Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Good Letters

Home
Catholic

Reflection

Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

October 2018

October 17, 2018

Waiting for Nothing to Happen

When I was in my twenties, toward the end of a not-especially-dissolute but nonetheless untethered...

October 15, 2018

Morning in a Forgotten Neighborhood

The other day it was raining. The clouds were impossibly low, skimming the tops of...

September 2018

September 03, 2018

My Grandfather’s Garden

My grandfather’s death came surprisingly quickly, and I witnessed his rapid decline over the three...

August 2018

August 30, 2018

Cathedrals of Consumption

Many years ago now, not long after I had been received into the Orthodox Church,...

August 27, 2018

Jesus in Disguise

My memory of last summer is filled with Jesus. Jesus in many guises behind the...

August 22, 2018

The Modern Predicament

You might stumble into a lengthy life through no particular fault of your own. You...

August 16, 2018

A Letter To Stephen Dunn

Dear Steve, I’ve had to look away for most of three decades now—away from your...

August 15, 2018

Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird and Me

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings —Paul Lawrence Dunbar, “Sympathy” I...

August 07, 2018

Here Is Where We Wait

This summer, I climbed the rotting steps to the hayloft of my family's barn to...

July 2018

July 30, 2018

Wabi-Sabi: Living with Beauty and Ugliness

Yesterday, a man might have killed me. Both receptionists were away from the counter when...

July 25, 2018

Life Is Short; Art is Long

As part of our tourist rounds in Chicago my wife and I visited the Art...

July 24, 2018

Taking Our Chances with Choice

Contingency…subject to chance…uncertain…right down to the molecular level. — Christian Wiman It is one of...

July 18, 2018

Party in the USA

The day is hot and musty but everyone is celebrating. After all, everyone can enjoy...

July 17, 2018

Fast Food Funeral Procession

The line lurched forward one vehicle at a time, halogen halos radiating from headlights. Although...

July 11, 2018

Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 9, Psalms, In the End

Thinking of the psalms as a way to cycle through the entire range of human...

July 10, 2018

Leaving My Denomination

The first time my wife and I worshipped in an Episcopal church, we were members...

July 09, 2018

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Our son Eric was four years old. My husband George, after teaching all day at...

July 07, 2018

Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 8: Psalms In the Beginning

I always privately hated the psalms. Most of them, anyway. As a teenager, I’d leaf...

July 03, 2018

Sonnets in the Prime of My Life

The sonnet, of course, is the gold standard of form, the first one most people...

June 2018

June 27, 2018

The Summer I Wasn’t Attacked By a Shark

Jaws is released the summer I turn fourteen, and my friends and I spend every...

June 21, 2018

Monasticism in Lockdown America: Part 6, Icons

The jail staff asked if I would meet with some of the guys in the...

June 19, 2018

I Feel Bad About My Neck

I feel bad about my neck. Those are not my words; they’re the title of...

May 2018

May 21, 2018

The Incredible Hulk Meets Queen Divine Justice: A Fable

When Hulk stops in Africa for a drink of water, he happens to be within...

November 2017

November 02, 2017

The Poetry of Richard Wilbur

I don’t remember when I first starting reading Richard Wilbur’s poetry. But his death on...

November 01, 2017

Remembering Richard Wilbur (1921-2017), Part 2

Richard Wilbur was always a formalist at heart, but one attuned to the rhythms of...

October 2017

October 31, 2017

Remembering Richard Wilbur (1921-2017), Part 1

It was back in the summer of 1995 during Image’s Glen Workshop that I had...

December 2016

December 22, 2016

Gird Yourselves, Yet Be Shattered

Of Lanecia A. Rouse Tinsley’s small encaustic Advent paintings, my favorite is Meditation on the...

September 2016

September 01, 2016

My Own Commencement, Part 1: The Birth of an MFA

This post is excerpted from Gregory Wolfe’s final commencement address as director of the Seattle...

August 2016

August 29, 2016

Laura Ingalls Wilder and Me

At night at the Ingalls Homestead in DeSmet, SD, we can see the pale, translucent...

August 23, 2016

Chimayo and the Bloody Knees of Jesus

“I want a holy experience!” I say to my companions, Amy and Danielle, leaning toward...