Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Although I am not Roman Catholic, I feel like the Pope is in some sense “my” Pope.   Of course I don’t think the Pope is my Pope in the same sense as a Catholic must see the Pope as his or her Pope.   I know quite a bit about Catholicism and I hang out with a fairly substantial group of Catholics.   I am a lay Benedictine monk, which means I am free to participate with the Benedictine monks in their life and worship.   I am grateful for everything the Catholic community has given to me.             But I am still not a real Catholic in the sense that someone must be if he or she is actually a full member of the Church.   And I recognize the Pope is the Head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, has a special relationship with all those who are full members of that Church.   But to see the Pope in that role is to have a too narrow view of the Papal Presence in our world.     ...

It is hard for me to imagine anyone seeing the three words that form the title of this reflection---peaceful, happy and strong---not wanting a share in all three.   Can you believe anyone would say, “Nah, I prefer war to peace.   I prefer conflict to peace!”   Can you imagine anyone saying, “I much rather prefer sadness and despair to happiness!”   And it is just as difficult to hear someone saying, “Heck, I’d much rather be weak and hurting than be strong.”   Anyone in his or her right mind wants to be peaceful, happy and strong.            The real question is not whether I prefer these attributes, but how do I get them?   Is there anything I or we can do to make them come true?   Or do we simply have to wait, sit back and hope to become peaceful, happy and strong?   The good news is, there are some things we can do to bring peace, happiness and strength to ourselves and to others.  ...

I sometimes wonder what would have been my journey if I had taken the other fork of the road?   I am not being flip.   I assume that we all have come to numerous forks in the road.   We have to choose and when we do choose, heading down one particular way, we know the other road at the fork that we did not choose is lost to us.   We will never know what life would have been like if we had chosen that other road.   I don’t lament lost choices.   I don’t regret any of my choices---although they certainly have not all been good choices!   But I do wonder. One of the good choices I made was to continue being a reader.   Clearly there were choices in my life, where if I had made them, would effectively have meant that I would have quit reading.   Oh, that does not mean I never would have read anything.   There probably are many jobs that people do that entail no reading.   But most people working those jobs are literate.   They c...

In class yesterday I was having a discussion with some students about life, meaning and purpose.   I don’t believe that our lives come with a ready-made meaning wrapped within.   Finding meaning in our lives is not like going to the Christmas tree and picking up a “meaning package!”   I suppose some people might wish it were this easy.   But I don’t want it this way.             I believe meaning can come to us in a couple ways.   In the first place, I do think we can “find” meaning.   But meaning is not the Christmas package simply laying there waiting to be picked up, opened and, voila, we have our meaning.   Meaning can be found, but even this finding process takes some work---sometimes hard work.   Finding meaning presupposes that we are seeking.             This form of seeking can take us into many different venues.   Fo...

A few days ago, I pulled up behind a car, which was stopped at a red light.   For some reason I like randomly to read license plates on cars.   My eyes went to the plate on the car ahead of me and I was surprised to read “Being.”   “That’s great,” I whispered to myself.   For a second I thought that I would be happy to have that plate on my car.   But then, I had to laugh. I am sure I have my share of vanity---being too prideful of ourselves or our things.   I care about how I look, etc.   But if asked, I would doubtlessly say that I am not very vain!   The plainness of my clothes, my car, etc. would substantiate that, at least compared to my peers.   I am also sure I was more vain when I was younger!   Maybe there is a connection between vanity and hormones!   I do think maturity and, certainly, becoming more spiritual should simultaneously begin eroding our vanity. One thing I am fairly confident is I won’t spend extra m...

I have developed the habit of reading stuff that I don’t think I will like.   The reason for this is so I can grow in my knowledge.   Secondly, if I only read stuff I like or that is close to what I already know, then my chances of learning new things and being innovative are about nothing.   In this I do not think I am normal.   My experience is that most folks have developed their own party line---about religion or politics or anything else.   And once that development takes place, it becomes cement-like!   It would take a jackhammer to make any changes. My experience with cement is it seldom changes and never transforms.   When you pour cement, you can shape it as you wish.   It is moist and pliable.   Comparably, that is like our youth.   Through parents, education and so on, we are molded.   Once cement sets, change is over.   While that analogy does not hold true for all people, it is true enough to describe many fo...