Be honest…have you ever just wanted to throw someone off a cliff? Did the mere thought bring you secret delight? A smile to your face? Was it something they said to you? Something they did? The way they looked? Even if you do not literally want to throw someone off a cliff (thereby murdering them), did you perhaps want to symbolically throw them off the cliff? Shut them down? Make them go away?
Perhaps a few have answered “Yes” …
by admin Perspective is important. I recently had the experience of visiting Masada National Park in the Judaean Desert looking out over the Dead Sea. Masada is an ancient fortress built by King Herod the Great around 35 BC, and when you are standing at the top of the mountain looking down at the desert and water below, there is a sense you are really rather high in the sky. In fact, the Dead Sea is planet earth`s lowest place at 430 …
by admin Taking care of young people is not an optional task for the Church, but an integral part of
her vocation and mission in history.
(Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, 1)
Most of you alive in 1985-86 will remember Whitney Houston’s rendition of the grand ballad Greatest Love of All, which began with the words, “I believe the children are future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.” It …
by admin When I was very young I remember coming across an old 1960s catechism book referring to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. When I asked my mother why the book referred to “Holy Ghost” when I had only ever known the “Holy Spirit”, she said, “Holy Ghost scared people so they had to change it,” without missing a beat. It was an answer she thought I would understand, but I just didn’t understand any of it.
Many years later, …
by admin Lately I have been reflecting often about dying and rising, and the prominent place they have taken in my life. The physical deaths of numerous family members, friends, and acquaintances; numerous births, marriages, and other beautiful beginnings; friendships that have ended, and others that have emerged and taken flight; the letting go of some of my deepest, long-held certainties about the world, and the realization that a change in perspective can provide powerful insight. For Christians, our good news …
by admin “Oh, those shoes are calling my name.”
“My name has been called for jury duty.”
“That piece of cheesecake has my name on it.”
“I swear on my name, I will poke you in the eye!”
“I want to make a name for myself.”
“His name is mud.”
What calls your name? Like many, many people on the planet, in recent years I have found myself increasingly called by the lure of technology, Wi-Fi, and my numerous devices. At …
by admin In my twenties and thirties, I experienced a recurring dream wherein I was back at J.M.A. Armstrong High School in Salisbury, except my current adult age, and I would find myself sitting in an otherwise empty classroom, waiting to take a test. Unconcerned about the obvious question of why I was taking a High School test at the age of 30, I would ask myself in the dream, “How am I supposed to write this test? I …
by admin