Editor’s (admin’s) note: Lightly edited copy, with links added, of my email in advance of this month’s appointment with my spiritual director, giving her a heads-up on what I’ve been journaling about (or, in this case, why I haven’t been journaling) since our last meeting and, more to the point, helping me focus over time by … Continue reading Thinking of scripture as story: ‘In the beginning …’ to ‘… making all things new’ (spiritual journal – Nov. 2025)
Hospital journal 1: A merry romp through abstract theology, Christology, rabbit holes and a lovely prayer for good courage
Creation of Adam, Michelangelo (Wikimedia Commons). Sunday, Jan. 19. First, the good news: I'm getting lots of reading done. I've even finished three or four chapters of Ilia Delio's "Christ in Evolution" (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2008), and I've had plenty of time to read slowly and think about what I'm reading. Which means I'm beginning to understand … Continue reading Hospital journal 1: A merry romp through abstract theology, Christology, rabbit holes and a lovely prayer for good courage
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
Caring for creation in a time of environmental crisis: Stewardship, sacrament and Laudato Si’
Jubilee Farm, Center for Ecology and Spirituality, Springfield, Illinois, April 2022 In my inbox today, by coincidence when I've been doing keyword searches for ecumenical resources on Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', a copy of Richard Rohr's summary of this week's daily meditations on the theme "A Sacramental Reality." One of those coincidences we're reminded … Continue reading Caring for creation in a time of environmental crisis: Stewardship, sacrament and Laudato Si’
‘A child is born in Bethlehem’: New life in an old carol for postmodern, independent cats and misguided sheep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRyiOB4as9c DR Pigekor (Danish National Girls' Choir), dir. Philip Faber, 2021 Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. -- Charlie "Bird" Parker (Wikiquote). … Continue reading ‘A child is born in Bethlehem’: New life in an old carol for postmodern, independent cats and misguided sheep
Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
When I taught mass comms at Benedictine, I used to tell the kids sometimes you can do pretty darn well for yourself by doing good. I thought it fit our mission as a faith-based college, and, besides, I believed it. Now comes Lisa Miller, a psychologist at Columbia Teachers College, with a study offering scientific … Continue reading Notes on a scientific study on spirituality — how doing good does you good; also Jewish-Christian relations, book of Hebrews
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
The historical Jesus and the Christ of faith on a dark and stormy night (Pentecost IV)
Bread and wine for Holy Communion on Galilee tour boat Mark 4 (NRSV): 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm … Continue reading The historical Jesus and the Christ of faith on a dark and stormy night (Pentecost IV)
The parable of the mustard seed, the historical Jesus, the kingdom of God and a couple of kudzu jokes (Pentecost III)
Mustard plants in Galilee (I think the sign says 'no trespassing' in Hebrew) Mark 4 (NSRV). 26 [Jesus] also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of … Continue reading The parable of the mustard seed, the historical Jesus, the kingdom of God and a couple of kudzu jokes (Pentecost III)
God’s presence in an 11th-century Irish poem and a gust of wind on a nice spring afternoon — for Trinity Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lx-iI-kFDA St. Patrick's Breastplate, Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore, Wash. John 3:1-17 (NRSV). 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being … Continue reading God’s presence in an 11th-century Irish poem and a gust of wind on a nice spring afternoon — for Trinity Sunday
‘Christ was born in Bethlehem’ — an Appalachian ballad that sums up Holy Week and the Easter season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmzb1ZyL6c Norm Williams, Amanda Parker and Bob Mallalieu, Maidencreek Festival, Maier's Grove, Blandon, Pa., Aug. 29, 2010 (song begins at 1:29). Our services for Holy Week are all online this year, and it's quite a different experience for someone who always sang in the choir and couldn't quite shake the feeling they were performances. I … Continue reading ‘Christ was born in Bethlehem’ — an Appalachian ballad that sums up Holy Week and the Easter season
Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
Everydayness in Jerusalem -- stray cat surveys his domain in the Old City. A couple of days ago we brought several weeks' worth of magazines in from the garage, where we quarantine our incoming mail. So I've been binge-reading the Christian Century, and an article from the Oct. 7 issue reached out and grabbed me. … Continue reading Next year in Jersusalem? Keeping the faith in a time of pandemic, absence and exile
No Norwegian Jesus in Pastor Lenny’s decolonized Lutheran church? Uff da!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMu32sC2nM&t=5s So we're reading the Rev. Lenny Duncan's Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US for an online book study group in my ELCA parish. We're the "whitest denomination" of his title (although I have to wonder if the Old Order Amish aren't kinda white, too), … Continue reading No Norwegian Jesus in Pastor Lenny’s decolonized Lutheran church? Uff da!
