While singing August my favorite goodnight song, “Mommy loves you” (Also known as “Beautiful Girl” from Slugs, Bugs and Lullibies. Why do you sing: “The angels are keeping / So cry no more”? “Because the song says God sent some angels to watch over you so you don’t have to be afraid.” “Why do you say: ‘But when your tooth aches or your heart breaks’? What is when your heart breaks?” “Your heart breaks when you feel really sad inside... Read more
Last night when I was putting him to bed, August asked me to sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” to him. Then he smiled to himself and shouted: “Grape is Thy Faithfulness!…Blueberries is Thy Faithfulness!” He thought he was pretty hilarious and I thought it was kind of amazing. So, of course, I agreed to sing “Grape is Thy Faithfulness” for the boy, which should probably be the theme song for my Northern California wine-loving church. You know how I love... Read more
Descending Theology: The Resurrection by Mary Karr From the far star points of his pinned extremities, cold inched in–black ice and blood ink– till the hung flesh was empty. Lonely in that void even for pain, he missed his splintered feet, the human stare buried in his face. He ached for two hands made of meat he could reach to the end of. In the corpse’s core, the stone fist of his heart began to bang on the stiff chest’s... Read more
Thy body and Thy blood, O Word, Thou has offered at Thy crucifixion for the sake of all: Thy body to refashion me, Thy blood to wash me clean; and Thou has given up Thy spirit, O Christ, to bring me to Thy Father. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me. From the Canon of St. Andrew, First Fruits of Prayer by Frederica Matthewes-Green, Paraclete Press, 2006. “Jesus’ body is removed from the cross” by Anna Kocher.... Read more
Christ’s Passion by Mary Karr Sure we’re trained to his suffering, sure the nine-inch nails, and so forth. And the cross raised up invoked the body’s weight so each wound tore, and from his abdomen a length of gut dangled down, longing towards earth. He was a god, after all. An eternal light swarmed in his rib cage no less strong than the weaving nebulae that haul this dirt-speck planet through its course. Surely his flesh mattered less somehow, less... Read more
Descending Theology: The Garden by Mary Karr We know he was a man because, once doomed, he begged for reprieve. See him grieving on his rock under olive trees, his companions asleep on the hard ground around him wrapped in old hides. Not one stayed awake as he’d asked. That went through him like a sword. He wished with all his being to stay but gave up bargaining at the sky. He knew it was all mercy anyhow, unearned as... Read more
Untitled (An ancient Celtic prayer for sleep) O Jesu without sin, King of the poor, Who were sorely subdued Under the ban of the wicked, Shield Thou me this night From Judas. My soul on Thine own arm, O Christ, Thou the King of the City of Heaven, Thou it was who bought’st my soul O Jesu, Thou it was who didst sacrifice Thy life for me. Protect Thou me because of my sorrow, For the sake of Thy passion,... Read more
May Jesus’ Death Be My Life (a prayer) O Christ Jesus, may your death be my life, your labor my repose, your human weakness my strength. -Blessed Peter Faber, SJ (from Hearts on Fire, Praying with Jesuits) “Jesus is stripped of His clothes” by Anna Kocher. See the rest of her work here. Read more
The Binding by Cathy Song We love them more than life, these children who are born to us. How did Mary endure it? It was more than she bargained for, the white lily light, the passive acceptance of the sacred seed. For the daughter of the well at dusk, it was a moment of vanity. He had taken notice. He was like the stranger who rides into town, who in his worldliness sees the gullible girl and sweeps her off... Read more
As we walk through Holy Week together, I’m going to take a step back from our typical Mama:Monk fare. Instead, I’ll be continuing the tradition I began last year, daily offering you a piece from the series of icons my friend Anna Kocher painted of the Stations of the Cross. (I’m honored she’s allowing me to use these again, by the way.) Along with each icon, I’ll offer some reflective thoughts (mine and others, poem and prose). My prayer is... Read more
Micha Boyett
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