Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Praying ~
As an altarboy -- I was nine or ten -- I said these words at the foot of the altar every day an didn't have the slightest idea what I was saying: . . .
". . . quia tu es Deus, fortitudo mea, quare me repulisti . . ."
[". . . for You are God, my strength, why do you keep putting me off . . ."]
Now sixty years later these same words keep returning. I have finally come to understand them.
Friday, October 22, 2010
The Wise Old Monk ~
I told him it has become hard to pray. He said the slightest calling to mind to pray is a prayer in itself.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Monday, October 04, 2010
St. Francis of Assisi ~
He snatched the eternal fire and brought it down to us.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Paleontology ~
Two hundred and sixty million years ago dinosaurs roamed the earth. Looking ahead two hundred and sixty million years from now what significance will the fleeting moment of my life have?
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Offender-Victim Relationship
In Munich last year Dominik Brunner tried to protect a group of children at a subway stop from being robbed by two teenagers. In a scurry the teenagers promptly hit and kicked him and ended up killing him.
The law says that a such a courageous person can attack molesters only in self defence. But Dominik Brunner did actually attack the teenagers first, which in the eyes of the law makes his case legally questionable.
Nevertheless, the judges sentenced the young boys to long prison terms. Their verdict demanded about as much civil courage as that shown by Dominik Brunner. For people in Germany Dominik Brunner is truly a model of civil courage. He received the Distinguished Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany posthumously.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
To Solve Problems ~
Virginia Wolf toyed with the idea of death as a problem solver in her novels. In the end she committed suicide.
I wonder if the saints ever tinkered with the idea of self-imposed death as a way to solve their loving longing for God.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
World Soccer Tournament ~
Friday, July 16, 2010
De Diligendo Deo ~
Why do You drive me crazy by planting Your love in me and then frustrating me by not even letting me know who You are? Let alone not being able to get close.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Argentina 0 ~ Germany 4
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
De Diligendo Deo ~
The notion of Jesus Christ, a man, as being God deprives me, blurs out, a conception of God as the Father, Creator, Love Itself. That idea of God as God lifts me away from this world, from history, to a higher, mysterious realm where I naturally place Him and sensibly long for Him.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Suffering ~
Those on crutches would look me in the face and greet; the healthy ones would pass me by.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Words ~
She turned to me and said: did you ever notice? Flowers don't speak.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
For Us to See ~
This night I looked out my window and saw beauty on a stretched out bed of black clouds: the full moon.
Monday, May 24, 2010
De diligendo Deo ~
To live constantly in the presence of God. That is the monk's high aspiration. In so far as he does this he is never alone.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
God's Created World ~
The Old Monk told me to look upon Nature as God's attempt to communicate with me.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Involuntary Prey ~
I am bombarded with advertisements, enticements to get me to buy things I don't need or want. I am a prey of consumerism!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
At Table ~
Why did they teach us to take the piece that is nearest us when the food went around at table?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Courageous Women ~
In Germany we presently have two heroes:
The Bishop of the German Protestant Church, Margaret Kässmann, who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol [alcohol content of 0.154 percent] and going through a red light. She admitted that she had made a grave mistake and she willed to pay the price. No attempt at covering up. She immediately resigned from her high position as the first woman bishop in Germany. "You cannot fall deeper than into God's hand", were her words.
The second is Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Head of the Department of Justice in Germany. She challenges the bishops of Germany to quit covering up cases of pedophilia and to start working hand in hand with civil authorities.
The Bishop of the German Protestant Church, Margaret Kässmann, who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol [alcohol content of 0.154 percent] and going through a red light. She admitted that she had made a grave mistake and she willed to pay the price. No attempt at covering up. She immediately resigned from her high position as the first woman bishop in Germany. "You cannot fall deeper than into God's hand", were her words.
The second is Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Head of the Department of Justice in Germany. She challenges the bishops of Germany to quit covering up cases of pedophilia and to start working hand in hand with civil authorities.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Looking Forward ~
Outside my window it is bitter cold, the snow is drifted high on the lawn but the chickadees are out there checking out the birdhouse in the maple tree.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Practice Dying ~
I went back and asked the Old Monk why I should try to practice dying. He said when we die we are in a state in which we have shed everything worldly. Only at that moment are we ready to receive God.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Letting Go ~
In a follow-up to yesterday's "emptying oneself" the Old Monk said: learn to relax and let go. Practice dying.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Emptying Oneself ~
The Wise Old Monk told me to learn from my computer crash. He said I should learn from it what emptying onself means, the term the mystics used to explain what was necessary to achieve a union with God.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Valentine's Day ~
What was that I read in the newspaper? In a grade school in England the children were not allowed to exchange Valentine cards this year because they were considered too young to know what love is all about.
Monday, February 08, 2010
New Angles ~
So now a thief has offered the Federal Government in Berlin a CD he stole containing the names of German bank customers in Switzerland who have evaded taxes. Without any qualms at all, the Government has accepted the offer and will pay him $2,500.000.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Deus Obscurus ~
I told the Old Monk my problem: that when I reach out for God and there is nothing to grab on to. He said the problem is that there is too much.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Classroom
As a teacher I knew I had to hold the book in my hands, but at the same time have my arms wide open.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Haiti Earthquake ~
It was also an interior earthquake for us who trust in Him. How could He allow such a thing to happen to so many . . . ?
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Song of Praise ~
I would like to sing a song of praise for the heroes on Flight 253 to Detroit who saved the lives of 278 passengers when there was a man with a bomb onboard. As of yet they have gone unthanked, unknown.
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