Brother Bryce the Cat Our parish church held a blessing of the pets on St. Francis' feast day. Debi and I thought about taking Bryce to be blessed, but decided against it. That would have meant loading him into a cat carrier, a process he protests vociferously. Plus we weren't sure the other animals -- … Continue reading A canticle for Brother Cat (for Bryce and strays, ferals and rescues everywhere) on St. Francis’ feast day
Hospital journal (1 of 3): Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A72MAMTVnQo George Burns, in character, answers John Denver's questions in 'Oh, God!' (1977). Editor's (admin's) note: First of three journals based on spiritual and theological reading while I was in HSHS St. John's Hospital in January. I did a lot of reading, in my usual slapdash manner, and I pulled together some disparate ideas -- connected … Continue reading Hospital journal (1 of 3): Stories
Spiritual journal, Dec. 2024 (with a footnote on why I still find Pete Hegseth’s ‘crusader’ tattoos so embarrassing)
Muslim women visit St. Saviour's Church, Jerusalem, 2023 (Custodia Terræ Sanctæ).1 Lightly edited copy of an email I sent to my spiritual director today in advance of our session for December, archived here so I can go back later and see what I was thinking about when I posted it. Plus a bonus footnote in … Continue reading Spiritual journal, Dec. 2024 (with a footnote on why I still find Pete Hegseth’s ‘crusader’ tattoos so embarrassing)
Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos: White supremacist dog whistles or ‘spiritual kitsch?’ Or a bit of both?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ZNi-VEmu4 Jerusalem cross on a Franciscan flag, Christian Media Center, Jerusalem. If Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's designee for Secretary of Defense, knows what he's talking about, I'm beginning to worry that I might be wearing an alt-right hate group's insignia around my neck. It's an inexpensive little Jerusalem cross I bought at a gift shop … Continue reading Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos: White supremacist dog whistles or ‘spiritual kitsch?’ Or a bit of both?
Richard Rohr, birdbath spirituality, praying to a personal God and growing up with St. Francis in a TVA town
St. Francis preaches to the birds, by Antonio Carnicero, ca. 1789 (Wikimedia Commons) While I was in chemotherapy, I didn't do much writing, but I did read a lot of theology. That's one thing you can still do when you feel lousy. In the process, I discovered a Franciscan intellectual tradition I'd only been dimly … Continue reading Richard Rohr, birdbath spirituality, praying to a personal God and growing up with St. Francis in a TVA town
A chemo-infused reflection on Ash Wednesday, St. Francis and the first few signs of spring outside the window
Giotto, 1297-99, Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi, (WikiArt). Welp, I know what I want to give up for Lent this year: Chemotherapy. That's what. Yesterday I celebrated Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, by beginning my last cycle of chemotherapy at the Southern Illinois University medical school's Simmons Cancer Institute. No pancakes, but I did eat … Continue reading A chemo-infused reflection on Ash Wednesday, St. Francis and the first few signs of spring outside the window
‘I will arise and go to Jesus’: Seeking a personal God for a dark February twilight of the soul in Ilia Delio’s christology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0vo43hu_HQ Virtual Choir, FAPCinNYC, Sept. 27, 2020 There's an image in Gary Snyder's "How Poetry Comes to Me" that I like very much. He compares poetry, the creative impulse, to a wild animal that comes up to his campfire, but stays just out of range at the edge of the darkness. So, says the poet, … Continue reading ‘I will arise and go to Jesus’: Seeking a personal God for a dark February twilight of the soul in Ilia Delio’s christology
Of the Holy Trinity, the presence of Christ in faith and the stories we tell
Luther's Small Catechism, 1529 (Wikimedia Commons) God for us, we call you Father. God alongside us, we call you Jesus. God within us, we call you Holy Spirit. —Richard Rohr OFM The Holy Trinity landed in my inbox this morning and told me a story. Well, that makes it sound a little too dramatic and … Continue reading Of the Holy Trinity, the presence of Christ in faith and the stories we tell
Luther and the indwelling ‘Christ present in faith’ — Finnish theologians, Irish Jesuit offer a way of coping with a scary diagnosis
