Faith & Life Inspirational Message

One of the reasons I enjoy reading a variety of things is because of new ideas that come my way.   Of course, I read quite a bit of religious and spiritual material.   But I like a range of other things, too.   I actually enjoy reading about contemporary science discoveries.   And the whole psychological world fascinates me, mostly because all human beings are psychological beings.   I read a piece recently that combined most of these different areas. The article was written by a Franciscan Sister, Sr. Ilio Delio, and it contained the gist of her comments to a gathering of religious women.   On the surface this seems like a boring read.   In fact, I found it fascinating.   In the first place, I was quite intrigued by the theology inherent in the text.   By theology I mean her view of God and how God works in our world.   Clearly, she is well versed in the scientific way of viewing our world---our cosmos.   I am always inspired ...

I enjoy sitting in my chair and listening to the wind blow outside my window.   Of course that presupposes that I am sitting safely in my chair and the wind is not really doing any damage.   When a big storm hits, that is not always a safe assumption.   It is one thing to notice a breeze.   It is another thing when the winds come with a storm.   We see those kinds of winds with heavy rainstorms and we also see them with heavy snowstorms. A brisk wind reminds me of the power of nature.   The power of nature gets my attention.   In fact, when the wind becomes really powerful, it can be intimidating.   Not only do I sense that this wind is really potent, but sometimes I am moved to some fear.   Intimidation is experienced as some fear.   And even the good fear we call awe is such that we are kept on guard. I have often noted that the classical languages of Hebrew, Greek and Latin have one word which can be translated “wind” or “sp...

I love it when one task leads to a place we love to be, but never would have gone there on our own.   Let me explain.   Recently, I had agreed to do a little speech for a group that I enjoy.   When I agreed to do it, I did not really think much about what I actually would say when the time had come.   Well the time came!   And I had to come up with something.   The focus was clearly going to be on a 20 th century figure, who played a key role in the adoption of spirituality into the Protestant world.   In some exciting ways this Protestant discovery of spirituality (primarily within Catholicism) coincides with my own life.   It has significant roots in the 1960s.   It has something to do with Vatican II, which opened in 1962.   No doubt, there are elements of the Vietnam War and the whole Civil Rights movement wrapped up in this history.   For me personally, it is a trip down memory lane.   So as I began to think about w...

The title for today’s inspirational reflection comes from a sentence from my favorite Quaker saint, Thomas Kelly.   Oh, Quakers don’t actually have saints in the traditional Catholic sense.   But if we did, Kelly would be sanctified.   Clearly he was no more perfect than any other human being.   He was a man with some significant flaws, but who among us does not have significant flaws? Kelly died in 1948 at a relatively young age.   He had aspirations to be a world-class scholar.   In some ways he was on the path to achieve some of that dream.   And in other ways, he failed and suffered depression and other maladies because of that.   He taught at a couple Quaker colleges and wanted more.   He struggled to get a Harvard degree, but that did not bring him the success he sought.   He also was spending time in pre-war Germany in the 1930s.   There he saw the rise of Nazism and the horrors that would become WWII. Finally toward th...

If you stop to read titles before launching into the prose of these inspirational pieces, this current title must baffle the reader.   Other than beginning with the same letter of the alphabet, there seems to be little in common with these three words.   There is certainly nothing obvious to connect them.             A second thing these three words have in common that would not be evident is the inspiration for this reflection.   Most of the inspiration came from two students who are now my friends.   Faculty often complain about “grading.”   Some aspects of that are unappealing.   But anyone who grows up on a farm knows that that life has some unappealing aspects, too!   However, when I have a chance to read papers from students and to be privy to their experience, their creativity and their learning, I am usually made better for the process.         ...