Quotations
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All Saints Day
“Mom? Why did Jesus have twelve opossums? I mean, what did he do with them?” — Lizzy Beck This morning during my walk with Jinx, I was struck by how absolutely silent the world was. My own steps were the only sound in the pewter air. It was almost easy to believe that last night the air had been full of ghosts and spirits of ill-will, because the early Sunday hours were so clean, so spotless, so purified. Surely all the saints were watching as I crunched gravel beneath my boots and Jinx’s tail cut the air like a buggy whip. Into my mind came the opening line of Poe’s…
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The Lawless Blogger
This past March, just before the big coronapanic hit, my wife and I made our annual trek to the local library’s used book sale. Among the treasures I found were a stack of back issues of Magnificat, the Catholic monthly devotional magazine, selling for .25 cents each. I bought every one of them, enough to fill an entire shelf on the bookshelf in our bedroom. The magazine is of very high quality, with writing and artwork to elevate the soul and the thoughts. I’ve been in a bit of a low valley lately, spiritually speaking, and this morning my wife helped my spirits immensely by reminding me of how blessed…
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Sean G’s Thoughts
Over at his site, my bloggenbruder Sean G has posted some superb observations about the assumptions we make about certain aspects of life as they might be continued — or discontinued — in Heaven. In this taut, sinewy post (which I highly recommend you read), Sean points out the, well, silliness (my word, not his) of the typical Christian view of what family, sleep, and adventure might look like after death for those who believe on Christ. I remember a very respected Presbyterian pastor weeping during a sermon he preached when Mrs. Orr and I were in attendance. He said something to the effect that “I have a hard time…
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This Is How A Man Falls In Love
“I believe passionately that Christianity is a way of life, not a theological system with which one must be in intellectual agreement. I feel that Christ would admit into discipleship anyone who sincerely desired to follow him, and allow that disciple to make his creed out of his experience; to listen, to consider, to pray, to follow, and ultimately to believe only those convictions about which the experience of fellowship made him sure. This is how a man falls in love. He could not write a creed about the loved one at the beginning. He finds someone whose life he would like to share, and, if she is willing to…
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Coming Apart
“And he said to them: Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little..” — Mark 6:31a (Douay-Rheims Version) Time has come for me to step away from blogging for a while, my friends. I would like to put a good, stoic face on things and say that I’m just taking a summer break. But the truth is that I am increasingly weary… physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. The cares of this world have gotten me in a pretty good headlock, and I simply don’t have the force to push back right now. Many years ago, I heard an old Baptist preacher say, “If we don’t come apart for…
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Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.…
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Such Will Not Be Found In A Church
One of the first signs of a saint may well be the fact that other people do not know what to make of him. In fact, they are not sure whether he is crazy or only proud; but it must at least be pride to be haunted by some individual ideal which nobody but God really comprehends. And he has inescapable difficulties in applying all the abstract norms of ‘perfection’ to his own life. He cannot seem to make his life fit in with the books. Sometimes his case is so bad that no monastery will keep him. He has to be dismissed, sent back to the world like Benedict…
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A Deep Failure
“I am more and more impressed by the fact that it is largely futile to get up and make statements about current problems. At the same time, I know that silent acquiescence in evil is also out of the question. I know too that there are times when protest is inescapable, even when it seems as useless as beating your head up against a brick wall. At the same time, when protest simply becomes an act of desperation, it loses its power to communicate anything to anyone who does not share the same feelings of despair. There is of course no need to comment on the uselessness of false optimism,…
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A Gift On Saint Patrick’s Day
Daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of heaven. — Saint Patrick of Ireland Contemplating this quote, I thought this morning of how real St. Patrick’s expectations were. At any moment, he could have lost his life or his liberty at the hands of those among whom he lived, by those whom he served. I doubt that he would have wasted a second wondering if the village market had sufficient hand sanitizer or toilet paper, even if such things had existed. He saw the opportunity to completely expend his life for Christ as…
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Ash Wednesday
God has given different gifts to different people. There is no basis for feeling inferior to another who has a different gift. Once it is realized that we shall be judged by the gift we have received, rather than the gift we have not, one is completely delivered from a false sense of inferiority. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen And the season of Lent begins. May our loving Father bless all those who sincerely use this season to seek a more intimate knowledge of Him and His ways. ~ S.K. Orr