The Celtic Monk

Let me begin by saying that I am truly thankful for each of you who faithfully read what I can't help but writing and how you've encouraged me along the way with your comments. You are a blessing in my life and this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful to you and for you. And while I can be cynical about how impersonal "social networking" and other technologies are; last night I was thankful for Skype. Lauren (alomst 5 years old) who knows the story of "Beauty and the Beast" [but had never seen the Disney movie] and I could watch together while 1100 miles apart. It was delightful watching her face as she saw the animated images for the first time. So thankful. This past year I've been especially thankful for the opportunity to walk with folks through the ministry of spiritual direction and how God always shows up. Such a ministry was only a dream for years. Then, in what Scripture would call 'the fullness of time' - at a kairos moment - the pieces...

It's a sign of the times. I mean the times since the financial market went south and everyone became afraid. It's a sign of the times. I mean the last few years when a lot of otherwise sane people became paranoid of a lot of things that before this time they didn't have the time to be afraid of. It's a sign of the times. When otherwise good and decent people act less than goodly and decently believing they are somehow entitled or even 'called' to act that way. It's worth the effort to stop every once in a while to examine who we are and the choices we make. Not so much to look at what we are doing but why; and to test the 'why' with reality and not merely wild imaginings. For instance, is what we're doing and what we're choosing, based on facts, on reality, on truth so well worn that it's become durable yet soft like tumbled leather... or is what we're choosing and what we're doing based on fear, on 'what if's' ...