“So the scene of Mary breaking open her precious alabaster jar and pouring nard all over Jesus’s feet is obviously a scene of great intimacy and love—extravagant, prodigal love.”
“Look up
Breathe deep
Be still
Remember
God is with you”
“For as Mikhail dragged himself back from the pigs, across the gloomy barren stage, the father entered stage right and with one stride reached his son and with one arm swept that six foot man up into his arms and over his heart.”
“I think of the spiritual director who offered group spiritual direction to the folks staying at the Mission – for free and without fanfare. And I think of the thousands of people in Europe offering homes, supplies, money, transportation, and encouragement to the millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine.”
“Today, I’ve been focusing on my allergies as a Lenten penance. They are the year-round kind but have been raging in the past couple of weeks. I’ve been having a sneeze-fest and have already gone through one box of Kleenex in the past few days.”
“In that clever divine wisdom God has,
God chose instead
to make the DNA so ubiquitous
we can’t help
but track it in on our shoes…”
“She appeared again
as I was spinning flax into thread–
poppies nodding at her feet,
the lilies this time an offering
shoulders shadowed
beneath star-flecked wings
flexed half-open, ready to depart or remain
at my response.”
“Somehow in this universe of religion, we like to think of ourselves as God-Seekers, that we ourselves choose to look for God in order to find grace, like Mary in the garden looking for Jesus. Only, Jesus found Mary, and not the other way around.”
“There were no trucks in the original bible story, yet, Isaac heard ‘seeds’ and used his imagination to bring the bible story to life for him. He was listening, and I was watching and learning from him, too.”
“Whether it is because we are filled with horror of the conflict in Ukraine or the fear that as prices rise we will not be able to make ends meet we feel that ugliness surrounds us, not beauty yet we need the hope that these offer us. This is a time to embrace not just the beauty of spring bursting forth in our gardens, but also the beauty of broken and scarred creation of fallen people and fallen trees, the ashes of ruined lives and those that suffer everywhere in the world. Beauty can be created from the ashes, but it takes effort and sacrifice.”