More Poetry

Since I shared the poem "Bruised" in my last post, I thought I would add the other published poem I wrote. This piece was also a submission to a poetry contest that was accepted in an anthology: A Celebration of Poets - Showcase Edition, published in 1998 by The Poetry Guild.

To Eros

As you lie asleep, oblivious to my hungry eyes,
I gaze on you --
jealous of the Moon's light
stroking your lithe body with her gentle touch.

Your skin gleams whitely.
I would think you sculpted of cool marble,
if not for the regular rhythm of your breast
filling with its living breath.

A serenely slumbering Eros
before Psyche has lifted her lamp.

Do I venture a caress?
Or, is to touch you to break the spell --
and I, like the bride of Love, to flee in shame?

Trembling at your nearness, I check my urging --
loath to arouse your peaceful repose;
yet, barely able to quiet my own turbulent ardor.

Quivering, I close my eyes to shut out the sight of you --
Psyche has avoided discovery this night;
yet, can she resist further temptation?

Autumn Poetry

Bruised

I feel the wintering air beckon insistently as each day passes.
The skies seem darkening, even as the sun puts out its watery rays;
And I look, almost vainly, for the light in my own heart to warm me instead.
Leaves crunch under my feet -- some escape as my pace quickens with the snap of the wind.
The colors are nearly past their furious prime,
But I stoop to collect the precious few that demand discovery.

Perfectly shaped maples, blushing gold to russet --
A challenge to find a perfect specimen on this crisp day.
Instead a multi-hued oak leaf draws me again and again;
And its sanguine shades strike a resonant chord.
Bruised and purpling, rich colors play across the surface,
Rendering it both wounded and angry at once.
Fragile to the touch, the relentlessly cool, sere air has buffeted it to brittleness,
Leaving it vulnerable to the slightest injury.

Yet, its rage is reflected in the smoldering shades of autumn.
Fierce and wild, unexpressed emotion longs to loose its fury into the air --
My thoughts echo that pain;
And my own fragility is perilously close to the skin.
Which emotion will win out in the end?
Can I express both and still remain in control?
Can I express either?

As tears sting my face, I wend my way home.
A home that is no longer my home.
The future is as murky as the evening gloaming,
And I search again for that one last ray of light.
I remember the leaf in my hand, so carefully held to avoid destruction.
It will never be again, but the tree will produce many others in due season.
Can I take comfort that the cycle goes on?

By Lisa C. Whitaker
Autumn 1996

As noted by the date above, I wrote this some time ago during an unsettling time in my life. Each turn of the year brings its own challenges and uncertainties, but those emotions I felt that day are fortunately banished. Nevertheless, since autumn is here again I thought I would share this particular poem as it evokes the colors of fall. It was originally published in one of those poetry contest anthologies at the time, of which I have an elusive copy stashed somewhere in my office. I'm not certain how discerning the editors of these books are, but it's lovely to be able to say I'm a published poet!

Leaf picture above found online and credited to Michael G. O'Callaghan

I saw a hawk this morning. That may not sound all that extraordinary. People see hawks every day, I suppose, as they circle the skies high up where they’re merely a dark smudge against the bright blue canopy of the heavens. I see those lazy spiraling birds as well; but today I saw a hawk. I mean I saw him on the rooftop of my little garret. Nor is this the first time he has paid me a visit, up close and personal.

I say “he,” and yes I do identify with him on that sort of level. The actual bird may in fact be a female or a male. I’m not an ornithologist or even an avid bird-watcher, other than enjoying the sweet songbirds eating from my birdfeeder or splashing in my birdbath by the door. I call him “he” because to me these rare visits have become a physical manifestation of Saint Peregrine. There are, of course, several classification of hawks – the peregrine is also called the “duck hawk” – and I know that this particular caller is not an actual peregrine. Yet, he has come to me, as I mentioned above, on more than one occasion when I needed reassurance for myself or for others.

First, I should explain who Saint Peregrine is. He was once Pellegrino Laziosi, an Italian of the Servite Order (Friar Order Servants of Mary) who lived between 1260 and 1345. From Wikipedia:

One of the special penances he decided on was to stand whenever it was not
necessary to sit. It is said that St. Peregrine did not sit for thirty years,
which caused him to develop varicose veins and then cancer on his leg and foot.
The sores became painful and doctors prepared to amputate his foot, but the
night before the surgery was scheduled to take place Peregrine dragged himself
to the foot of a crucifix and spent many hours in prayer. When he fell asleep he
received a vision of Christ touching his foot. In the morning his foot was
completely healed. He is therefore considered the patron saint of those
suffering from cancer, AIDS and other chronic diseases.

