Thoughts on writing, living, and believing…
Command Sergeant Major Plumley died Wednesday. He was 92.
Contrary to what some of our leaders and fellow countrymen would like to believe, we live in a dangerous world. Thank God there are men like CSM Plumley who understand, and are willing to do something about it. General Custer would be proud!
Say a prayer for him, and for all our servicemen and women.
There is a group of Benedictine monks who make their home right, smack-dab in the heart of the city of Chicago. Odd place for contemplation of God, no? Nevertheless, there they are, the Monastery of the Holy Cross—down on Aberdeen and 31st, for those of you familiar with the area.
Having attended the liturgy there, I can tell you that it is very beautiful. Sitting in the pew, you can’t help but forget that you are in the middle of a large metropolis. You are transported by rhythms of their chant to a doorway into Heaven. Singing is something they take very seriously. In their most recent newsletter, Polis, Prior Peter Funk, OSB has an article entitled “Prayer as Music.” Let me quote you a bit here:
Continue reading “Writing as Prayer”
Not about publishing, but about reading. To be fair, this isn’t so much of a dissent as it is a caution.
Albert Einstein was, by all accounts, a voracious reader. And not just mathematics and physics, but also philosophy, theology, biology, the Bible, and other subjects.
[Side note: as a Jew, he was very impressed with Jesus, but we’ll save that one for another day.]
Anyway, I heard this quote yesterday:
Continue reading “Another Dissenting Opinion?”
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.
~ J.D. Salinger : Catcher in the Rye (1951)
Do you feel like that when you’ve just read a good book? And by “good book”, I 
mean one you really enjoyed. It doesn’t have to be great prose, it just has to say something to you. It has to challenge you, or tickle you, or even just keep you company. You know it when you read it.
I once had a conversation with a friend about what makes good beach reading. My friend asserted that the best book in that situation is one that’s a little fluffy, one that doesn’t make you think too much. A book you can pick up and put down as you please. I get that, but I prefer a meaty book in that scenario. On the beach, you presumably have the free time to engage your mind without worrying about a thousand other things. But never mind, it’s all personal preference.
I think that the author who writes about what speaks to him or her personally, whether it be what fascinates, delights, or challenges, is an author that will have many unknown friends.
The following is an email I received on this morning’s post, The “Published” Author. Since it’s really too long for a comment, I asked permission to post it. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Some content has been redacted for the author’s privacy:
Continue reading “A Dissenting Opinion”
After being humiliated in prime time the last three Saturdays, it was good to have one of my teams show up in a meaningful game before a national audience. Last night’s thumping of the hated Cowpokes, made me feel a little better…for now. You see, I used to be a rabid, unhinged football (and basketball) fan, especially on Saturdays…
Hey! Stop laughing!
Father Abbot went off the rails a bit yesterday. To my admittedly fat ears, his homily didn’t really tie the readings together very well, which is unusual for him. So what were the readings you ask? The readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary time were from Numbers: 11:25-29, James 5:1-6 and the Gospel was taken from the 9th chapter of St. Mark, verses 38-43, 45, and 47-48. The psalm was 19.
Go ahead and read them, I’ll wait…
…so, you got it? Good.
