making sense of life in the details
I just returned from helping out at a retreat weekend, and though I’ve been a part of many such weekends, I always learn and take away something new. It seems we go to things like these when we most need it, and this weekend was no exception. Sometimes we hear something in one of the... Continue Reading →
The readings today are so darned hopeful. In Jeremiah, we hear about how the LORD will deliver his people, bringing them back, the blind and the lame, the mothers and those with child. They departed in tears, but He will bring them back, consoling and guiding them, leading them to brooks of water on a... Continue Reading →
I pray, like, a lot. Maybe it’s my Catholic upbringing or my anxious nature, but basically I am literally living out that impossible sounding admonition from scripture to “pray continually.” (1Thessalonians 5:17) When I wake up, I get on my knees just for a second or two to give the day to God. I do... Continue Reading →
The rain sounds were playing on app on my phone as I read the words of the devotional. My mind and spirit were on fire as I desperately searched for some word to hold onto, some respite from a tumultuous and chaotic season. My heart was burning and racing and I longed for a downpour,... Continue Reading →
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:6 I read this passage from Isaiah in one of my devotionals last night. I’d heard it proclaimed before, of course, probably we all have, but last night the good... Continue Reading →
In my church tomorrow we’ll celebrate the twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time refers to the weeks in the liturgical calendar that are not set apart, no special feasts or seasons such as Advent, Lent, or Easter, no distinct sacrifices or practices. It’s regular, ordinary, normal. Tomorrow, the particular set of readings that is... Continue Reading →
I’ve spent a lot of time these last few years in the deep water, spiritually speaking. This is a place where any illusion of control melts away and a person finds herself riding waves, bobbing, desperately scanning for boats, floating, treading water, and sometimes sinking. I’m not a strong swimmer, either in actual water or... Continue Reading →
It was way too hot to run, so I set out on a long walk. Several podcasts loaded in my phone, I looked forward to the time in my own head. And I’m not sure when I’ll learn the truth of it, but as today showed me, we never walk alone. I rounded the two-mile... Continue Reading →
It took almost more energy than I had to pick up my rosary beads. My relationship with intercessory prayer has been complicated lately, and I’m not really sure what I believe about it, but on the eve of a friend’s surgery, I moved through the beads and dedicated the time to my friend, his family,... Continue Reading →