It was during those months I was dealing with ovarian cancer that I discovered Saint Peregrine and learned to rely on his presence in my spiritual life. One day some five years ago while I was enduring those eighteen weeks of chemo, I drove to my parents’ house (which I often did and still do). As I was pulling into the drive of their suburban home I noticed something sitting on top of the car in the driveway next door. Imagine my surprise to discover that it was a hawk placidly perched on the roof! I had only recently learned of Saint Peregrine, and as I drove in the creature seemed to make eye contact with me in a way that told me he was more than a mere bird of prey waiting for his next dinner. His gaze was reassuring, as if to tell me he was at hand should I need him. My mother told me the next day that she had been told in a dream that night that I was going to be all right. And I am – five years as a survivor and counting!

That same year the hawk visited me at my own home too. I was walking out the front door to get into my car, and again he was sitting nearby – this time in the tree of my neighbor across the drive, no more than five yards away. He watched me intently, neither spooked nor threatening. I spoke to him this time, thanking him for his presence. Again he seemed to look at me with an intelligence in his eyes that I found comforting. I happened to have a camera with me and took his picture, but unsurprisingly his image was indistinct when I downloaded it. His physical presence that day would have to be enough.

On occasion he returns to remind me of his protection. I haven’t encountered him quite as closely, but at least in a proximity that tells me in my own mind that he is present and watching over me. When I saw him today I was already in my car as he flew low over the yard to the eaves, and I wondered what he was trying to tell me… I have a family friend with a rare form of cancer who we have all be praying for… the death of Patrick Swayze yesterday is also on my mind, and his death echoes that of Farrah Fawcett several months ago… September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and of course October is Breast Cancer Awareness month… cancer has touched many of us so intimately… I’m glad I have Saint Peregrine and my hawk on my side.

I saw a hawk this morning.

If you have a loved one who is dealing with cancer and would like a Saint Peregrine medal or prayers for him or her, please email me or leave me a message.

If you’d like to know more about Saint Peregrine: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=237

If you’d like to know more about patron saints: http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php

If you’d like to know more about peregrines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Falcon

Peregrine picture found online and credited to Chris Brocklebank

Feasting on the Word

In beginning the search for my little spiritual snack, it didn’t take me very long to hit upon something to tell me I was on the right path!

I opened my volume of The Cloister Walk (Kathleen Norris) the other night and in just a few sentences I was reminded of a term I’d seen recently and meant to pursue, but of course Life gets in the way as it usually does and I’d forgotten all about it.

Or did I?

Ms. Norris wrote of using the monastic ritual of Lectio Divina as one of the disciplines she used. Those words leapt out of the page at me, almost like the aroma of strongly brewed coffee downstairs when you’re first waking up that tells your brain to sit up and take notice. I admit I didn’t get much further in my reading at first – I wanted to savor the scent, the flavor and the quiet moment of clarity that comes with sipping on that first cup of morning java.

It seems, in fact, that I’ve been using a modified version of the lectio divina to write some of these later blogs. What is it, you ask? In its most basic terms someone who practices this form of prayer reads a scriptural passage and reflects on it; but there is a bit more to it.

I checked out several sites to see if the description was consistent, and in form it was – I’ll get to that in a minute. For those who have studied Latin or etymology, the term lectio divina is fairly easy to translate, or at least get a sense of what it means. Divine reading is the easiest translation – which is slightly different from sacred reading, by the way. The whole purpose of this discipline is not to look for deeper meaning in scripture necessarily, but to look for a deeper communion with God – the Divine – and perhaps even that divinity within ourselves.

But the translation I found at Wikipedia (who doesn’t love Wiki, really?) is what really got the wheels turning:

Lectio Divina has been likened to "Feasting on the Word." The four parts are first taking a bite (Lectio), then chewing on it (Meditatio). Next is the opportunity to savor the essence of it (Oratio). Finally, the Word is digested and made a part of the body (Contemplatio).

Seriously, how much harder do I have to be hit on the head to get the drift here? LOL!

