Faith & Life Inspirational Message

A periodical I regularly read has been asking fairly famous religious people to comment on a book they read in their younger years that were so formative.   They call this piece “Take and Read.”   Maybe it is because I am getting older, but I have found this fascinating for a couple reasons.   I am fascinated by the people the periodical has asked to share their story.   And of course, I am interested in the book the person chooses.   In a recent issue I was pleased to see the name of Gregory Baum and that his book of choice was Augustine’s Confessions .             I have never met Gregory Baum, but I have known about him since the 1970s.   I knew he was Canadian and taught in some universities in Toronto.   He has written extensively on the church in the world.   He has paid particular attention to social issues.   He has been involved in the ecumenical movement to which I was intro...

I suppose for every one of us there is some favorite people who help us understand things.  In the realm of religion John Polkinghorne is on of those folks for me.  He is a physicist and Anglican priest.  He is one of the foremost thinkers who can cross the science and religion boundaries.  Most of us are stuck on one side of that divide and have a difficult time relating to the other side.  For example, evolutionists can scoff at a literalist interpretation of the Genesis texts of creation.  And there are firm believers in God and the Bible who will defend the “hands on” approach of the Creator God.  Basically, I am not an either/or thinker.  On this example, I find myself assuming that some version of evolution must be the way to explain how our universe came to be some 13 billion years ago.  Clearly, I cannot explain it.  But I do trust the scientists (even the atheists) to offer a viable explanation based on evidence. But that do...

I continue to spend more time reading Krista Tippett’s book, Becoming Wise .   It is a great, rich resource because it is filled with so many different peoples’ journey to wisdom.   Some of the folks I actually know, many of them I have heard about and others are completely new.   I find that I am reading the book in bits.   It is too much to do forty or fifty pages.   There is too much richness and too much to absorb.   Wisdom takes time to acquire.             One of her chapters is entitled, “Flesh.”   In that chapter it has a selection from Jacob Kabat-Zinn.   I have heard of him, but have never met him.   I know he is a scientist from M.I.T. and that he has done a ton of stuff on meditation.   He is most famous for beginning Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction approach in the 1980s.   In his comments to Tippett he acknowledges the mindfulness focus offers “a chance to co...

Periodically, I have the chance to reread sections of Kathleen Norris’ book, The Cloister Walk .   The book first appeared in 1996.   I had read some of Norris’ work and was eager to read this book when it was published.   I knew it was based on her time spent at St. John’s Benedictine Abbey in Minnesota.   As one who also is a Benedictine oblate, I was excited to see what her reflected experience would be.   I was not disappointed the first time I read it and I delight every time I pick the book up to read parts of it again.             Recently, I had to read a chapter she entitles, “Learning to love: Benedictine Women on Celibacy and Relationship.”   I suspect many readers would never bother with this chapter because of the title.   I think their mistake would be focusing on the subtitle, Benedictine women, and quickly assume there would be nothing there for them.   Instead I was intrig...

The call to be verbal is not always welcome news to anyone who is shy and introverted!   Being verbal is about the last thing they hope to hear.   But it seems to me this is exactly what the spiritual journey asks each of us to do: to be verbal.   Let me explain. It makes most sense to begin the explanation with a reminder of what all of us knows about grammar.   I had a good elementary teacher—although I am not sure I can recall her name or the grade---who taught me the basics of English grammar.   I remember her saying something to the effect that the main components of the sentence are nouns and verbs.   She is correct; complete sentences have at least one of each. If we generalize, we can understand most nouns having to do with a “state of being.”   If we say “cat,” we point to a group of animals---all of whom may be pretty different---that have in common “catness!”   Since I do not share their state of being (genetic code, etc.), I an...

I continue to enjoy working my way slowly through Krista Tippett’s book, Becoming Wise .   It is such a wonderful read because it is built around so many interviews she does with very interesting people.   Reading her book is the next best thing to sitting in the interview itself or, even better, being able to be with the various people by yourself.             The latest one that intrigued me was her interview with the writer, Richard Rodriguez.   I have read some of Rodriguez’s works and find him an engaging, thoughtful person.   I am acquainted with his exploration of his Catholic faith.   He also brings to the table his own Latino background.   With all of this difference from my own upbringing, I always feel like I have so much to learn.   Tippett was able to tease even more insight with her interview.               Early in h...

One of the best-known stories of the New Testament is the Prodigal Son parable.  I remember learning this parable early on in my Sunday School career.  I wonder if most of us do not identify with that story?  I never really felt like the prodigal.  He was the one who grabbed his inheritance much too soon, ran off and blew it on lousy choices.  And then when things got tough, he decided to go home. There is a part of the prodigal’s action that is funny.  He reminds me of the kid in the class who has so much going for himself.  Often he is charming, a jokester, and sometimes shyster.  He can simultaneously be admired and loathed. However, there is that part of the prodigal’s action that is lamentable.  It is clear from the outset he is hurting his father.  He is being irresponsible.  There is a feeling of “wrongness” about everything he is doing.  He continually squanders his possibilities in dumb ways.  I never really fel...