To Understand the World ~

"To understand the world at all, sometimes you could only focus on a tiny bit of it, look very hard at what was close to hand and make it stand in for the whole. . ."

                                                           from: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

Outside My Window ~

In 10 below zero weather a black bird sat in the lilac bush under a canopy of snow for one full hour, all hunched and meditating . . .

Merton's 100th Birthday ~

There was supposed to be a weekend seminar held at this Benedictine monastery here in Germany about Thomas Merton which I was excited about and signed up for. It was called off because of lack of participants.

Mothers of the Fallen ~

Take your hands from your eyes wet with tears, dear Mother, to show us the beauty there that your suffering has caused.

We Are All Brothers ~

Spent the day in Stuttgart visiting museums walking around downtown. I saw thousands of people but not one of them would look me in the eye or show any sign of recognizing me as a fellow human being.

Civil Courage ~ Good Angel

She was a 22 year university student here in Germany. One evening last week she intervened to help two girls, 13 and 16, who were being harassed by three men near the rest room in a McDonald's restaurant. She helped to free the girls but shortly thereafter an 18-year-old attacked her in the parking lot hitting her so violently that she fell and suffered a brain concussion when her head hit the pavement. Taken to the hospital she survived in a coma for one week. This morning Tugce Albayra passed away. It was her 23rd birthday.

Vain Effort ~

All the theology classes are of no avail in bringing me closer to experiencing who God is.

God's Harlequin ~

In spite of all my weaknesses, my hang-ups, my excesses I know that I am Your creation, Your flawed creation. Maybe, maybe, You have always wanted me just that way. Maybe You take delight in me. That's why I bear with myself, trusting You.

Destination ~

Are the luxurious, high tech BMWs and Cadillacs the seniors are driving all rushing along the roads to make it to their drivers' funerals on time?

Arnold Palmer ~ 85th Birthday

Dear Arnie,

Would like to let you know that you were, and are, an inspiration for me on my life's rough fairways. I often recalled your composed determination, and it kept me going. 

Thank you so much,

Charles [4 years younger] 

____________

♰ September 25, 2016

Remembering the Holocaust ~

Seventy Years Later

Auschwitz

One Sunday morning in Munich

Seventy years later 

I saw six suitcases painted white 

Standing on a sidewalk 

Each with a rose stuck on 

And nametags. 

People came past 

Stopped, bent over to read 

And continued on with stooped shoulders— 

Wrenched from Sunday calm.

Like a Morning Prayer ~

Held the umbrella slanted against the wind and walked, looking down at the path, concentrated for once, without distractions.

 

Deep Fear ~

What is it I fear? . . . Fear is when the person I am talking to might be thinking that I am too old and not quite up to par.

 

Rewards ~

The University of Rostock in Germany is going to present Edward Snowden with an honorary doctorate degree, honoris causa. . .

Ochenhausen, Germany ~

Last evening at a concert on Ochsenhausen, Germany, the full quaking power of Schubert's Adagio, Trio Opus 100 overcame me on hearing the first three notes and did not let up until the movement ended.

 

Discomfort ~

Why does it affect me so, that the little five-year-old next door [whom I do not know] will not even as much as say hello?

 

Sunday Morning ~

And overhead, a lark fluttering and twittering its song.

Hustle and Bustle ~

In the garden the birds are busy. The bird houses and nests are occupied and there is constant feeding. Other young birds are learning to fly. The lilacs bushes are favorite perching places. There is a lot of fluttering in the bird bath.

Not Knowing ~

In all the great decisions of my 80 years it was best that I did not know everything that was involved. Knowing would have paralyzed me.

 

For the Mothers of the Fallen ~

Good Friday, 2014

You, dear son, died lone. When Jesus died his mother was at his side.

Golf ~

Haven't played golf for quite a few years now, at 81. But I could have been a much better golfer if I had only listened to some advice and not insisted on being my own pro.

Mothers of the Fallen ~

How the pain of loss and its sting comes creeping into the daily life of 

the living mothers

 of the fallen soldiers. And they sit alone, suffering.

