It's simple

Jesus has been reaching out to every one of us, every day, with a tremendously simple message. It’s not rocket science, folks, or it wouldn’t be accessible to all.

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Let God

“It is for us to make the effort. The result is always in God’s hands.” – Mahatma Gandhi

In our culture, we are very focused on results. Goals, money, achievement – things that represent the crowning results from our work. But you might notice that this leaves little room for God to work in our [...]

“Pro” – really??

I had the opportunity to sing Compline with the schola from another parish last night – a wonderful and prayerful experience. But earlier in the week, the director tangentially referred to me as “the professional.”

Say what? I mean, I’m a neophyte at this chant, and have only been working on it for a few [...]

The economy of volunteerism

Here’s an interesting idea I get from Clay Shirky’s video above (if you can’t see it, try this link): Many useful things these days are being done purely by volunteers.

That’s a huge change from the way we usually think. We tend to focus on what organizations do through their employees, and by money [...]

Stealing reputation

I was listening to a wonderful podcast this afternoon, where Katherine Barron and Jennifer Willits were talking about the book, “Choosing Beauty.” But I don’t want to talk about the book. Instead, they brought up an important concept:

When you bad-mouth or gossip about someone, what you’re doing is stealing. Stealing their reputation.

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Prayer is listening

I subscribe to a lot of online newsletters, because it helps me to maintain a broader perspective and generates new ideas. I ran across one yesteday that held a real challenge for me.

In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. [...]

You have to check this out: Sabbath Moment

I just wanted to pass along this pointer to a newsletter that I’ve been reading for a couple of years: Terry Hershey’s Sabbath Moment. Check it out, and if you like it, sign up here.

This is probably the only newsletter that I always save until I have some quiet time to read and ponder. [...]