The Celtic Monk

                   As I sit here this morning, I am facing a pile of presents in brightly colored wrappings of Christmas red, gold, blue and green.  Personally I have no trouble seeing the stack before me--no anxiety--no heart quickening--but of course I know what each package holds.  Treasures I've purchased over the last six months (more earnestly in recent weeks) to delight the hearts of those I love.           Liam and Lauren and even Isaac at 15 would love to come into this special room and shake each one guessing what it might be.  Christmas fever is strong at this time of year.  Their joy can hardly be contained.  "Just let me open one Grammie; augh come on!" And yet, there is more to this season than our expectations of what might lie underneath even the shiniest of wrappings and bows.                     I cherish this season of waiting each year with all its symbols.  I'm drawn in by the days that are shorter and the many different ways we are able t

SOPHIA the BELUGA WHALE                      This is my favorite photo.  It's a Beluga Whale who has become the signature of all printed material of Peace River Spirituality Center.  You can see her in a quick glance at our brochure, letterhead, business cards, even on our mouse pad!                     It's not that I don't like the rounded white head of the Beluga, but there is something at the same time mysterious, ethereal and strong about this image.  Maybe the mystery is in the nature of the fluke--which we know is like the whale version of human fingerprints...no two exactly alike.  Maybe its the strength we imagine of this magnificent creature as she plunges herself into the deep.  Or simply the stark visual contrast of the white flesh against the dark water in her naturalized tank.                    My eye, heart and imagination are caught by the amazing color of the submerged head and body under the water.  The cool teals and turquoises call me to follo

A LIVING PRAYER BENCH, ROSTREVOR, NORTHERN IRELAND   In my last posting I shared with you a breakthrough in my personal prayer life, several things coming together which became a new foundation.  So that my experience might be more helpful to you I thought I'd pull apart the pieces of that experience to share some semblance of a path, however imperfect, that you might wander upon in your own prayer journey. My initial intention for the day was simply to pray, to seek, to knock hoping for the door to be opened as Jesus tells us in the Gospel.  What I could not plan for was what would come from what seemed a rather simple posture of openness.  With a single question in mind I opened my journal to answer the question:  What are your images of God right now?  I sat with the question for only a moment when like water flowing over a waterfall or the rush of rapids all the pious sounding platitudes--well rehearsed from years of repetition--spilled onto the page.  There were th

PATH TO THE LABYRINTH SAM BUILT FOR ME IN OUR BACKYARD. How's your prayer life?   How has it changed over the years?  Does it make your heart sing?  Or do you have the sense that something is missing?  There has been some amazing theological reflection done in the past decade on spirituality during the second half of life .  Even before you wonder if you are in the second half of life let me ask you...do you remember Howdy Doody?  If so, you're here! I'm in my final residency (this week and next) with The Shalem Institute at a wonderful retreat setting outside of Baltimore.  Already we've had some amazing teaching, silence, peer group interaction and significant time with  our prayer partners.  Rosemary Dougherty who has literally  written the book  on prayer spent all day Wednesday with us lecturing and leading us in prayer practices.  This kind of rich spiritual experience makes our days which begin in prayer at 7:45 a.m. and go till 9:00 p.m. seem much too sho

ST. JOHN'S ABBEY  COLLEGEVILLE, MN        2013 is the first time in the past 20 years that I have not written, shared or published a devotional or prayer guide for the season of Lent.  It's been my practice, an offering to the communities I've served as well as a labor of love, devotion and an outpouring of my faith during my entire ministry.       Some of those years I took the season of Lent to journal my devotions based on a Gospel or spiritual classic planning, after the 40 days, to edit and polish it for use the following year.  As a project during one year of my doctoral work, I used the sayings of the desert mothers and fathers to launch the daily devotional--adding themes, scriptures and prayers.  Likely, most of you have found it to be true in your own acts of devotion, I learned much preparing such an offering for others.       This Lent however has been a remarkably silent one for me. Surgery at 7 a.m. the morning after Ash Wednesday and a six week reco

Sanctuary in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland   Why come to worship?  It seems an odd wondering as the second Sunday in Lent approaches, on our annual journey towards Jerusalem with Jesus and his disciples.  A journey that inevitably takes us through the events of Holy Week--its horror and its mystery; and on to Easter morning which if we'd been there held some horror and mystery of its own. Remembering the disciples weren't coloring eggs, filling baskets with jelly beans, or parading with lillies quite yet. This year the church I'm serving, has an extra opportunity for Lent, the addition of a mid-week worship service that includes the Lord's Supper.   It's quite out of the ordinary for protestants who have historically been happy with a monthly or quarterly inclusion of the sacrament to have the opportunity to partake weekly. There were times in my ecumenical past that I received the sacrament on a daily basis and still do during the week I spend on retreat at

         It was time. Actually, it was time months ago.  But I finally doned work gloves to weed and rake the Labyrinth.  I'd begun the task back in September. Really?  Yes, September.  Half a weeded Labyrinth was better than none.  I could simply walk over all those things that just won't stop growing!          How did it escape me that there would be "upkeep?"  Did I really think those truckloads of gravel would stop things from growing here in the tropics?  In a matter of weeks it seemed that a little moss formed where the palmettos shaded the path, then a little (okay a lot) of humidity turned the moss into soil and voila! things sprouted.  Without diligence on my part, it just kept on growing.         I find the same to be true in other areas of my life as well. There's a lot of upkeep in having all those books that would take a librarian to keep track of.  For my car, there's oil changes of which a little sticker up in the corner of my windshield

        As promised, here are some ideas for your practice of The Examen which can transform and deepen your spiritual life. I've done a lot of study about this spiritual discipline and have practiced it intermittently for the past few decades. The suggestions below are just that; options for how you might wish to practice the prayer.  May it bring you joy day-by-day in 2013 and beyond. Take a moment to remember you are beloved of God, just as you are.  There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Remember and give thanks for the gifts that God's love has bestowed upon you today; sunshine, friendship, an answered prayer, strength for a challenge, daily bread, etc. Ask God for a blessing that will make this prayer time more than a human endeavor; then watch for an insight that comes not from within you neither heart nor mind, but from above. Trusting in God's love, review the past 24 hours.  What were the thoughts, wonderings, insight