I was at a meeting today and we were asked to reflect on the end of Genesis, when Joseph asks that his descendents return his bones to the Holy Land: “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.”  Here's the poem I sketched out as my reflection: I think I left … Continue reading Short sketch of a poem

Heartbreak is a real thing.  The shock of losing love causes the body to release adrenaline and other stress chemicals that can actually cause the heart to spasm.  The left ventricle becomes enlarged and arteries close.  It can look and feel like a heart attack.  Since 2005, the nation’s leading heart clinics have taken it … Continue reading Ash Wednesday

The story of the Wedding at Cana is, to begin with, a story about failure.  Someone screwed up at the wedding.  There they were in Cana, on a beautiful spring day, the wind gently rustling the leaves of the fig trees.  The bride had been washed in the water of purification the day before, and … Continue reading The Wedding at Cana

Brilliance by Mark Doty Maggie's taking care of a man who's dying; he's attended to everything, said goodbye to his parents, paid off his credit card. She says Why don't you just run it up to the limit? but he wants everything squared away, no balance owed, though he misses the pets he's already found … Continue reading Brilliance and First Advent

King Louis IX of France, better known to us as Saint Louis, lost his father when he was twelve years old.  His mother Blanche became regent and ruled France until he was old enough to become king.  Blanche was a domineering personality, so domineering that, after Louis had married the lovely young Margaret of Provence, … Continue reading Christ the King