This month for Quench – a group exploring spiritual practices together -we enjoyed a Saturday morning exploring contemplative prayer and lectio divina. One thing the instructor said about lectio divina, or divine reading, was that you could use this practice not only with scripture, but you could also use it looking at art […]

There will be many in industry, retail and commerce that shudder when they hear the two words, ‘stock taking.’ For them it probably brings to mind the endless hours hurriedly running around in warehouses and stores counting and recounting the raw materials in stock and the goods on the shelf waiting to be sold or […]

Carolyn and I went last Friday to friends who have a house on the edge of Lake Winona. After a nice lunch, we changed into shorts, and short-sleeved shirts went out onto the lake on their pontoon boat. We went around the lake looking at the various properties on the shoreline and talking about growing […]

Yesterday I made the three and a half hour drive to a 12:30 p.m. appointment at the Homeland Security offices in terminal five at O’Hare international airport on the north side of Chicago. As I went into the secure area, I was greeted by a rather large male Homeland security officer seated inside a glass-walled security cubicle, who between the mouthfuls of a sandwich he was eating, greeted me […]

Yesterday morning, like many around the world, I joined the collective sigh of relief that 12 members of a Thai youth soccer team and their coach, together with those who had been with them over the past few days all got out of their underground ordeal in a cave in Thailand, alive and for the […]

I have always been fascinated with the power of words. A simple proverb can express a profound truth; a piece of poetry can inspire us or move us to tears; a good book can capture our imagination, making us feel part of another world; a well-chosen word of thanks or appreciation can lift the spirit. […]

As if there were not enough angst going on in this country to divide public opinion and set people on opposing sides, we are now in the midst of a massive controversy over the way children and young teenagers are being treated on arrival at the US Southern border with their parents seeking asylum. I […]

When my youngest daughter Fiona was growing up, she took up rowing in high school. She became very proficient and soon was selected to row in both the coxless ‘8’s’ and the ‘4’s.’ She preferred rowing as part of a team and not alone. She was a strong oarswoman and had the ‘bow’ seat or […]

One of the joys of technology is that I can spend time with my grandchildren even though they are in Devon in the UK. Both of them are now of an age where they are happy to talk to me and show me things they have done or made via the computer or smartphone screen. […]

Last week I shared a thought on how we sometimes overlook the place of the Ascension in the life of the Church. I suggested to do so was rendering the life of Jesus an incomplete story, much like a book that had the las pages missing. This week, we arrive at the final pages and […]