Turning Inside Out We have an insides. And we have an outsides. And, in the usual manner of things, the outsides are what is valued. The look. The sound. The actions. Yes, we manage to say, from time to time, that someone is beautiful on the inside. But does that comment ever have any real impact on anyone? But we are in ordinary time and ordinary life when we care about our appearance. Our behavior. Our life. When we step...
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The Body And The Blood When I sat still for a few minutes and wondered where was my favorite place to pray, at first I felt a bit defeated. I have prayed in all sorts of places. Fields. Bus stations. Chapels. Cathedrals. Church after church after church. Walking down the street. The big stuffed chair in my room. How could I choose a favorite place? But after a few minutes of prayer, ironically enough, I saw before me the small...
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Peering Through As a mystic I feel as though I spend much of my time in the dark. It is a place that shares more with worlds that exist in cartoons than with what we experience in our world every day. There is a lot of slipping and sliding around. Silence is crucial. Knowing how to detect something around you so that you can become still is necessary for survival. In spite of the increased challenge in finding my way around,...
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Intimacy There is a meal that offers us a sacred intimacy with God. And with our neighbors. And with those we have never even met before. How amazing it is that during this season of Lent, we are free to feast with God any time that we wish. We do not have to measure our participation in the meal. We do not have to question what is being served. We are free to accept all that the altar-table offers us. It is a meal with Jesus. And a...
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The Echo Of Hate There is something that is left after you have forgiven someone. And what is left feels like ashes. Soft flakes of what you can pick up after all that emotion has been burnt away. Forgiveness can be very efficient at deleting from your mind and heart and soul that shackle that kept you folding over in pain at the memory of the event. Forgiveness can be the key. But what is left over when you are free has its own...
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