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2016-03-05T18:10:37-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Constant Access To All The Means Of Grace

Last updated on: March 5, 2016 at 6:10 pm By Tom Zampino

What if it weren’t so easy? What if we had to choose, each day, between the open practice of our faith, and the serving of the state or some other powerful and controlling overseer? What if certain outward and obvious signs – a simple cross, a self-blessing – served only to set us apart as the state’s next target? Would we hide? Would we completely abandon our faith? Would we remove from our person and from our homes all markings, clues, and signposts? Unlike many of our Jewish... Read more

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2016-03-03T09:25:20-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Thomas Merton: When We Live On The Doorstep Of Hell

Last updated on: March 3, 2016 at 9:25 am By Tom Zampino

We all want, desperately, to control our own lives. Especially when we feel the most powerless, the most alienated, the most alone. It’s a natural, human response. And, really, what’s so wrong with exercising our God-given free will to stake our ground? Or to choose our own path? Or to decide, ultimately, what’s best for us? Perhaps nothing at all. Except that it never seems quite enough, does it? It never completely fills the gaps in our lives. Or closes the hole... Read more

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2016-03-01T10:56:04-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mary Maxwell: “The Thing About Old Age Is That You Don’t Get A Chance To Practice”

Last updated on: March 1, 2016 at 10:56 am By Tom Zampino

This Is The First Time I’ve Ever Been Old, And It Just Sort Of Crept Up On Me. There Were Signs – Mary Maxwell If you were ever old – or even if are just planning on it – you can probably relate to Mary Maxwell. Mary has, for years, been gently poking fun at life as a senior. Her series of videos, Laughing With Mary, are funny, witty, and hit close to home. Here’s just a very short one about... Read more

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2016-02-29T07:32:15-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dr. Tod Worner: We Need A Burke, A Churchill Or A Thatcher . . . Not a Trump

Last updated on: February 29, 2016 at 7:32 am By Tom Zampino

Something very different from me this morning. My fellow Patheos blogger, Dr. Tod Worner, has written an astute, excellent, and thought-provoking piece on the choice that we may now face in 2016 – all placed within historical context. I agree with Dr. Worner. Here are two very brief excerpts: Character matters. And it profoundly informs judgment. What have we seen in the front runner of the Republican presidential race? As Maya Angelou once wisely observed, “When someone shows you who... Read more

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2016-02-27T15:17:48-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Entering The Desert, Tilling The Soil

Last updated on: February 27, 2016 at 3:17 pm By Tom Zampino

Readers who have been following my posts can pretty easily discern a few things: Religiously, as a relatively recent Catholic revert back after 41-years away, I am still learning many of the basic tenets of my faith. Infusing my every day mortal life with its richness and fullness will surely take whatever remaining years I have left. I often get things wrong. But I remain open – sometimes even willingly – to criticism and correction; Politically, I am generally, but not always, a right-of-center voter... Read more

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2016-02-23T08:08:57-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Moving Forward By Stepping Back

Last updated on: February 23, 2016 at 8:08 am By Tom Zampino

Let’s not trade eternal truths for quick fixes, nor deliberation for enmity. Let’s not turn to that which divides us, nor to those that would exploit it. Truth is not hidden, nor complex, nor subjective, even as it can be disguised, and dressed-up, and misdirected, and bled. And foundations built upon animus, of the one against the other, will only crash and burn and be swept away. It’s not as if God compels us to choose between either black or white,... Read more

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2016-02-29T14:48:32-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Planting The Seeds Of Our Own Destruction?

Last updated on: February 29, 2016 at 2:48 pm By Tom Zampino

In The Name Of Progress And Greatness What was designed to be slow and limber, And perfectly messy, Now feels stalled and rigid, And utterly chaotic. While blustering voices now Smother charitable words, Extended hands, pulled back, Are returned with one member. Scattered rage, collected, is Determined and focused On mobs, and walls, and radical change. And bloodied muscles stand Flexed and ready and primed So to bludgeon a fixed order And begin again, anon. But sometimes, like weapons, The seeds of destruction, Are... Read more

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2016-02-18T07:59:48-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Thomas Merton: What Is The Hardest And Most Courageous Act Of All?

Last updated on: February 18, 2016 at 7:59 am By Tom Zampino

Taking the time to rest. That’s it. Our bodies require it. Our minds demand it. Our souls perish without it. But we are often too plugged-in, too distracted by everyday demands, to even notice that the seeds of our own obliteration have been planted. And those seeds are watered and nurtured and cultivated with every social media notification, every text message, every shameless excuse we make for our own uncivil, unserious behavior. Basta! Enough! Unplug. Unwind. Disengage. Sit back. Chill. No, not forever.... Read more

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2016-02-15T21:15:54-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Finding Freedom Within Our Chains

Last updated on: February 15, 2016 at 9:15 pm By Tom Zampino

To what are you addicted? What is it that holds you down, as if a prisoner? Which are the chains that bind you? You don’t have to say it out loud. No one need hear you. You can even deny that anyone ever posed the question. I won’t say anything. But come clean. Right now. After all, it’s just you, alone, reading some words on a screen, right? Is it pornography? Alcohol? Gambling? Anger? Money? Junk television? Your knee-jerk reaction to those... Read more

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2016-02-14T20:22:16-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Two Gardens, Two Trees

Last updated on: February 14, 2016 at 8:22 pm By Tom Zampino

Two Gardens What the fall in Eden unleashed, The rise near Gethsemane contained. The sting of death succumbing To an encircled prickle of thorns. Painful toil upon a cursed land, Revealed at last as but a harbinger of An easy yoke walking upon holy ground. Turmoil, decay, and death transformed, Forever cast into flames, unbound. Two Trees One tree holding out promise Of knowledge and life, And the power to command The heavans from earth, Coveted by stealthy rivals. A second... Read more

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