Back to the future (and the righteousness of the God of Israel) with a Jesuit spiritual exercise for Pentecost XIII
A swing and a miss, and then a clean base hit (imho) with Ignatian contemplation ... Ruins of Roman temple and grotto of Pan at Caesarea Philippi (Wikimedia Commons). What you're about to read is an experiment. Or, to use another metaphor, a test drive. Call it a test-drive in that time-traveling DeLorean made famous … Continue reading Back to the future (and the righteousness of the God of Israel) with a Jesuit spiritual exercise for Pentecost XIII
Notes on ‘melting pot’ from America’s website
By Cecilia González-Andrieu, a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, Calif., and a contributing writer for America. Excerpts: We know ourselves heirs of a promise that transcends the brief span of our individual lives; the promise of the resurrection. At the same time, we know that we will get there not … Continue reading Notes on ‘melting pot’ from America’s website
Word, sacrament, a Lutheran chorale and reading the bible: Lessons from a Swedish immigrant church in Chicago during a time of cholera
First phrase of chorale by Philipp Nicolai Svenska Psalmbok (1819), Nos. 55, 412. O Gud! ditt ord och sakramentLåt aldrig bliva från oss vändt ...-- Svenska Psalmbok (1819), No. 412, v. 6[O God, let your word and sacrament / never be turned away from us ...] No doubt it's just a coincidence, but since I … Continue reading Word, sacrament, a Lutheran chorale and reading the bible: Lessons from a Swedish immigrant church in Chicago during a time of cholera
Was Luther a mystic? Hard to say. But an offhand Latin pun and a Lutheran T-shirt offer a new way of thinking about it
Volunteers from First Lutheran Church, Rock Island, Illinois, serving at smörgåsbord. Augustana Founders' Day Reunion, 155th anniversary, Andover, Illinois, April 25, 2015 I have begun to preach and lecture once more; in fact, yesterday I preached in your place. ... Christ lives; and we are Christs -- with and without the apostrophe (Christi sumus in … Continue reading Was Luther a mystic? Hard to say. But an offhand Latin pun and a Lutheran T-shirt offer a new way of thinking about it
Of outward signs, inward grace and Pastor Nadia’s prayer for a time of pandemic when the sacraments can’t be celebrated
Screenshot from Pastor Nadia's FB post. Click HERE for permalink. Click HERE for text. Sometimes you find exactly what you need at exactly the right moment, and you don't know why. Serendipity? Coincidence? The Holy Spirit at work? In 12-step recovery meetings, sometimes you'll hear the old-timers say a coincidence is what you call it … Continue reading Of outward signs, inward grace and Pastor Nadia’s prayer for a time of pandemic when the sacraments can’t be celebrated
John the Baptist does a bit of informal media advance for an event on the Jordan River (a meditation for Epiphany II)
Pilgrims at Qasr al-Yahud, traditional site of the baptism of Christ, November 2012. Security fence in river separates Israelis-occupied West Bank (at left) from Jordan. John 1 (NRSV) 29 The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the … Continue reading John the Baptist does a bit of informal media advance for an event on the Jordan River (a meditation for Epiphany II)
An after-Christmas epiphany on John 1:1-5 and Genesis: We’re burning up the garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsiD5tB9yrc ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corp.), Jan. 8, 2020. Genesis 2:15 (KJV). And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.To dress it and to keep it (Ellicott's Commentary). The first word literally means to work it; for though a paradise, yet the garden … Continue reading An after-Christmas epiphany on John 1:1-5 and Genesis: We’re burning up the garden
A Bonhoeffer moment and a barstool conversation between Luther, Bonhoeffer and a Finnish theologian — links and quotes for future reference
This article in Sojourners magazine -- "Is Today a Bonhoeffer Moment?" -- appeared last year in February, but I never got around to reading it. Then it popped up today on my Facebook timeline. I'm excerpting it and parking here for future reference. (Something I may want to keep in mind, also for future reference: … Continue reading A Bonhoeffer moment and a barstool conversation between Luther, Bonhoeffer and a Finnish theologian — links and quotes for future reference
‘Sometimes a little writer’s block can be a good thing’ — spiritual formation, August-September
Email sent this afternoon to my spiritual director and and copied here so I don't forget what I said or, worse, lose it in my increasingly cluttered "sent" queue. After asking to reschedule our appointment, I wrote: ... I didn't have much to show you anyway. I've been doing more reading than writing the last … Continue reading ‘Sometimes a little writer’s block can be a good thing’ — spiritual formation, August-September
‘Incarnation lite’ at the holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem?
Copied here from Hemlandssånger, Jan. 1, 2019, with some light editing and compulsive tinkering, because I want to give it more thought and (maybe) write something more about the issues it raises ... Pilgrims from Eastern Europe lighting tapers at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when I visited in November 2012. A print … Continue reading ‘Incarnation lite’ at the holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem?
Ordinary Time 