27 Apr, 2020
I think 2020 at our house will be known as The Year of the Puzzles . We just finished our 15th puzzle (most were 1,000 pieces) since the beginning of the year. It’s kept us out of trouble (somewhat) and been something we can do together in the...
26 Apr, 2020
Well, we’ve made it through a little more than a month of the official stay-at-home order here in Wisconsin (obviously I started these reflections before the Governor issued the order) and we have one month to go (at least)! My question of the...
25 Apr, 2020
Benedictine monk, Brother David Steindl-Rast has said, “Silence is the opportunity to let yourself down into mystery – to let yourself be touched by mystery. It is like the joy of music, only a thousand times deeper and greater.” Even though we...
24 Apr, 2020
So, I’ve been writing these for forty days now. Forty was a significant number in the Bible signifying a “long time.” It reminds me of Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. Clearly it was a transformative...
23 Apr, 2020
I interrupt your regularly scheduled reflection to bring you Whiny Thursday. Yes, you heard right. I’m whiny. Today I’ve had enough of social distancing. I miss all of you. I miss hugs and having meetings in person. I’m tired of gray, cold and...
22 Apr, 2020
I find myself thinking a lot about all of the people who are dying alone, and the families who are unable to support or comfort their loved ones in person. I know that health care workers and chaplains are trying to help as best they can, but...
21 Apr, 2020
Years ago I read Jan Karon’s wholesome novels about an Episcopal priest named Father Tim and the little town he served in. I honestly don’t remember too much about the books except a prayer that I learned. Each day when Father Tim went to the...
20 Apr, 2020
How are you doing? I know all this isolating and staying at home is getting old. It’s hard at times not to be sluggish, down and unmotivated. I get it. I have my moments, too. This sounds cliché-ish, but it’s true that the perfect antidote is...
19 Apr, 2020
A number of years ago I was teaching a class at church and trying to explain that doing something every day – like reading a devotional book, or meditating, or reading scripture, or journaling – just doesn’t come easy and naturally for me. I...
18 Apr, 2020
Brother Joseph once told of being in the choir at Gethsemane, the monastery he had joined. As they chanted their Latin psalms one day, a baby’s cry gently echoed through the vast church. In those days, the monks were kept strictly out of public...