Category: Reflections
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How to steal the heart of Jesus
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I saw an interesting tree on my hike around Lake Norman State Park. A portion of the tree was growing horizontally, about eye level, probably bent over as a sapling by a fallen tree, now long gone. It provided a perfect woodsy billboard for someone to carve, “He stole my…
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An unusual scripture to find hope
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What’s the point of apocalyptic writings? To give hope. It is specially written to provide hope to people undergoing some trial. Apocalyptic language is written for the dispossessed, the oppressed, the persecuted, the suffering, the people crying out for relief. There are two hopes – one future hope and one present…
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Extending God’s Care to the One in Charge
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Last week at the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality I completed training to learn how to be a supervisor of spiritual directors. In spiritual direction, a supervisor is not what you might think, i.e. a ‘boss’ to oversee and critique the spiritual director. The supervisor is more like another spiritual…
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Finding love in the to-do list
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This time of year, blowing leaves seems to be a never-ending task. I live on four wooded acres. I spend more time blowing leaves in the Fall than cutting grass throughout the growing season. “Blow leaves” is one of the items on the to-do list my wife wrote out for me…
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What do want me to do for you?
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“What do you want me to do for you?” This is a question that Jesus asked the blind Bartimaeus. Not surprisingly he answered, “Master, I want to see.” It’s a question that runs through my mind at Strong Life, a rescue mission for homeless people. “What do you want…
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A mystical message from a pop song of the 70’s
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It was a year of sadness. But it was also a year when Mary spoke to me in a most unlikely way – through a pop song of the 1970’s. First the sadness. I felt stuck in my old job. I had been a general manager for a division of a…
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What makes God the best listener?
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“That’s how God listens to us.” Fr. Robert Presuttie said this during the half-day retreat at Divine Mercy University. The curious statement caught my attention. The retreat was tucked away in a five-day spiritual direction residency devoted to practicing listening skills. Each day the students would practice role-playing different scenarios that…
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I made a difference for that one
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“I am numb after this week.” This was the ominous text I received from my wife last Friday evening. I was miles away at Divine Mercy University helping with their spiritual direction residency. I felt guilty and torn that I was hearing her anguish via text. Why the numbness? She works at…
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The Lord Spoke to Job in a Storm
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My heart reaches out to the people in Western North Carolina. The devastation is unlike anything I’ve seen. I feel a deep emotional connection to the places that Helene has destroyed. Even The Flowering Bridge of Lake Lure I wrote about in June (The Best Way to Cross to the…
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Living in the Now
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One day, the honeybees appeared in great numbers on plumes rising above the pompous grass by my mailbox. They found a treasure trove of pollen from the late summer blooms and celebrated maybe their last hurrah before settling in for the winter. I was fortunate enough to capture a photo…