Contemplative Prayer, Silence, and the Holy Spirit When I was preparing what topic to share in my reflection, I knew immediately, that it must include the word “silence”. I have been drawn to this word for almost a year and half. Let me explain. About four years ago, Deacon Karen initiated the Contemplative Prayer Ministry. I joined and attended this prayer group regularly and began to learn to pray with a contemplative heart. The intention of contemplative prayer is

How Can You Love God Whom You Don’t See? I write this reflection somewhat reluctantly. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as though I don’t have anything to say, a fact my wife Dawn would easily confirm. Rather it’s because I’ve learned the hard way that my life and its fullest purpose are not about me.  It’s ironic that when we live as if life is not about us, we get the fullest life and when we live as if

I was honored to be asked to write this reflection. At this stage of my life I have a very long time to look back and reflect. The words “I have been blessed” surround my thinking. I was born a cradle Catholic, and grew up in eastern Colorado, in a small community, population of 1500.  There were 13 churches.  Catholics were definitely a minority, so our community was ecumenical long before Vatican II. I do not remember much from the

Sometime in early 2019 as I was meandering through my favorite Seattle bookstore, a book jumped off the shelf and landed purposefully in my hands. The book is Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness - the Quest for our True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone.   Interestingly enough, I never got around to reading it until a year later as the COVID shelter at home order overtook our lives in a way we could have never expected. The question

The beauty of nature captures our attention and awe. If we are still, present in the moment, we can hear nature sing her praises to the God of all Creation. Nature worships God effortlessly, naturally, and completely. The bird doesn’t think about singing. It just sings. It was created to sing, and it lives into its purpose as a singer. The ocean roars with power and purpose in obedience to the very breath of God. Its waves are carried

The other day I sat down at my computer and found a quote printed out on the desk. It read: “I love people that have no idea how wonderful they are and just wander around making the world a better place.” As I read this quote it really got me thinking of how blessed my life is with the people that I encounter every day; the family, friends, co-workers not to mention all the strangers that I encounter on

The Lump of Coal Sometimes a recollection is sparked by a story of many years ago. My brother was very gifted as a grade school student and he wrote a story about a lump of coal that impressed my parents that someone at that young age could think in a relatively abstract manner. You see this lump of coal thought he was worthless when the other elements around him had definite uses. The diamond was bright and brought attention to

WOW! GOD IS GOOD. As I reflect on this year, it has been a real journey with times of joy and gratitude for our family, friends, and community as well as difficult times.   Chuck and I have committed ourselves to live consciously, with grateful attitudes for everything in our lives. This means All Things, good and not so good. We thank God many times during the day for all of our blessings, stopping to pray and, especially for peace in

Christmas My family always loved celebrating Christmas.  My mom loved to decorate, cook, and shop.  Our home was filled with Christmas cookies, smells of traditional Polish food, and wrapped gifts.  In fact, I remember at times it seemed our living room was half-filled with presents. As a young person, I remember the joy of Christmas being about GETTING gifts.  Christmas was all about what we/I would be given.  New clothes, toys, and even bicycles filled my thoughts and hopes.

The presents have been exchanged and opened, some gifts have already been returned to where they were purchased; and the Christmas dinner leftovers have been feasted upon as an afternoon snack.  Christmas is over.  The thought now turns to the laborious task of taking down the Christmas tree and putting the lights and decorations away for another year.  As the secular world bids farewell to another Christmas, retailers are counting their coffers, economists are checking the pulse of the

Advent is a time of preparation and transformation.  It is an approximately four-week period in which we are invited to reflect and contemplate how we can spiritually prepare ourselves not just for Christmas Day, but for the Second Coming of Christ.  Advent not only brings to mind the first coming of Jesus with his birth in Bethlehem, but it also anticipates Christ’s return at the end of time. Inviting us to reflect on God becoming man, the season

As the holiday song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” or is it? Even before the Thanksgiving meal has been prepared and devoured we have been bombarded for weeks with advertising on television, the internet, radio, fliers in the mail, and the newspaper reminding us it is that time of the year to get into the Christmas spirit and partake in the annual ritual of holiday shopping. In early November, radio stations play Christmas music 24-hours

