“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” – Neitszche When you struggle with depression, it’s tempting to juxtapose your own horror stories with the real horror stories of history in an attempt to gain a more sober perspective. But these efforts usually backfire and cause even more despair. Pilgrims must be on... Read more
June 16 is Bloomsday — a special day for Irish literary geeks, on which fans of James Joyce’s Ulysses gather in Dublin to retrace the steps–and drink the drinks–of the novel’s hero, Leopold Bloom, who both starts and finishes his surreal Odyssean journey in his wife’s bed. Ulysses, with its ring-like structure and themes of transformation, is a story for moderns trapped within the cyclical “nightmare” of history, from which the only escape is a kind of mythic re-imagining... Read more
They found your body on the floor of your house last week. I don’t know any details, but the cause was an overdose...surprising few if any. Read more
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. –St. Paul “I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects. This being you must create.” –Frankenstein’s monster It was Christmas in Guatemala. My fiancé... Read more
I don’t sound very Christian. That’s what I was told after I proudly mentioned to my neighbor, a white haired and thoroughly religious grandmother-type, to check out the blog I sometimes wrote for, Sick Pilgrim. A couple of days later, she got back to me with that assessment. And she didn’t mean it as an insult, just a blunt and honest statement from a very kind lady who respects and looks up to me very much. So when she said... Read more
Could it be that our weakness is exactly what the power of the Gospel needs to reach the poor and persecuted? Read more
I was delivered! I was free! After all, hands were laid on me and demons had left me by the legions. All I had to do was believe it. Read more
Sometimes April showers don’t bring May flowers. Sometimes the thing keeping you alive last month gets taken off Netflix a few short days after you say it’s a small joy in your life. Netflix is a cruel, cruel mistress. RIP, Scrubs. I need to hear about small joys in peoples’ lives. I love it. Those small, seemingly trivial things that make people smile are meaningful to me. And hopefully to you too. *** Sarah Walsh owns a small coffee company in... Read more
I first heard Mary Szybist’s poems about 13 years ago in a St. Louis reading series. The illustrious restaurant/bar that hosted the series was dimly lit that night, save for strings of small white lights around the picture window to the street. The lighting created a large halo behind the readers—Szybist, a professor at Lewis & Clark College, and her husband, Jerry Harp. Szybist’s poems like “Via Negativa” enthralled me: Sometimes it’s too hard with words or dark or silence.... Read more
Dear Catholic Women, If none of your children have any embarrassing quirks, or if your children are all under the age of 12 and haven’t made choices that cause you to want to crawl under the pew, then feel free to move on. Enjoy the homily, enjoy the blessing your priest bestows on all the women in the parish and the flower they give you on the way out. But if you have teens and young adults learning their way... Read more
Sick Pilgrim
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