making sense of life in the details
I sang a recorded mass for Pentecost, the first mass at which I’d ministered in months. In choosing the music, I considered all of my favorite Holy Spirit songs, but kept one on the shelf: O Breathe on Me, O Breath of God. In a time of pandemic, we’re keeping our breaths to ourselves, or... Continue Reading →
I’m a Catholic music minister, and I’m wearing gray as I stand at the front of the church and sing the opening notes of the entrance song. A gentleman from the funeral home leads pallbearers with the casket down the aisle, and following them are a group of tearful mourners, wearing black and clinging to... Continue Reading →
As I settled on my yoga mat before class, the room echoed the static dissonance in my head. One classmate had just moved her only child into college and was trying to make sense of her own new landscape, another had a friend suffering deeply the loss of two grandchildren and was facing the reality... Continue Reading →
My friend Deacon Jerry came to mass today and that doesn’t seem all that weird except for the fact that he died a couple of weeks ago. During the Eucharistic prayers, several of my friends who art in Heaven gather around the altar and I acknowledge them there and pray for their families and their... Continue Reading →
During the quiet, still time of a yoga class known as savasana, I often experience a picture or clarity that helps me make sense of where I am in life. For a long time, savasana brought me a picture of myself in the deep water, and showed me the ways God was revealing Himself and... Continue Reading →
I meet with God in savasana, the quiet, still time at the end of a yoga class. We have kind of a routine, God and I. As the teacher covers most of the students with blankets, I instead put on my cozy wrap cardigan, lay down in what’s known as ‘corpse pose’, and meet God... Continue Reading →
I wrote yesterday about the recurrence of egg references throughout my day. I saw a bunch of fresh eggs in the early morning at a local farm, and egg shapes on my yoga mat. I heard a conversation on public radio about the longevity and shelf stability of eggs, and eggs were featured in the... Continue Reading →
I went to our local farm store early this morning to drop something off, and there was just one person there, taking care of the one crop they still bring in every morning, even in March: eggs. The farmer was taking great care to wash the eggs, one by one, and line them up on... Continue Reading →
I woke up from a bone-chilling nightmare and got ready for a morning yoga class. Still shaking from the all too real dream, it was impossible to leave all of my thoughts outside the room, as our instructor had suggested. I carried that thing with me through warm-ups, sun salutations, warrior poses, triangles, and spinal... Continue Reading →
My dog, Bailey, walks with me and a little ahead. She can often smell or sense things I cannot, so in those moments, she’ll take the lead, but otherwise she stays with me, side by side. With me and a little ahead. It brings back a memory of when I was twenty, invited on retreat... Continue Reading →
