Some years ago I had the privilege of chairing a search committee charged with the task of identifying a new professor sacred music. As lover of music of all types (or most of them, anyway) and as someone who had been surrounded by the best of musicians and choristers at the National Cathedral, I accepted the responsibility with relish and enjoyed every minute of it — not least of all, the conversations with the candidates themselves. We had great success. ... Read more
Formulas and language are so much at the forefront of our conversation about prayer, that the mystery of a conversation with the living God is all but lost. Add our preoccupation with intercession and petition and the mystery disappears completely. God has become like a stranger — accosted on the sidewalk — forced into our homes without prelude or introduction, without relationship or experience, gang-pressed into service, meeting our needs. Don’t get me wrong. I am not opposed to prayers... Read more
Silence, true silence Is not just about the absence of sound. That, in fact, is hard, If not impossible To attain. It is about the silence of the heart, A laying to rest, Of self absorption And justification — Of malice And hubris — Of the constant chatter We suppose is grand, Framing our claims To virtue, Independence, Superiority, And control. It is a silence That listens For The Voice Above all other voices... Read more
My friend Paul McKay posted these words from Thomas Merton and I’ve been meditating on them ever since: In our age everything has to be a ‘problem.’ Ours is a time of anxiety because we have willed it to be so. Our anxiety is not imposed on us by force from outside. We impose it on our world and upon one another from within ourselves. The word meditate comes from the Latin, meditatio, which — among other things — means... Read more
One of my favorite pieces of art is a linoleum print by New Mexico artist Jack McCarthy, entitled “A Walk with Dad.” Based on the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac, it portrays a frightened Isaac held and muzzled by his father, a knife poised for the sacrifice. Only the one eye betrays Isaac’s fear. Abraham’s expression is without emotion. Over the years my conversations with men have convinced me that there may be no relationship that exercises greater... Read more
In our search for spiritual direction we often look for the exceptional and the extraordinary. That is understandable, particularly in an increasingly materialistic world where what is most real is what we can sense — see, feel, hear, touch, and smell. It is also understandable, given our tendency to think of that world as a world devoid of God’s presence. Far too often we assume that if God does exist, God likely lurks just beyond the last material reality that... Read more
Poor Mary. It’s not like being the Christ bearer wasn’t hard enough. She has to tolerate our deeply mixed motives for loving her. For men, among others, it’s the need of a mother. For women she’s a rallying point for women’s rights and empowerment. There are arguments to be made for both points of view, but she was and is so much more. There’s not a lot to go on in the Gospels and it’s hard to know how much... Read more
My wife is reading a novel — a novel about Scots and the English. So, the author cares about language and along the way he makes some pretty fine distinctions. One of them, she tells me, is the difference between venomous and poisonous. They might appear to be the same, but they aren’t. If something bites you and it makes you sick, it’s venomous. If you bite into something and it makes you sick, it’s poisonous. In one fairly humorous... Read more
Sculptor Joe Cajero was raised on the Jemez pueblo in New Mexico and his work is informed by his Pueblo religion. Here is how he describes his work, which he calls “The Embodiment of Prayer”: My creative energy is often spiritual in nature. Each of my sculptures invariably represents some aspect of praise and appreciation for life’s beauty, ebb and flow. “The Embodiment of Prayer” is a created image that specifically captures what is a reflection of my spirituality. Since... Read more
Last week I learned to fly fish on Hermosa Creek in southwest Colorado and the experience has me thinking about the lessons of fly fishing that also apply to the spiritual life. Here is some of what I’ve learned. I’ll let you make your own inferences. Lines get tangled. Patience often provides enough space and focus to untangle them. But sometimes an intervention is needed. The best results are often found in deep water. It’s fun to catch. It can... Read more
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