Thanksgiving ReflectionThanksgiving has always been a big deal in my family.  My parents would go all out cooking for family and friends.  We would have a feast fit for a king that you would need two plates just so that you could taste everything.  We would gather for prayer and then dig in until we had our fill and then sit around and recall and remember everything we are thankful for as a family.  There would be laughter, joy,

Praying Through Singing When I received an email asking me to write a reflection, my immediate thought was…sure...that will be easy…I can write on praying through music.  Now that I am trying to put my thoughts down, I find myself struggling. One thing about me is that I love spending time outside on my patio.  So when I prepared to write this, of course I went to the coziest spot on my patio, put on my headphones, keyed up

When Father Dale asks you to do something it is hard to say no. His assignment for me was to write one of the weekly reflection letters. Reflection. Am I supposed to reflect back on this year? Much of this year I don’t even want to think about, let alone dwell or reflect on it. We have been deprived of much of our social interaction, especially our church community, a community that has a great deal of influence on

Transformation of Death into Life First of all let me say I am honored to follow in the footsteps of such wise and soulful persons who wrote their reflections before me. As I pondered what I would reflect upon, it came to me that many of the events of my life have been a real-life experience of Living and Dying - the name of our current living school. Only a few weeks ago, I flew to Sitka Alaska

Have you ever just wanted to quit what you were doing and walk away? I think most of us have experienced that feeling sometime in our lives. At some point, most parents feel it as they are raising their children. Doctors feel it as they get overwhelmed with patients. In our current learning environment principals and teachers are certainly feeling the desire to move on. And many clergy are feeling it. For me, when you are trying so hard

It is Time to be in Awe Again I have a beautiful picture in my office of Mary and Joseph holding baby Jesus, surrounded by children in awe wanting to see.  I look and see smiles, hope, wonder, excitement in their eyes.  It is the kind of picture that you can just see and feel the love.  It is a helpful reminder for me to keep my eyes pointed towards our Lord.  I think amid everything happening in

Stepping Through Life with My Savior Jesus Christ This reflection is about Jesus in my life and how He has changed me. I do believe the only way God can truly change us is if we repent of our ways with obedience towards Him, believing in the love of Christ. Be available every day for the guidance He so wants us to hear. Sometimes we miss so much because of being too busy. I try every day, before

O A very powerful and beautiful Christian/Gospel song was released this year by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton. It is called “There Was Jesus.” We so often search for direction and answers to life’s ever emerging problems, issues, and decisions in inadequate, superfluous places when, always, Jesus was there. No doubt, there are dark, disturbing moments: A relationship that we treasured that became hurtful, abandoned or destructive despite our greatest efforts. The physical, mental, or emotional deterioration of a

Our oldest daughter Theresa has been collecting wise and witty sayings and quotes for some time. Occasionally she will gather a group of these wisdom thoughts and put them in a book form on Shutterfly. I cherish these small collections of sanity and keep several in our living room. Recently I was reading a wonderful thought-provoking quote from Caroline Myss: “Just let go. Let go of how you thought your life should be and embrace the life that is

All my life I’ve been an eternal optimist. Not that I’m not now, but amid all of the division and turmoil that is occurring in our country, I have to admit my trust at times is being challenged. Webster’s Dictionary describes trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” Another example of trust is having faith that things will be better in the future. Both apply to Jesus Christ, correct? So

Reflecting on life in 2020, I remember a book I read many years ago, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard. It is an allegory based on the “Song of Songs”. The Song of Songs expresses the desire to be united with God: body, soul and spirit. The main character is journeying through life issues of fear, pride, dryness, loneliness, brick walls, and loss, to name a few. For each milestone on the journey bringing her to new

A lot has happened in the past few months. The pandemic is worse. The heat is "out of control". The election is less than 3 months away and the rhetoric is heating up. The economy is not heating up quickly enough. We are only a few plagues short of feeling like the Pharaoh in Egypt. On the personal side, I had a pacemaker put in and have had a hard time adjusting to it. In addition to that,

Gratefulness On June 30th I tested positive for the Coronavirus. I was sick and after a few days went into Banner Desert Hospital with pneumonia. I was in the hospital for 11 days, was released, home for two days and then had to go back to the hospital with a tension pneumothorax (left lung collapsed pushing over my heart and right lung) for another 12 days. During the 23 days I was in the hospital, I felt fear and