I won’t go in to full detail of lectio divina -- if you want to know more, check out the link below. It’s interesting that Pope Benedict has recently said that “this practice will bring to the Church - I am convinced of it - a new spiritual springtime." It seems to me that blogging might be an effective tool for it, whether or not it is meant to be read by other people. I think more people write their thoughts out in their blogs than they would have in a private journal alone in this day and age.

Yet, the goal is to meet with the Divine on a more intimate, personal level, and blogging can be a very public forum. However, as a writer I know that I do my best “thinking” on paper – er… screen. It only makes sense for me to use this as part of the discipline to an extent.

That said… I think I will keep my modified version of the lectio divina for public after all – and by that, I mean reading these spiritual books like The Cloister Walk and use the method of this discipline to pose my questions and general revelations of faith aloud.

“Feasting on the Word” with the Divine I’ll keep to a candlelit dinner between just us two. ;-)

Lectio Divina on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectio_divina

PS: I should also mention that this blog is not solely a blog about spiritual matters. While it’s an important piece of my life – and right now I’m on a bit of a quest – I’m just as likely to write about getting stuck in the elevator or being annoyed about a rude person in the grocery aisle (don’t EVEN get me started! LOL!)

Looking for a Spiritual Snack

Well, it seems like the best way for me to be consistent in blogging is to stick to pondering my bigger questions. Don't mind me, I'm just looking for a little spiritual snack!

We had a really wonderful, dynamic priest celebrate mass for us today while our pastor was out for a little R&R. That is not to say that our pastor and associate pastor are not wonderful, thought-provoking gentlemen... but sometimes it's a good thing to have a new voice come and shake us out of our complacency. I hope Fr. John has the opportunity to fill in again sometime soon!

So what does that have to do with anything? Father's homily this morning got me to thinking about my own needs for spiritual nourishment. I think of myself of a Christ-filled person, someone who tries to reflect the Light in and around her. Yet, I realized this morning that my reserves are a little low. Rather than replenishing my storeroom of sacredness I've been using it up without thought to what might happen if I didn't tend to it properly. "I've got plenty to spare," I tell myself. "God will provide..."

Well, yes... God WILL provide. However, it's really not fair to make Him do all the work in the relationship. I talk to God every day, of course. Several times a day, even. But it's that kind of superficial conversation that you have with a slight acquaintance, not the kind of deep, intimate dialogue that you have with a belovèd in the middle of the night when it's just you two in the moonlight.

So I'm a bit peckish for a soul-full morsel to feed this rumbling in my heart...

I've got a few resources to begin with -- a dear friend sent my the loveliest rosary as a surprise gift. It's made of roses and smells so intoxicating when I pull it out that it may just get me to use it more often, if only to drink in that aroma along with the serenity that praying brings with it!

But I feel I need to do a little reading too. I've had a booklet I've been meaning to read and blog about (like the Rolheiser booklets from previous posts) for awhile now, and I may get to that soon. However, I've had Kathleen Norris' The Cloister Walk on my bookshelf for some time and have yet to crack it open even the teeniest bit. So, I think I will begin with that. I'm hoping it will inspire a desire to write about it as I go along, or even as a review at the end. We'll see...

In the meantime, praying and reading is good food regardless of their potential for tasty blog posts!

You Lift Me Up... not so much...!

I've now been stuck here 25 minutes...

Where, do you ask? The airport? In traffic? A pit of quicksand, perhaps? Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid.

I'm sitting on the floor of the elevator at work waiting for the technicians to get the doors unstuck. Yes, I'm languishing in the elevator.

I'm not even perilously stuck between two floors! This morning at 9:30am I walked into the House Left Elevator, laden with laptop bag, purse, mail and other sundries, and hit the button for the third floor. Yet, there was no reassuring whir of the conveyance waiting to take me above... just the awful-sounding grate of a mechanical failure keeping the inner doors from shutting completely. The blank, unlit buttons only mocked my frustration as I attempted to get the outer doors to reopen. They are well and truly stuck.

