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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 05, 2018

Poetry Friday: “The Burned Butterfly”

My oldest daughter’s was gifted a butterfly garden for her 3rd birthday. We watched the...

September 2018

September 05, 2018

Tahlequah’s Grief

On July 24, an orca calf died off the coast of British Columbia within thirty...

March 2018

March 12, 2018

Love Hurts in Phantom Thread

My favorite film from last year is a farce. Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread functions...

February 2018

February 23, 2018

Poetry Friday: “The Preacher Addresses the Seminarians” by Christian Wiman

I once met a beer-guzzling goat like the one in Wiman’s poem. His name was...

December 2017

December 22, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Hope”

I love the broad strokes and sweeping vision of this poem at the same time...

October 2017

October 24, 2017

Fit For Transformation

When my sister first told me about Orangetheory Fitness, I was intrigued. “You’d probably dig...

September 2017

September 06, 2017

The Tattoo Monologues

Getting a tattoo is not only about deciding what to etch onto one’s body forever,...

August 2017

August 30, 2017

My Tears Had Names

Guest Post The phone rang. My newborn must have been asleep—I have no recollection of...

August 22, 2017

Susan B. Anthony: Failure is Impossible

Just a few miles from my home in Rochester, NY, is the house where Susan...

July 2017

July 03, 2017

Nonviolence and the Virtue of Hope

It was nonviolence that initially brought me to my spiritual director, Fr. Bill Shannon. I...

May 2017

May 11, 2017

The “Oh, There You Are” Prayer

The love of God is scattershot. It is the love of the artist toward her...

May 02, 2017

Endurance Test

By Matt Newcomb. My father held the wall to work his way from the bed...

February 2017

February 27, 2017

Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Our Rumbling Nation

This is an age of the world when nations are trembling and convulsed. A mighty...

February 15, 2017

Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents

After World War II devastated eastern Europe, the Red Army pushed into the countries allotted...

February 07, 2017

The Song of the Desert

“The Word of God which is his comfort is also his distress. The liturgy, which...

January 2017

January 30, 2017

The Next Abraham

A few days ago, I was blessed to be present at my grandson Abraham’s bris,...

December 2016

December 13, 2016

Keeping Vigil

By Suzanne M. Wolfe These are dark times. Here in the northern hemisphere the sun...

August 2016

August 16, 2016

The Neglected Garden, Part II

Continued from yesterday. The dollhouse my father was building for me was still unfinished when...

July 2016

July 05, 2016

Adam Zagajewski’s Trench Warfare

“Writing poems is a duel / that no one wins…” As I’m reading the poem...

May 2016

May 27, 2016

Poetry Friday: “The Manifestation” by Richard Jones

I’m a poet and believer. If anyone should spend an evening gazing at a meteor...

May 24, 2016

Purple Light in Sarajevo

My fellowship liaison, Sevko, drove, and his gaze flicked across teenagers spilling over the sidewalks....

April 2016

April 05, 2016

A Dancing Christ

On Holy Saturday, I woke up at my sister's house in northern Minnesota with a...

April 01, 2016

Poetry Friday: “Creed in the Santa Ana Winds” by Bronwen Butter Newcott

Growing up in southern California, I experienced the uneasy allure of the Santa Ana’s hot...

December 2015

December 25, 2015

Snow on Snow

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago....

October 2015

October 01, 2015

Wonder Woman, Flying, Part 1: Transcendent Hope

It’s one of my favorite images of Diana of Themyscira, a.k.a. Wonder Woman: her proud,...

June 2015

June 15, 2015

His Murderer and His Keeper

Some days I can’t remember: Am I Abel or Cain? Blackberry soda in the afternoon...

June 11, 2015

Prayers in the River

I stand hip-deep in a river, casting into the eddies. I am not the kind...

June 10, 2015

The Eucharist: Eat, Eat!

By Shannon Huffman Polson We sit in the back pew at church with intention; there’s...

February 2015

February 23, 2015

The Tenth Leper

Guest post by Kelly Foster If you grow up in the South, you learn to...

August 2014

August 21, 2014

The Gift of Gravy Days

Well, I’ve reached my three score and ten years. It must sound positively ancient to...