Poetic Tribute

Water from the roof ~

Our little contribution to saving and appreciating water.

Deathbed ~

The priest came. The old man told him he didn't want to hear about Jesus and holy things, but he did want him to come back.

The Bombing of Dresden, February 13, 1945

To commemorate the day the bombs fell there was a concert in the Dresden opera: Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem. When the music had ended the audience did not clap. Quietly, everyone stood up and remained standing, long, in silence.

Prayer ~

You don't have to go to the mountains to pray -- but sometimes it helps.

How fast things change ~

I remember how, ten years ago, I would click into the internet and have the joyous feeling that I was connected with the world.

Now that click makes me wary and I feel as if I am in enemy territory.

Sexual Harassment ~

A six-year-old first grader in Colorado was suspended from school for one day for sexual harassment because he bent over and kissed his "girlfriend's" hand during a reading lesson.

Newtown ~ One Year Later

Newtown, Connecticut

14 December 2012



Angel of evil do not descend on this sunlit town in early morning,


First grade still unaccustomed to the day,


In corridors the shuffling of boots


Coats crowded on hooks, busy hands adjusting at desks.


The bell has rung, their teacher, she greets them, hovering.


Toward the windowsill their sidelong glances, the candle the wreath.


Their Christmas nearing. Still so new when seven.


Be merciful angel, do not alight. Stay winged, pass over.

Source

Holocaust Stones ~ Germany

These are called "Trip-Stones" and are to be found on the sidewalk in front of houses where Jewish families lived who were deported and murdered during the Nazi regime.

 

What is God? ~

I must consciously free my mind from the idea that God is just a person who lived in Palestine. Christianity keeps me focused on that. Break away from that notion and begin to realize more what God means. 

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar ~

When we wanted to become altar boys a nun taught us the Latin prayers at the foot of the altar. Now I can still say them . . .

Solution? ~

In his latest book dissident Catholic theologian Hans Küng has revealed that he is considering assisted suicide. Oh?

Not Knowing ~

The most important things we do in life we do without knowing: like taking a spouse, like choosing a career, like bringing up children. We take the leap!

Gratias ago ~

How lovely the sun this early Sunday morning shining at a low angle into the autumn trees in our garden and setting them on fire.

Goverment Shut Down ~ USA

Witness what lust for power accomplishes.

TV and Church ~

How many people sit before their TV sets watching Sunday services? Will that some day be forbidden so that people will have to go back to their church and fill up the benches?

 

Summer's End ~

At our door the leaves are yellow and falling, the flowers bloom no more.

Autumn has crept in.

Best Moments ~

The best moments of the day: when sitting in silence and doing nothing but looking at the trees, the sky and the clouds.

Finality ~

In the end every thing will go, even the Washington Post.

Trustworthy ~

Only 47 % of the German population now look upon the USA as a trustworthy partner.

Just heard on the radio . . .

. . . that they couldn't bury the Boston Marathon Bomber because there was no cemetery that was willing to have him.

Going to God ~

He said: Do not use words! Just be quiet for a few moments and open yourself, and allow the spirit of God stream into you. 

Trees ~

In Stuttgart as in Istanbul it was saving the trees that brought the people to demonstrate for democracy.

Obama in Berlin ~ June 19, 2013

A humbled President came and spoke, and made no attempt to upstage J.F.K with his famous speech, ..."Ich bin ein Berliner" fifty years ago, June 26, 1653.

Daily Prayers ~

Little did I realize that those Latin prayers I had to learn to be an altar boy would end up, seventy years later, as the prayers I recite day in and day out. 

Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc, confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, 

et Deus meus. . .

Deus Obscurus ~

Instead of a feeling of exasperation, learn to marvel at the ways in which God hides from you. So hidden, yet so close.

Springtime Vision ~

How can I look out over the greening fields and not see there a miracle taking place?

Accidentally ~

For his fifth birthday the rifle, a present he shot and killed his sister with. She was only two.

Spring Leisure ~

Fell dead asleep this morning in the warm sunlight in the garden while trying to meditate, until a goldfinch came up close and twittered me awake.