The View Up Here

Lord, deliver me from all that robs me of freedom and interior peace. Freedom from enslavement to my fears - not being good enough - being poor - being abandoned Freedom from enslavement to my cravings - food beyond nourishment - comfort instead of fulfilling responsibilities - distraction instead of openness to God's will in my life Freedom from enslavement to the demands of the world - busy busy busy busy busy busy busy - money money money money money money money Freedom from enslavement to status and power - gotta look good for others to judge - can't let anyone get the drop on me - gotta be in control - can't be caught looking foolish The enemy plies each and every one of these fears against me. Lord, deliver me from evil. Grant me freedom to embrace you in my daily life, the life of moments. Freedom to do what I ought - righteousness in the sight of the Lord yah, not my own righteousness the righteousness of Jesus Christ who transforms me ...

I know this isn't the most well-crafted piece I've ever written. I just need to get the thoughts out there. Thank you for reading. Trying to come up with a response to the election of Donald Trump as prez. It's not just about Trump, you see. It's about the backlash and the hate and the IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD and all the other negative feedback. I understand fully that people who voted for Hillary are in mourning. They feel that rights will be taken away from segments of our population, that healthcare will be decimated, that war will be inevitable. (I voted for neither of them, for my conscience would not allow it, and I live in a solidly Blue state anyway.) Trump's campaign was an ugly one. I'm no political scientist, nor do I play one on TV, but even a lay person like myself can see that people in this country have been unhappy and hurting for a very long time, and Trump keyed right into that. His inflammatory speeches and bold proclamations wh...

As 2015 comes to a close, I remember the joys, not the sorrows. I recall the unexpected blessings, not the disappointments.  I hold in my heart the sunrises over the Wasatch Mountains, the gift of the computer I'm typing on, my new friends in Utah whom I love, my old friends in New York and Massachusetts who have taught me lessons and supported me. I give thanks for the beauty of the ocean at sunrise here at Nantasket Beach where I stayed last night. I am exceedingly grateful for the foundation grant which will assist me in my student loan payments while I am in formation once I enter a religious community. I choose to focus on these blessings, not on the discomfort I may feel in the uncertainty of my future, my current lack of a "home of my own," and other factors.  Disappointments, discomfort and disarray are a part of life. There is nothing any of us can do to avoid this truth. The Buddha Dharma teaches that "Suffering exists." As a Catholic, I ac...

A friend posted this on Facebook today, and it took my breath away with its honesty and exactitude. All I can say in answer to this 11/17/15 blog post by John Paplovitz is: YES. THAT. WHAT HE SAID. http://johnpavlovitz.com/2015/11/17/freeing-christians-from-americhristianity/ *NB I had copied the full text of his post and put it up here, but then I decided it wasn't cool to do that without permission. Please visit the link to read his statement in full.

10 ways to love, according to the Scripitures. Dust off your #Bible and start loving! pic.twitter.com/Ct4kTSFaAT — CatholicLink English (@catholink) November 17, 2015 Loving is a way of being in the world, a disposition, and a choice. Similar in concept and practice are  The Four Agreements .

The world reels from the violence that we are committing and enduring on a daily basis. Paris, Beirut, Syria, Israel... the list goes on and on. But also our own streets here in the U.S., where people are dying of hunger and homelessness - that is also violence. Spousal and child abuse. Animal abuse. School shootings. Human-caused or influenced environmental disaster. I'll stop there; you get the idea. This is what humanity is doing to ourselves, to each other. Every day. On Facebook, a rush of support for Paris flooded status updates and profile pics after the terrorist attacks were made known across the globe - much as the world offered support for the U.S. after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But then came a backlash of posts and memes, including one that starts out "It is not Paris we should pray for."  Okay, on one hand, I get it. We need to pray and act on behalf of the entire world, not just one city, because...see Para 1. But at the same time, I found the me...