After trying everything within my power to get them open or the elevator moving, I decided it was time to get someone to come to my aid. I knew there were at least two co-workers in the lobby. Do I try to get their attention with the alarm button? Or just use the Emergency button to call campus security? It's not really an emergency. I'm not injured. And while I'm annoyed, I'm not particularly in distress. I try the alarm button first, which sounds LOUD in the elevator. It has the piercing jangle of an old-fashioned school bell, and I think surely someone would rush over and let me know they're out there... nothing. I try again... still nothing. I try a fancy tat-too of sorts... nothing... nada. So, I pull out my cell phone. Still no need to bother security. NO SERVICE! The stupid contraption (ie: the elevator) is encased in concrete and the signal cannot penetrate the thick slab!

Defeated at my attempts to keep the problem in-house, I press the button that opens the phone line to the security office and someone responds at last! And then I also finally hear the custodial staff outside the elevator asking what happened. I first tell my tale to the officer who dispatches someone to the building, meanwhile word had finally gotten out around the office that I am stuck and Facilities and the elevator repair company are also called.

So, I stand for awhile longer, thinking that since it's just the doors they should be able to reset them pretty easily -- and for a moment that would seem to be so. They start to move, but then disappointingly stick at the same place. I decide I might be here for more than a few moments and sit -- and eventually pull out my notebook to start recording my thoughts.

For a few moments I ponder the meaning of life... is life like an elevator and am I stuck in between the floors of Heaven and Hell? Is the elevator some sort of Purgatory?

I briefly wonder if I can use these thoughts as fodder for a novel, but decide it's trite and quickly abandon all further pondering of the subject.

I see the bagel I bought for breakfast across the elevator. Should I eat it now? Keep it for later in case I'm imprisoned in this stupid steel cage all day? And then I realize I left my juice in the car! Rats! Now I'm thirsty and if I'm in here all day that juice is going to be nasty by five o'clock -- or whenever it is that I'm sprung from this thing!

Gradually other coworkers stop by to see if I'm okay. I assure them I'm fine, just bored. Patti manages to get a gossip magazine through the door cracks for me to read.

I start planning out my day in my new cubicle. Finish this blog post on paper to wow everyone later. Read the US Weekly. Perhaps eat a few bites of bagel. Then I wonder if getting my laptop out is worth it. I decide to hold judgement a bit to see if anyone outside gives me a time-table of my incarceration.

The doors shudder a few times and I get my hopes up, but they sound just as awful as before so I go back to writing.

I start thinking worse-case-scenario... I'm on the lobby floor, but there is a floor below me. Is there any chance it will plummet once it resets? Are there any sharp pointy things to pierce the cage at the bottom? Where's the best place to be if I find myself hurtling to the lower bowels of the building?

The door shudders again... this time the doors miraculously open and my saviours (in the form of a campus facility worker and campus security officer) step through to release me from my prison! And the angels sang!

Well, not really... but I'm really trying to salvage some drama from the situation. The only thing that was truly worrisome was that it was getting hot and stuffy in there... was I imaging feeling faint??

Probably. So I'm out. Everyone laughs and we get back to work. Meanwhile I have to schlep my laptop bag, purse mail and other sundries up the backstairs four flights to my office because they're checking on the House Right Elevator too. Panting and hot I finally collapse at my desk to post this. Whew!

Did I mention it was hot and stuffy and I felt faint?

Peregrine's Posse and the Relay for Life

This is my fourth year as captain of Peregrine's Posse - our team walking for the Relay For Life of Wayne Township. As a nearly-five-year cancer survivor this is a cause near and dear to my heart. Below is my letter to family and friends asking for their support again this year:

My dearest family and friends… Yes, it’s that time again. The Relay For Life is little more than a month away and I’m writing to ask for your help once again this year. It seems like every time I turn around I hear someone I know – or a friend or family member of someone I know -- has discovered they have cancer. This disease has touched so many of us; and while great strides have been made in early detection and treatment, cancer still seems to have the upper hand. We can’t let that happen!

Now… I know… it’s a rough time for many of us in this current financial climate. And honestly it’s not easy for me to ask for donations when so many families are giving up extras to stay afloat. Yet, I would ask you to consider how the recession is going to hit the American Cancer Society and its great and worthy programs if we give up or wait it out ‘til the economy looks rosier – women who need mammograms, cancer patients who need rides to their chemo appointments, vital medications… a lot of people who already are struggling for basic needs might be hit even harder…

But I don’t want to be a downer here – the ACS and Relay For Life has done and still does SO much good for those fighting cancer – both patients and their caregivers and families! And it really doesn’t take much to support our efforts at the Relay: Join my team, Peregrine’s Posse.

