Faith & Life Inspirational Message

                 Thank you my friends and readers.   I have decided to end this long journey of writing inspirational pieces.   This past summer I retired from full-time teaching at Baldwin Wallace University.   As a faculty member there, I held the BW Chair in Faith & Life.   It was a wonderful appointment that afforded me some freedom to do a variety of things.   These inspirational pieces were one effort that was a good way for the University to offer something to the larger world.             It has been a blessed discipline for me.   Being responsible for writing piece five days a week demanded that I live with a certain awareness in my life and the lives of others.   It encouraged daily reflection which provoked growth in myself.   No doubt, I benefited more than any other person.      ...

               One of the things I most like about the semester ending is the fact we are getting near the end of the various books I use.   For example, in one class I have students read Kathleen Norris’ great book, The Cloister Walk .   The book originally appeared in 1996.   I am not sure when I bought it and read it.   I first became aware of Norris’ work with her book, Dakota .   That book is about landscape and a look at place and space.   I came to appreciate a few things about Norris.             I learned that her educational background was poetry.   She is a published poet.   Even of more interest to me was the fact Norris had spent two lengthy periods in a Benedictine monastery.   Like me, Norris is a Benedictine oblate, which basically means she is a “lay Benedictine.”   That commits us to living as nearly ...

                 One of the enduring popular media talks is Pope Francis’ TED Talk, filmed in April, 2017.   The Pope is always a compelling figure, so I like to rewatch it occasionally.   I am never disappointed with his message.   Sometimes, I am amazed at how relatable this guy---some would say, old man---really is.   I continue to be intrigued with his message.   As usual, there are many significant sub-themes, but I want to focus on his one major theme.   It is worth noting his overall theme is the future, so let’s center in on one particular place he deals with that.             I center on one particular section or big paragraph.   The opening sentence is very clever.   The Pope says, “ To Christians, the future does have a name, and its name is Hope.”   That is a cool way to introduce the theme of “future.” ...

                 Parade magazine is not usually my source of revelation!   As you may know, it comes in the Sunday newspapers in many parts of the country.   I admit that I do not always read it.   A couple weeks ago, however, I noticed the front cover had this as part of the headline: “Finding the Origins of the Universe.”   Since I am not a scientific scholar, it struck me this would be a good piece to read.             When I opened to the article, the title was even more interesting: “The Race for the Secret of the Universe!”   Now the story took on the character of a suspense novel.   I was hooked.   The “race,” as it turns out, is between the new research tool being built in Switzerland and our own, older American one, the Fermilab outside of Chicago.   These laboratories don’t fit the usual description of labs accord...

                 A theme that is part of the Quaker vocabulary, with which I grew up, is the idea of waiting.   I am sure to most people, the idea of waiting for anything seems pretty boring.   Of course, we do have to wait for things in life, but generally we don’t like it.   I wonder if American culture has not been a race to get faster?   There are many examples that suggest this is true.             So much of the world I inhabit seems to be on a quest to get faster.   The evolution of the internet is a great example.   I was aware of computers coming to be a factor in our world, but did not personally get involved in computers till the mid-1980s.   Of course, that was before the internet had been invented.   In those days all my mail came through the mail!   I finally made my peace with computers and, of course, no...

                 I enjoy the various opportunities that come my way.   I am grateful for the rather wide-ranging reading I am able to do.   But I also appreciate the daily discipline of using the lectionary to guide some devotional time coupled with reflection time.   As I have mentioned in the past, I use the daily lectionary (fixed readings) from my Benedictine monastic friends.   I like the fact that I am reading the same scripture in the mornings that monks across the land are reading.                 The lectionary keeps my rhythm in place and manages a focus for me that I don’t have to give thought.   As with all discipline, the only issue is whether I do it.   The planning is done for me.   The question is my execution.   A discipline is not meant to be onerous or rigid.   I am convinced most effec...

                 The opening line from one of David Brooks’ essays is a sobering one.   Brooks says, “ There is some sort of hard-to-define spiritual crisis across the land, which shows up in rising depression rates, rising mental health problems.”   I am willing to take for granted Brooks’ analysis.   It is worth saying he bases that on a recent Pew Research Center study.   I have often used information from the Pew Center and find it very reliable.             Brooks’ line reminds me of the famous one-liner from the nineteenth century observer of American culture, Henry David Thoreau.   In his famous work, Civil Disobedience, Thoreau notes, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.   What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.   From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console your...

                 Sometimes the inspiration for these pieces comes from very traditional and predictable sources.   I read a great deal in the spiritual literature, so that obviously is a marvelous resource.   I try to follow the lectionary of the Benedictine monastic community, so I know that is always a resources for readings from the Psalms and other biblical references.   I try to watch as my days unfold for those obvious or, even, subtle revelations of inspiring moments.   I find if I stay aware, a lot happens that hints at profundity.             Today’s inspiration came from a predictable place.   I regularly read a number of periodicals on line.   In the old days we would have called them magazines!   But I don’t receive magazines in the mail any more.   A few regularly come on the internet and it is there I find some...

                 A title like this one for this inspirational reflection is about a non-Quaker as I could image.   When I was young, if you told me yesterday was the Feast of St. Francis, I would have responded with a blank stare.   It would have meant nothing to me.   In my tradition we did not have “feast days.”   And we never talked about saints, except maybe the authors of the New Testament.   I might have connected with St. John, the gospel writer, or St. Paul, the other New Testament guy!   But there were no Quaker saints.             But then my education began.   God keeps putting into my life good Catholics and Episcopalians and the others who regularly use saints.   Gradually, the saints became known to me.   As I studied some about the monks of the early centuries, I encountered some weird, but holy women and...

                 Recently I was doing some work with the poetry of Thomas Merton, my favorite monk of the twentieth century.   Merton wrote a huge amount of poetry and, in fact, saw himself first and foremost as a poet.   Many people who like Merton a great deal do not know anything about his poetry.   I am told his poetry is not great, but that is ok with me.   I am not a poetry expert.             One of my regrets is not paying attention more in those high school English classes when the teacher was trying to develop an appreciation for poetry.   I am not sure what kind of stupid reason I would have given for my lackadaisical engagement, but love of poetry did not happen.   Clearly the problem was not with poetry; it was with me!   I have been playing catch-up ever since.         ...