Next week invites Christians throughout the world to Holy Week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. Scripture during this week invites all to reflect with Jesus through his last days of earthly existence through his death to a spirit of hope and resurrection. Given the pandemic, many people feel as though we have been…
The Blessing of the Fleet is a Catholic tradition that began in Mediterranean fishing communities to usher forth a safe and abundant fishing season. Even now, the tradition persists, and boats line up along shores all over the world to receive the blessing at the start of a new season. As we find ourselves entering…
Late winter is a transitional time, revealing things we may not have noticed and helping to prepare us for a new season. I really enjoy haiku, from Basho to Jack Kerouac’s “American Haikus.” For me, haiku can feel like a kind of peaceful medicine, like deep breathing or sipping tea, illustrating balance, helping me be…
“Imagination never pretends to know it all. It never demands or claims an absolute standpoint, but it always relishes and celebrates the fact that it is on the threshold where it cannot see everything. The kind of knowing that is in imagination is knowing through exploration.” —John O’Donohue, Walking in Wonder As we grow older,…
Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise (Matthew 26:34-35). In a poignant scene from the 1971 Stephen…
When I grew up in a small rural community, St. Joseph Day was over-shadowed (to say the least) by the March 17 Feast of St. Patrick. All the festivities of the wearin’ o’ the green hung over the quiet invitation to celebrate on March 19 with the calm, reserved presence of Joseph, simple carpenter and…
You’ve heard haiku talked about as a product of Japan. After 50 years of life related to Japan, I can attest that haiku is definitely important to them and has become very helpful to my life. To me the northern part of Japan is much like our land here in Iowa—much of it devoted to…
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” ―Brené Brown A number of years ago, I kept an image journal during a period of personal deepening. It was an effort to break out of my typical word-based journaling, to maybe be less in my head and more in my feelings. I drew an image…
Every farm family Has a framed portrait Of the land From above This view seen Through a camera lens Out the window Of a small airplane Delivered to the door Every farm family Knows their land as kin As their grandmother Their ancestor Their forever caregiver As their truest friend Seeing the land from above…
Early in the pandemic, I wrote in our PanDeepening blog about “The Air That We Breathe and the Spirit of God.” I noted that the power of breath is phenomenal, and that even the word breath (>Gk., pneuma, pneumatos = breath, spirit; > L. spirare; > Heb. ruach) tells us much about the creative Energy of…