This is our fourth year participating in the Relay and we can always use more walkers during the 24 hours we’re there! You can sign up here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GL?pg=entry&fr_id=14356

Make a donation – we’ll take any amount! Even a $5 donation adds up – a few thousand dollars raised at Relay can help save a lot in health care costs in the long run. Purchasing a luminaria is a great affordable way to donate – it’s only $10! To donate or to purchase a luminaria go here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GL?px=2920142&pg=personal&fr_id=14356&fl=en_US&et=0Ej9qq9syl-5kfGy7feWCg..&s_tafId=259205

This is my participant’s page. Be sure to email to tell me who you want to honor with your luminaria! Come visit our tent during the actual Relay!

We’ll have yummy inexpensive goodies for sale – all proceeds going back to ACS. And there will be plenty of other tents with food, drinks and more for sale! Check out the event page here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09GL?pg=entry&fr_id=14356

As always, your thoughts, prayers and good will go a long way to helping us reach our goals too. Please think of us May 16 – 17 while we’re walking the track for those 24 hours. Cancer doesn’t sleep and neither will we!

Thanks so much for all the support you have given me in the past both during the Relay – and especially during my own battle with cancer. I can never tell you all how much it has meant to me!!

Much love, Lisa.

PS: The best defense against the disease we have right now is early prevention! If you haven’t had an annual check up this year (or in several years!), call and make an appointment today!

PPS: Please feel free to pass this email on to anyone you think might be interested in helping out Peregrine’s Posse and the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life!!

Lenten Reflection #3 – The Restless Spirit and Cultivating Loneliness

These two reflections are for the Thursday and Friday of the First Week of Lent, and while they seem to go together each one struck me in a different way.

In The Restless Spirit, these few phrases are what I zeroed in on:

“Our culture invites excitement, not silence; activity, not stillness. Thus we find ourselves constantly titillated and over-stimulated in our restlessness.”

Oh, how this is true! Right now in my office (and I’m here alone for the moment) I can hear half a dozen sounds of activity… the A/C, the small fan on my desk, my computer, ambient noise outside the door, just to name a few. There are times when I leave work and don’t even turn on the radio in the car because I’m just so glad for the silence!

What is the need for all the noise and stimulation? I know many, many people who feel the need to have the radio or television on “for company” even when they aren’t listening or watching. I understand why they do it, but I rarely do it myself. I relish those moments of quiet when I’m not bombarded by advertising or stimulating sounds/images vying for my attention.

With all the new devices out there – mobile phones, PDAs, iPhones and the like, we are constantly on alert and ready to react; and I fully admit that I can be a slave to that (as I just noticed my email has three more messages it didn’t have 30 seconds ago!). I need to shut my computer down once in awhile and walk away…

Finding my spiritual center is something I strive for constantly, but find it very difficult to do when there is so much light and noise – I have a difficult time enough quieting my over-active imagination without all that rebounding around me as well.

This quote by N Gordon Cosby (from the preface to O’Connor’s book, Search for Silence) that Rolheiser shares says a lot to me:

“The one journey that ultimately matters is that journey into the place of stillness deep within one’s self. To reach that place is to be home; to fail to reach it is to be forever restless.”

I definitely know that restlessness…

So Rolheiser and I are in accord with the Restless Spirit, but I’m not sure we see eye to eye on Cultivating Loneliness…

In this reflection we are reminded of the life of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and his self-imposed loneliness after breaking off an engagement to the woman he loved deeply:

“His reasoning was simple. He felt that what he had to give to the world came more from his own loneliness. He could share deeply because, first of all, he felt deeply. Loneliness gave him depth. Rightly or wrongly, he judged that marriage might in some way deflect or distract him from that depth, painful as it was.”

Rolheiser goes on to say himself: “In loneliness and longing, empathy is born.”

I can see where he’s going with that train of thought… and it’s all well and good for saints, ascetics and philosophers to cultivate such loneliness, but I don’t know that I would suggest the every day person to court loneliness to any extent.

Learning to be by yourself, to rely on yourself, to enjoy your own company are all important aspects to a healthy self-awareness, but for me to cultivate loneliness is to shut oneself off from others. I have met far too many people who do this with sad, sometimes tragic results.

