A few years ago my middle school aged son got into the car and I handed him a book and said, ”Hold this please.” He said, ”Is this a Bible?” I said, ”No, Seven Storey Mountain.” He replied, ”Merton. It’s always Merton with you.” He’s not wrong. This morning I picked up The New Seeds …
Has the Lord ever asked you a question and you know the right answer and your answer are not the same? The Lord is really good at asking simple questions that cannot be answered because the answer is too difficult to bear, let alone say out loud. Like the rich young ruler who went away …
When I was a little girl I wanted to get married young, be a missionary, and have so very many kids. Check. Check. Check. And honestly, I was proud of it. I did exactly what I set about to do. I was serving the Lord (I mean, I am sure God appreciated all I was …
“What you do matters—but not much. What you are matters tremendously.” (Catherine Doherty) Today I wrestled hard with my heart. I am not sure if my will or my emotions won or if it was a draw. Nothing causes you to face what you really are like rejection. My life has been a school of …
Jordan Peterson talks about how you know a friend is a real friend. He says the first mark is that you can tell them bad news and they won’t make you feel stupid or that all your back luck is your own fault. The second mark is that you can tell them good news and …
“Sometimes, at the dinner table, a man might get up and go outside and walk and walk, simply because there’s somewhere in the East a church. And his own children consider him dead. Yet another, who dies in his own house, stays put, living on in his table and glass, so that this time it’s …
I am not a terribly efficient confesser. This is a thing I know about myself, so I don’t usually line up 15 minutes before Mass when I know other people want to get in. I make an appointment or go at a daily Mass. (It’s my little sacrifice. Not all heroes wear capes.) The typical …
We live in a world where innovation is highly valued, disruptive technologies sought after, fresh ideas praised. It is as if what is current is interchangeable with what is important and the only relevant ideas are those which can be captured in a sound bite in the 24 hour news cycle. There is always the …
A friend asked me recently if I wrote a book what would it be about. I said, “I don’t know. Grief and other lovely things, I suppose.” That is said without an ounce of sarcasm, by the way. I have been in a season of grief for a while—the kind of grief that was at …
I have been guilty of saying too many things or perhaps just the wrong things. In my younger days I was overly critical of others and rode my high horse like I was in a parade. I could tell you exactly the three easy steps you needed to take to get your shit together. I …
reconciling things 