Sarasota Herald Tribune Article MAR 01, 2015

Herald-Tribune style 03/01/2015 L: Style   Page L16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell To a Fair Isle

Image
It's hard to believe that my time here is over. It has been a wonderful journey from a variety of perspectives. I'll have much to unpack spiritually, emotionally and intellectually long after the suitcases have been returned to the attic. In reality, I cannot do justice to the graces I've received in one final pilgrimage blog; but I can let your know some of the things that will continue to work deep inside me in the weeks and months, likely years ahead. Right now they're no more than a list of words. In reality they are the raw ingredients of what I've learned about myself, the Church, and God that I hope will become a magnficent feast. So here's just an appetizer of what's filling me and calling me as I return home: BEAUTY --God gives us glimpses of Himself each day, do we look for Him. PEACE --Not as the world gives. WELCOME --As in, how can we be more welcoming to others. RADICAL UNITY --Each person breathing is made in the Image of God; how can we act l...
Read more

Giving Up the Farm or Farewell to Farmville

It was last fall that I finally answered an invitation on Facebook... the social networking website, to play Farmville... a social networking game. How fun I thought, that rather than playing solitaire or mahjong by myself, I would play Farmville and be able to catch up with friends at the same time. What could be better? I was brand new to the world wide web of all things electronically social and it appeared to be a simplest of avenues to keep in the loop. I’d have a small interaction with friends and acquaintances from miles away as I decompressed from my day. What better way to spend 10 minutes than with that 6” x 6” plot of flat screen soil while sending and receiving trees, chickens, fences and lambs with friends. It even felt familiar, this sensation of a momentary connection. I remembered that when Sean was two and just getting his own little sense of self he practiced a ritual of comfort as he took those first steps of independence. He would make a foray into another room, ...
Read more
There are no beginnings without endings. A new job means the end of a time of preparation either at school or an apprenticeship or the end of an old job. The birth of a child, an awesome beginning, means the end of some freedom for first time parents, or at the very least the end of sleeping at will. The beginning of spring means we say good-bye to winter — the beginning of my favorite season of autumn means farewell to the fresh fruits of summer. Beginning a new hobby means I won’t have as much time for the old one, or other things that occupied my time. A new home means the old one now belongs to someone else and is now only a place of memory for me. Perhaps that’s why beginnings are often bittersweet; each beginning is also an ending. The beginning of this blog is a farewell to the past 15 years I’ve spent in parish ministry as an ordained minister of word and sacrament. Its the beginning of a new ministry of spiritual direction and spiritual companioning…but for the first time in m...
Read more