Whenever Jan and I find the time to wander up the coast, one of our favorite spots to pause is Guadalupe. It’s a tiny town on California 1 at the very northern edge of Santa Barbara county. It bills itself as the “gateway to the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes.” A poor town. Used and abused. And yet. Somehow. Survives. Walking down the principal street, Guadalupe, one never knows what will capture the eye. Actually when I posted... Read more

      “Everywhere I went I inquired as to the local whereabouts of a spiritual director or a devout spiritual guide. Eventually I was told that in a certain village there was a landowner who had lived there for a long time and who spent all his time working out his salvation. He had a chapel in his own house and never went out, but continually prayed to God and read spiritual literature. When I heard this I gave... Read more

        The list of things I do not believe in is quite long. Among the things I do believe is our Lady of Guadalupe. Okay, believe isn’t quite the right word. Rather Mary appears in my life in all sorts of intersections. She does have different names at these intersections. And her face looks different. But only if I don’t look deep, But when I do, there she is. Sometimes not so obviously. Sometimes without any possible... Read more

  It was this day, the 7th of February, in 1497 that followers of the Dominican friar and preacher and for a moment functional dictator of Florence, Girolamo Savonarola, gathered together what they and the good friar considered temptations into sin, piled them up, and lit them as bonfires. These objects included clothing, cosmetics, mirrors, musical instruments, playing cards, paintings, and books. Lots of art, lots of books… They called it the falò delle vanità, the Bonfire of the Vanities. As... Read more

      Joseph Priestley died on this day, the 6th of February, in 1804. He was born into a comfortable dissenting family in Birstall, Yorkshire, on the 24th of March, 1733. As a small child he lived with various extended family. His brilliance was quickly noticed, at four he could recite the entire Westminster Shorter Catechism. He also quickly learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Everyone assumed he would become a minister. In 1749 during a severe illness he had a... Read more

      Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan Pathan died in Delhi, India, on this day, the 5th of February, in 1927. He is more commonly known as Hazrat Inayat Khan. Hazrat being an honorific. And sometimes by the title Pir-O-Murshid, which could be understood as senior teacher and head of a Sufi order. He was born in Vadora, Gujarat in India, on July 5th, 1882. His family had been prominent musicians for generations. His maternal grandfather had been called the “Beethoven... Read more

      A Zen teacher was once told he was going to hell. He said that was certainly fine by him. The person was taken aback, and asked, why? The teacher said so I can help. It was seventy-nine years ago, today, the 3rd of February, 1943. Methodist minister George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reformed minister Clark Poling, and Catholic priest John Washington were aboard the troop ship SS Dorchester. They were all commissioned first lieutenants, they were all... Read more

      Celebrate this unlikely oracle, this ball of fat and fur, whom we so mysteriously endow with the power to predict spring. Let’s hear it for the improbable heroes who, frightened at their own shadows, nonetheless unwittingly work miracles. Why shouldn’t we believe this peculiar rodent holds power over sun and seasons in his stubby paw? Who says that God is all grandeur and glory? Unnoticed in the earth, worms are busily, brainlessly, tilling the soil. Field mice,... Read more

      Thus have I heard. Brigid was born in 451 in County Louth. Traditions say her mother, Brocca was a Christian Pict slave. Baptized, tradition says, by Patrick himself. Brigid was said to exhibit signs of holiness from early on, including giving away her father’s money and goods to the poor. She became a nun, and with seven companions are celebrated as the first nuns in Ireland. She was eventually given “abbatial powers,” authority similar to that of... Read more