Looking back, packing for work travel always meant taking only what was absolutely necessary. I was always determined to snuggle my carry-on bag into the plane’s overhead compartment easy-peasy. Hence, clothes were packed into tiny squares nice and flat with miniscule travel size bottles used to hold almost anything else. As colleagues headed to stand-by the luggage pick-up area after reaching our destination, I was already on line to catch a cab with my nose in a book. Just like that old saying goes, “I have my nose stuck in a book just about as often as I breathe (Guillemets, Raiding Bookshelves).” That’s me – right there. Taking my books on the journey was the only exception to the one bag rule. Leaving Jane Eyre, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Eliot and so many others behind was simply not an option. No matter where I was headed…
So many wonderful things happen in June. Nature is working its magic in visible and invisible ways. It is the time of year for taking walks in the woods; delighting in scampering red breasted robins and watching the sea bobble its waves. In June, the summer solstice quietly shifts the sunrise and sunset southward again. The sun has now taken its highest position in the sky and a harvesting “strawberry” moon holds its own place on earth. And little by little, daylight starts to decrease. At dusk, whisking fireflies arrive to illumine the darkening blanket of night. We wonder how it is that this sixth month emerged so quickly, now surrounding us with its beauty on all sides. Splendor present for just awhile. Oh happy June – is there no way that you can stay with us just a bit longer? After all, the first pitcher of lemonade has just been…
Christ tells us that “It is the Spirit who gives life. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life” (Jam 6:63). God spoke the first words, electing to use them to make himself known to us. And by the Word of Scripture, the beloved can envision all that can be known about God. God also uses his creation as the means to reveal Himself. Every blooming flower and soaring bird speaks to the nature of God’s beauty. Poetry, works of art and the giving of one’s love to another reflect his love, holiness and wonder. The Word of God is like an expectant garden waiting for searching hands to dig into its soil. The gardener sifts for the best place to plant seeds. They are left hidden beneath the soil, watered and given back to God. The expectant garden soon…
In our world today, the catalyst igniting the search for the Spirit of Wisdom is oft-times sparked by unforeseen circumstances that bring us to our knees. As Marianne Williamson guides “We go through challenging situations in order to evolve into people who can hold to our loving center no matter what the world throws us.” The Wisdom Books of Scripture attest that we never face the trials of life alone. God has been kindling humanity with divine Wisdom since before the beginning of time. And in the New Testament, God’s unfailing love for the world is revealed in the coming of Christ. “The Son of God has come and has given mankind understanding, so that we may know Him who is True (Jn 5:20). Hence to truly know God’s truth, we must weave the golden thread that runs through all Wisdom teaching into our daily life…
St. Bernard (1090-1153 A.D.) lived at a time of splintering turmoil within the Church. Monasteries that were once devoted to the “desert way” of life fell victim to worldly temptations. Spiritually, traditional practices in the monastic way were slowly fading away. However, it was Bernard’s “honey tongue” steeped in Scripture that knew how to redirect the heart of society back towards God. At the young age of twenty-four, Bernard was given the seemingly impossible task to establish a new foundation at Langres (1115) as abbot to twelve monks. Living the Christian state of life as consecrated religious calls for the removal of whatever is incompatible with the practice of love of God and neighbor. Hence, Bernard accepted the enormous task to carry out Christ’s mission with a heart of love. Known as the “bitter valley,” the uncultivated Langres was depleted of natural resources and basic…
