Last week, I irritated people online. Some people who profess to be Catholic were engaged in heretical thinking about trivialities and lording their own holiness over others for failing to fall in line with what they thought. What those folks thought was not in keeping with Catholic or even Christian thought. It was myopic and mysognistic and delusionally messianic. They were wrong. However, God in His infinite mercy, allows us to be wrong. He gives us the free will to... Read more
Love always involves sacrifice. Being a mom or a dad is difficult because the world always tells you, you will be drained, you will be unfulfilled, and that pursuing what you want is antithetical to family life. Life is about sacrifice and making choices, no question. Sometimes however, in surrendering what you want, you find something infinitely richer and better. God works that way. He’s not out to get you, or deny you joy. He’s there to invite you into... Read more
Image by Victoria_Regen from Pixabay I haven’t written as I’ve been away with my family. We drove 1,398 miles to my favorite place in the world, the Bolivar Penninsula. It is a beach that holds my family’s history in it, my childhood. Spending a week in this sacred place, we swam, made mud castles and celebrated my fifty-seventh birthday with barbecue, queso, and two cakes. My mom, one of my brothers with his family and my sister with hers, were there too. My... Read more
Image by Lynn Greyling from Pixabay It’s been about two years since I was diagnosed with cancer, and a year plus since I finished chemo and radiation. One of the unseen consequences of the treatment was, drawing blood has become difficult. My veins seem to shrink from the needles as much as I do emotionally from the prospect of being stuck by them. I know the tricks for getting a good blood draw. Drink lots of water. Relax and take deep slow breaths. ... Read more
A high school friend I reconnected with on Facebook just posted, that cancer is going to take him. I couldn’t finish writing that sentence. I put away my blog rather than finish writing that post. A week later, he is gone. He and I became friends at my high school. He took me to Junior year prom and we were in journalism together and hung out in Mrs. Williamson’s classroom during open periods, talking about science fiction, fantasy novels, and... Read more
art by geralt First, there’s the absence of timeliness. AIbots don’t need time, rest, inspiration or opportunity. They can crank out six hundred fifty words in a moment. It doesn’t make them interesting, and in all likelihood, the AIbot has plagerized other writing to generate the desired content. More in this case, is not better, it’s just more –the same as a dictionary has tons of words, but poetry comes from arrangement, connection, and feeling –a robot can arrange words,... Read more
So, what are you doing to make it one worth remembering? Every year, my kids and I go out for lunch on the last day of school and make a list of things to do. However, the school system keeps adding days, making summer start later. As such, I’m making my list before school is out. We’ll still go out to lunch and add to it, but I’m no rookie. I know what we need to put on that sucker.... Read more
Our lives seem very frail these days. The news tells me every day, of how everyone is holding on by a thread. People are shooting each other, crashing into buildings, and fighting over anything, everything and all things. Everyone is tired, angry and worn. It’s not the result of Covid, phones or the economy. It’s the waiting, the need for the Holy Spirit. It’s a longing for something beautiful, new, and alive. We need friends, hope, and a vision of... Read more
Yesterday, I examined the dirth of curiosity that sprung from cell phones and Covid. Today, I tackle a far more challenging subject, reengaging the world. I think the whole of society asked for a separation agreement during the pandemic, and now is grasping and gasping at the horror of getting back into socializing on purpose. Before Covid, I plunged fearlessly into everything, but the pandemic plus stage three breast cancer kicked me back into the safety of my house for... Read more
The Washington Post wrote an editorial about funding being given to schools to cope with the loss in learning from Covid. Money will be allocated to helping the physical plant of some schools, to increase staffing, and above all, to work on the learning gap via individualized tutoring. As the Post points out, all are laudible goals, and each of them seems reasonable and helpful. They do not however address the underlying problem that Covid created: a sense in many... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In