This is a well written piece by an author whom I have come to appreciate. I’m increasingly concerned that we are watching the decline and fall of our country. For years I’ve listened to the corporate propagandists who fill our air waves with their talking points. They seem indifferent to the suffering of the masses. [...]
Archive for December, 2008
True Contemplation
Posted in Thomas Merton, Trappist, mindfulness, monastic, mystic, tagged contemplative on December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
True contemplation is the work of a love that transcends all satisfaction and all experience to rest in the night of pure and naked faith. This faith brings us so close to God that it may be said to touch and grasp Him as He is, though in darkness. And the effect of such a [...]
Diane
Posted in gratitude, tagged family, gratitude on December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This lovely picture of the lovely woman with whom I share this life is one of my keepsakes. I took it on Christmas morning in our home. Diane was looking up at our son Devin. The look in her eye and the smile on her face are very telling. I have no words that can [...]
Dad
Posted in Uncategorized on December 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Lately I’ve been thinking about my Dad. He’s been gone over thirty-five years now, but he’s still with me. Maybe it’s because tomorrow my sister will be 50. Maybe it’s because Dad’s birthday was in December. I don’t know. I do know that yesterday on my way to Mass at Mt. Irenaeus a Christmas song [...]
Romans 8:28
Posted in forgiveness, gratitude, mindfulness, tagged contemplative, gratitude, prayer on December 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28
That verse and the thought of it is has been with me. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and I don’t think that God fore ordains those bad [...]
No man will ever see me again
Posted in Thomas Merton, Trappist, monastic, mystic, tagged Abbey of the Genesee, contemplative, Thomas Merton, Trappist on December 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
That is how Thomas Merton describes his ultimate call to solitude. I just got through watching PBS’s Thomas Merton special. I’m glad I found it. I missed much of the program, but what I did see was interesting and informative. I drove to Abbey of the Genesee again today. I completed some of my [...]
A friend of silence
Posted in Spiritual, mystic, prayer, tagged contemplative, Mother Teresa, silence on December 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
When I read this quote on Gerry Straub’s blog attributed to Mother Teresa I was struck by its similarity to a quote that I recently posted fromThomas Merton. I know how much my own growing longing for silence means to me. Later today I hope to visit Abbey of the Genesee, another place that thrives [...]
A snowy evening
Posted in Cattaraugus County, culture, gratitude, mystic, nature, restaraunts, travel, tagged contemplative, Ellicottville, gratitude, Holiday Valley, New York State, Robert Frost, snow, winter on December 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Last night my wife left for an overnight with our daughter. The mission for them is Christmas shopping. Whenever I ask my wife what she’d like for Christmas, the answer is, “don’t buy me any clothes,” or “I don’t need anything.” Truth of the matter is neither of us really needs anything. We’ve got our [...]
Gratefulness
Posted in Cattaraugus County, gratitude, mindfulness, tagged children, family, Franklinville Central School, gratitude, US Navy on December 8, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Today is my birthday and I’m fortunate to have so many friends with whom to celebrate. Birthdays are events for looking forward and sometimes looking back. Today I did a little of each as I wondered how much longer I get to hang around here. Fifty-six is only four years from sixty and that used [...]
