Rebellion ~

How can you do the same job constantly, year after year, without at some point rebelling?

Municipality ~ Easy Money

They have come up with a clever new tax scheme:

1. Take aerial photos of our roof.

2. Calculate the size of its surface.

3. Levy a tax on the amount of water that flows off it into the municipal drain.

Destroying Beauty ~

Aren't there enough high tension masts streaking through the beautiful German landscape? No, they are planning 3,000 kilometers of new high tension wire masts as a result of the planned shutting down of nuclear power plants. No one mentions that we should cut back our usage.

De Diligendo Deo ~

The Wise Old Monk told me: "Don't rely on the community in your search for God. You must learn to search alone."

Reaching for Perfection ~

In the local competition they gave her the first prize but they didn't make much of a fuss about her in the local newspaper, as if this were nothing remarkable.

Wise Old Monk ~

During a conversation I asked him where he found all the wisdom he imparts to others. He was embarrassed but said: maybe one has to suffer.

The Now ~

Earth -- Europe -- Germany -- State: Baden Württemberg -- County: Waldshut -- Town: Höchenschwand -- Waldshuter Strasse 6 -- in my study -- at the window -- Saturday -- 4:38 p.m. -- I look out -- snow on the ground -- the sky is gray -- I hear a car passing -- then silence. . .

Active Passivity ~

All the nicks and scratches on my hands heal in time without my doing.

German Defence Minister ~ Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

They are at him for plagerizing on his Ph.D. dissertation. The Opposition is calling for his resignation, but the ruling CDU is out to keep him in office despite the heated fray he has caused here in Germany. Behold -- according to the latest public opinion polls he has risen to the top of the list of most admired German politicians.

Mysteries of Love ~

Maybe God loves us so much because we are always hurting Him and because of that He can't get us off His mind.

Evasion ~

We talk about everything else but leave the most improtant thing unsaid.

De Diligendo Deo ~

I was a young seminarian who asked the Wise Old Monk how I could best learn to love God. He said: first learn to love a girl. I looked at him and creased my brow.

Christmas 2010 ~

I am a Jew at the time of Christ's coming. I am steeped in the Bible that has given me detailed information about the God of Abraham and Moses, images of the Messiah I am waiting for. If someone had told me about Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah and I would have looked the other way.

Lost Key ~

After 15 years I have found it, but now something is missing:

It was fascinating to be constantly on the look-out for it. Now I have nothing to search for.

Now I have been robbed of the hope of finding it,

and, . . . the prospect of that joyous moment-of-finding is gone.

Accepting ~

I will not be mad at You if there is no life after death.

Grandchildren ~

The sun is shining . . .

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.

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.

Praying ~

Who can I pray to other than You?

St. Francis of Assisi ~

He snatched the eternal fire and brought it down to us.

Our Help is in the Name of the Lord ~

We call upon God— He sends us people.

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?

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.

Autumn ~

It is the early reddish tinge on the leaves of the oak tree that make for melancholy.

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.

World Soccer Tournament ~

What about all those fervent prayers for the opposing teams? Whose side are You on? It is obvious You were for Spain . . .

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.

Argentina 0 ~ Germany 4

Here in Germany all the flags are out and waving, like they never do otherwise, as the German team forges on in the World Soccer Tournament.

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.

Suffering ~

Those on crutches would look me in the face and greet; the healthy ones would pass me by.

Words ~

She turned to me and said: did you ever notice? Flowers don't speak.

Searching ~ Finding

Look for Him not in books, nor in discouse. Look in your heart.

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.

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.

God's Created World ~

The Old Monk told me to look upon Nature as God's attempt to communicate with me.