read More How deep is God’s love? How far and how wide? Psalm 89 has something to teach us about this. Steadfast Love The Hebrew word which is translated as steadfast love in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, is mercy and loving kindness in other translations. I personally prefer the term steadfast love to mercy […]
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Pierre Tielhard de Chardin, a French priest and theologian who lived in the first half of the twentieth century, integrated science and theology with the spiritual exercises of Ignatius. One of the concepts of Tielhard is loving the “not yet,” the potential, the future. We love people as they are now, but also love the […]
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“Those who don’t learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” (George Santayana) And sometimes, even when we know our history, we repeat it! Psalm 78 is a loose accounting of the history of the Hebrew nation up to the time of David. It is a story we continue to repeat; a history of our […]
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Years ago, when I was a child and TV was young, there was a game show called, “To Tell the Truth.” Three people claimed to be the same person. The object of the game was for contestants to determine who was lying and who was telling the truth. At the end of the show the […]
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