I’m guessing that Rolheiser would say something to the effect that if we can find this loneliness within ourselves, if we can turn away others to turn inward then we would find God there to keep us “company.” If we have Him that is all we need.

Perhaps that is true, but it’s not necessarily a reality. It’s been my experience that if a person is deeply lonely they not only are shut off from other people, they are shut off from themselves as well. If the door to the soul is shut, no one can get in – and while I firmly believe that nothing is impossible with God, I’m guessing that His knocking on that door isn’t going to get a ready answer either? With such a disconnect of feelings, how can a deeply lonely person possibly be empathetic?

So I welcome the reminder to look inward, to find the serenity that is within me that is “home” and a place to be closer to God, but loneliness I will keep at bay and look for other ways to be empathetic…

Lenten Reflection #2 – Listening to Christ’s Heartbeat

Alas… I’d really hoped to be able to blog daily, but I can see this just isn’t going to be practical. So I’ll try to reflect as least once a week on these readings – more if there’s time and inspiration.

So. On to Rolheiser…

I’m meditating on two readings – the one for the First Sunday of Lent and also the Monday of the First Week of Lent. In it Rolheiser describes a passage in John’s gospel where the disciple Jesus loved reclines on his the breast. (John 13:23) Rolheiser says:

“This is an image, a mystical one. Among other things, it is a picture of gentleness. What it shows, however, is not a saccharine piety, a sweetness hard to swallow, but a softness that comes from being at peace, from being so rooted and centered in a love that one can look out at the world without bitterness, anger, jealousy, the sense of being cheated, and the need to blame or compete with others.”

I would add that it is an intimacy not easily found even among people who know each other well. As children we do this, of course. We find comfort in the heartbeat of our mothers and fathers and loved ones, but soon we are taught to put up boundaries. We reject the touch of another – we are repulsed by the “cooties” of our schoolmates; and then as we age and begin to form attachments we are unsettled by our physical reactions to another’s touch and once we gain a certain intimacy we resent and are threatened by our mates touching someone else; eventually perhaps we are even indifferent to their touch – having felt it before we assume there is nothing new to experience in it.

Do we become indifferent to Christ’s touch that way too? What would we hear if we were to remain still and centered and lean on His chest? What mysteries are contained in the regular rhythm of the Son’s heartbeat and the even in-and-out of His breath?

My own inner workings are relaxing as I’m thinking about it, imagining my own head upon His breast… my breath rising and falling with His and my heart adjusting its beat to play in concert with Him.

Even in the midst of a wilderness of humming technology and office conversation, peace is at hand.

Lenten Reflection #1 – The Desert as a Place of Preparation

I’m skipping over the Ash Wednesday reflection as it spoke about why ashes are popular – Rolheiser would tell us because ashes are a symbol that is “blunt, archetypal and speak the language of the soul.” That’s all well and good, of course – I can’t really dispute his thought. However, cynically it’s been said that Ash Wednesday services are popular because one goes expecting to get something – ie: ashes. We all love tangible value added, right? Ooh, we also got a rock to take home this year! lol!

So, to the Thursday after Ash Wednesday reflection… the line that struck me most:

“They (those in Jewish apocalyptic literature) understood this mystically, not literally. In order to be filled by God one must first be emptied.”

It’s a good thought… what should we empty? Negative thoughts? Old resentments? Stress-filled anxiety? All those and more, of course.

In a way it reminds me a bit of what our Jewish brothers and sisters do to prepare for the Passover, cleaning out the cupboards and fridge, sweeping out all the crumbs to make way for new, fresh supplies and using up the dregs that are left. That’s what Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday – was originally about… using the last of the flour and shortening and eating all that’s left before it goes bad.

Yet, we shouldn’t gorge ourselves on the last of those negative feelings. Acknowledge them yes, but then let them go. They do not nourish us. When we have rid ourselves of the dregs of negativity we can then spend the next 40 days in the wilderness cleaning out our glasses and preparing them to be filled with the Light of Christ on Easter.

Day of Atonement

Well, today -- Ash Wednesday -- begins another season of Lent. I've decided to give Fr. Rolheiser another chance and read and reflect on his Lenten booklet. I'll start that later tonight.

In the meantime I'm stating my Lenten sacrifice here so I can be accountable. I'm giving up fast food french fries for Lent. I don't know if it will be difficult or not, but I do enjoy them way too much!