Observance ~

Over here in Germany the people would protest if you went out and cut your lawn on a Sunday.

Disillusionment ~

When the end is near, a monk who had really been a monk all his life ends up asking if he had not been deluded the whole time, and if what he believed was all made up.

Seeing ~

Let the birds be your prophets and saints,
Let the clouds be your prophets and saints,
Let the flowers be your prophets and saints.

The Thomas Merton Prayer ~

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am

following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and

in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me

to face my perils alone.

America First ~

And the world, as I have known it for the past 70 years, continues to be torn apart and destroyed . . .

America Crumbling ~

Two major American sports teams have announced that they will stop playing Kate Smith's rendition of the Irving Berlin patriotic classic God Bless America because of racist views she supposedly had.

Easter 2019 ~

And Daniel Barenboim would rather not perform Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion with the Berlin Philhormoniker because of the antisemitic passages in it.

Protestant Theologian ~

After being tortured Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging on 9 April 1945 at a Nazi concentration camp.

Prayer ~

Prayer -- is simply letting thoughts float heavenward.

The Power of Words ~

Consider what this one word can do: Socialism

Final Exam for the Graduates ~

I had taught them for years and they were obviously frightened. Written and oral exams tomorrow. I told them to relax now and forget the books. They had learned a lot of German in four years. . . Go downtown this evening and go for a quiet walk. No drinking, no horsing around. Turn in early for a good night's sleep. Come in tomorrow alert and looking sharp: boys in jacket, shirt and tie, the girls wearing their neat dresses. Have happy thoughts and be confident. If you let it, everything will meld and fall into place, but you must be calm and receptive.

Burial ~

The childen stood at the gravesite and heard them lower the coffin,  but they refused to lean over and look in. Then they broke into tears.

Hate ~

" . . . this ability he has to sense our darkest instincts and call to them, coax them out of hiding, when we'd prefer not to see them at all."
Nancy Gibbs    Time

Going to Midnight Mass?

And then this at Christmas time:
More than 500 priests accused of sexual abuse . . . public list of Chicago-area priests with credible allegation of abuse to grow . . .
Chicago Tribune

Lost Here ~

In the search for God one is always alone. And we hardly know who we are looking for, or where to look.

Laudation ~

Hail, Stalwart Souls who stand up against the Powers That Be to stop it from eating into the fabric of our lives.

Waking Me with Splendor ~

You reflect Your beauty to me through Your creatures.

From Whence Cometh Our Strength? ~

What disturbs the monk is the fact that it is the Church People who lend such massive support.

Memories ~

All the mistakes you made in your lifetime come back, with clarity, to haunt you.

The Greater USA ~

. . . And The Show goes on . . . 

Daylight Savings Time Debate ~

We can turn back the clocks, but we can't stop the months from coming on . . . October, November . . .

An Autumn Morning ~

This morning at 7:30 there was a congregation of birds on the highest branches of the trees looking out over the hill to catch the magnificent red sunrise.

Sacred Spaces ~

As a child I had my holy places where it was quiet and filled with meaning: the church on McKean Street, the Capuchin monastery not far from town . . . It was the feeling of being enveloped in a mysterious, meaningful space.

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

12
You said things to us in silence
that fell into deep furrows
of understanding.
So changed were we
that only on reading
about Francis
did we begin to fathom
what had happened to us.

Source

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

13
You said things to us
in silence
that fell into deep furrows
of understanding.
So changed were we
that only on reading
about Francis
did we begin to fathom
what had happened to us

 

Thomas Merton ~

This is the church at the Abbey of Gethsemani that Thomas Merton knew when he entered the monastery in 1941. 

Poem about the Abbey church.
Who was Thomas Merton?

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

39
Who ever counted 

our myriad passages

through silent confines

of corridors and halls

in ordered rhythmic traffic

on porous yellow tiles?

                                                   

45

And all during those years

minutes were being measured

diligently

by the onlooking clock

in low swinging arcs

there on that wall

where all our corridors met.

Weighty Distractions ~

American monks cannot keep their thoughts on things spiritual nowadays because their minds are distracted by the plaguing question so many are asking: What kind of a country are we becoming?

Notes of a Young Seminarian ~ 1947

85

We had all the order

of the Parthenon

within those walls,

for You hewed

into our dimensions

the pillars

of Your presence.

How could we have ever seen

that our poor yellow bricks

were crumbling?

Words Written on a Dilapidated House ~

Yipee! Wir sind am Ziel unserer Träume.
Translation:

Yipee! We have reached the goal of our dreams.

Reacting ~

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students in Parkland.
We thank you.

Art Exhibition in Baden-Baden, Germany ~

William N. Copley

Imaginary Flag for U.S.A.

1972 

Cardinal Karl Lehmann ~ Bishop of Mainz, Germany

† March 11, 2017

In an interview with SWRadio this extraordinary, fearless bishop stated that when all is said and done he would believe neither in the Church nor in Christianity, but in God alone. For God will always exist -- the Church, on the other hand, perhaps not.

Revving Up~

When will he be advocating that pastors and priests start toting a pistol?

A Measure of Power ~

. . . and none of the players kneeled or remained on the bench during the National Anthem at the Super Bowl . . .

Winter Morning at Sunrise ~

I look out over the wide field covered with snow and imagine it will one day be green with grass, or brown with wheat swaying in the breeze. Ah--I must be dreaming.

A Measure of Power ~

. . . when in the presence of six senators he could say "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" . . . and no one reacts.

They All Do It ~

Here in Germany the Volkswagen bosses are breathing a sigh of relief and gleefully clapping their hands on hearing that Ford USA has been caught cheating with diesel emissions.

Climate Change ~

It has warmed up so much that the snowman the grandchildren made sunk down on its knees and lost its carrot nose.

Alabama ~

Decency still counts in America.

American Future? ~

I am beginning to see States breaking away from the Union as a result of growing division due to viral political convictions.

Thanksgiving 2017 ~

What will the topic of conversation be today when families sit down to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal?

Playing the Piano ~

I am beginning to feel something new going on with my hands when playing. It seems as if they are no longer two separate instruments. I can feel them as one, giving the feeling I am gently throwing balls, like a juggler, from one to the another.

St. Benedict ~

He was a genius to have made a rule under which men could live together in community and thrive. His key was the virtue of humility that he insisted on instilling in his members. A perfect Benedictine, following the Gospel dictate should always "take the last place".

An Offhand Remark ~

I heard someone say: "Fingers have memory." Ever since hearing that my piano playing has improved noticeably.

Local Beauty ~

The neighbors next-door cut down this stately red beech tree this morning. 

Leaf-raking was too much of a chore. . .

Just lost a friend.

Thomas Merton ~ Spiritual Mentor for a Young Seminarian ~

 

Choice of Words ~

"Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!"

                                              ~ President of the United States

Was Ist Los? ~

80-90 seats in the German Bundestag will now be filled by the new extreme right AfD party that won yesterday in the elections.