Having some time one afternoon, I stopped in at a local bookstore. As is my habit, I went first to see the books on the reduced price table. As I looked over the titles, I stumbled onto a large hardbound volume of photos from the Hubble space telescope. I paged… Read More »Awe and Wonder
If you’re like me, you live most of your life with an acute awareness of time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months organize appointments, deadlines, and opportunities for routines like sharing meals or engaging in spiritual practice. Everything is governed by time. Or is it? We know that time is… Read More »Time and the New Year
The past week has been a difficult one in the United States. Yes, there was another senseless shooting. Over two dozen innocent people were killed, mostly children. The killer was little more than a youth himself. In our tragedy, the world looks on in horror and disbelief. The events of… Read More »Tragic Holidays
As twilight falls, I sit in a favorite chair in my study. The glow of the candles casts shadows in the room from their placement near an icon in a corner. In the stillness, I begin to sing a familiar hymn: O come, O come Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel….… Read More »The Coming of God-With-Us
The song is part of my early childhood memories. In thinking about it, it’s a strange song to remember from childhood. But then I realized that the hit version was released a short time after my birth. Given that both of my parents always listened to music and my father… Read More »A Blue Christmas
It was my freshman year of high school. Among my every day courses in biology, algebra, composition, biology, and history, there was one course that only met one time each week. I looked forward to it. There wasn’t a text book nor was there home work. It was more informal… Read More »Self-Knowledge
Book Review: Water From An Ancient Well: Celtic Spirituality for Modern Life Kenneth McIntosh Anamchara Books. 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1933630984 One of the most challenging aspects of the practice of religion today is sorting out the heart of spiritual teaching within any of the great traditions. Loud reactionary voices claim to… Read More »Book Review: Water From An Ancient Well: Celtic Spirituality for Modern Life
It’s a lesson I’m sure I won’t forget. When I think of gratitude and what it means to be thankful, my mind journeys back in time to the late 1970s and rural West Virginia. For about two years, I lived and worked at a small friary outside of Morgantown, West… Read More »Thanks and Gratitude