Matthias Stom, St. Peter at Prayer, ca. 1633-40 (Wikimedia Commons) One thing about getting a cancer diagnosis -- it tends to focus your mind, especially if you've been working on your prayer life already. Increasingly since I was diagnosed toward the end of October, I've been falling back on what's sometimes called the Prayer of … Continue reading Luther and the indwelling ‘Christ present in faith’ — Finnish theologians, Irish Jesuit offer a way of coping with a scary diagnosis
Spiritual journal for January, and hopes for spiritual direction in 2022
Editor's (admin's) note: When I was taking spiritual direction before, I emailed my director ahead of our monthly sessions … summing up what I’d been journaling about since our last meeting and, more to the point, focusing on themes I’d been working on and, more to the point, new directions that might (or might not) … Continue reading Spiritual journal for January, and hopes for spiritual direction in 2022
A Franciscan take on the presence of God in all of God’s creation — including brother wolf … and all of us
Second of two posts looking ahead to the new liturgical year and making new (church) year's resolutions. For the earlier post, link HERE. Mural of St. Francis, Creative Commons Prayer. Photo Jim McIntosh (CC BY 2.0) Fr. Richard Rohr's daily meditation for Friday poses a theological question I want to work on in the coming … Continue reading A Franciscan take on the presence of God in all of God’s creation — including brother wolf … and all of us
Stray thoughts on original sin, Franciscan spirituality and a painting of the Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder and Pieter Paul Rubens, Fall of Adam and Eve (Wikipedia) When God closes a door, as an old saying down South has it, God leaves a window cracked open somewhere. We may have to exercise a little creativity to find it, but there's always another opening. Another old saying, one I … Continue reading Stray thoughts on original sin, Franciscan spirituality and a painting of the Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel the Elder
A spiritual mutt discovers Franciscan spirituality in a time of apocalypse, learns he knew at least some of it all along
Click here https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2021/ for directory. Last week I signed up for Richard Rohr's daily meditations. I figured a brief daily exercise might lend a little discipline to my spiritual routine (or lack thereof) in these days of lingering pandemic, self-quarantine and isolation. I've read his stuff before, and it liked it. So I haven't been … Continue reading A spiritual mutt discovers Franciscan spirituality in a time of apocalypse, learns he knew at least some of it all along
Connecting the dots between a gospel reading from Mark, the historical Jesus, St. Francis and monarch butterfly eggs
Brother Caterpillar and Sister Milkweed (photo Debi Edumnd Ellertsen). Mark 7 [NRSV]. Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless … Continue reading Connecting the dots between a gospel reading from Mark, the historical Jesus, St. Francis and monarch butterfly eggs
Brother Richard’s “Lockdown,” a Zen moment in this time of coronavirus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x25DwatvjA&t=51s MBPPC Backyard Preacher | Mt. Baker Park Presbyterian Church, Seattle | March 17, 2020 Anderson Cooper closed the CNN News town hall he co-hosted tonight with Dr. Sanjay Gupta by reading a poem by Brother Richard Hendrick, OSF (Capuchin), of County Donegal in Ireland. It's titled "Lockdown"; it has been widely circulated on the … Continue reading Brother Richard’s “Lockdown,” a Zen moment in this time of coronavirus
Was Luther a mystic? It all depends …
... on (a) who you ask; and (b) what you mean by "mystic." "Mystic" has always been one of those words I've been suspicious of. It sounds New Age-y to me, or it reminds me of those desert monks who used to sit on top of a pole for years. I wasn't quite certain what … Continue reading Was Luther a mystic? It all depends …
Spiritual direction notes — August-October
Copy of an email I sent Saturday evening to my spiritual director. The links are embedded; a couple of minor illiteracies are cleaned up; the paragraphing is endlessly tinkered with (an integral although unnecessary part of my creative process); and a long excerpt from last month's post to this blog on an Episcopal table grace … Continue reading Spiritual direction notes — August-October
Ordinary Time 