The Celtic Monk

For the first time in I can't remember how long I'm not running at break-neck speed towards Christmas. Monday was my only day in the office at the church this week. The bulletins for Christmas Eve and the Sunday after Christmas were mostly done before the 4th Sunday in Advent and needed only some final touches. No department nor grocery store will see me this week. All the packages are wrapped and tagged and waiting to take their place under the tree. I will be making some more cookies however. We've managed to nibble our way through the cookies we made the week after Thanksgiving. There are no cookies left to give away...and I always give away some of our favorites that are only baked at this time of the year. I'm aware of being able to 'sense' Christmas in a way that's impossible when holiday obligations have me in a strangle hold. There have been ordinary moments, doing just ordinary things that have seemed like a gift. This morning even the late arr

" Our faith ought to be capable of filling our hearts with a wonder and a wisdom which see beyond the surface of things and events, and grasp something of the inner and “sacred” meaning of the cosmos which, in all its movements and all its aspects, sings the praises of its Creator and Redeemer." Thomas Merton As I've made my twice weekly trip, first north 100 miles to Bradenton and then south 150 miles to Naples, I've watched with great interest the outside temperature gauge on my dashboard instrument panel. For instance, this past week when I left home at 5:45 Sunday morning it was a chilly 50 degrees. As I crossed the Peace River, I lost three degrees. As I reached the Sarasota County line, I lost three more degrees, even though by then the sun was up and the fog was burning off. When living in Indiana, Sam and I would often comment on the climate line that seemed to run right through the city of Terra Haute. That was where the weather changed from what we we