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Spiritual lessons from dancing

 AMDG I, a dreamer on the cusp of something new, to you, my friends and companions. I spent much of my writing time the last several months composing the private vows which I made on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Composing them was a delightful experience. Having finished that exercise, I wanted to share a new thing in my life: dancing! I have long enjoyed jamming to music at home while doing chores (or rather, instead of doing chores), but organized, social dancing remained foreign. This spring, a friend brought me to a country two step dance, and I was in love! The combination of slow and fast two steps, waltzes, and line dances is athletic and fun. The dances provide an opportunity for physical touch and for expressions of romance. And they are something I can be good at in an uncomplicated way. Social dancing is still something new in my life, and perhaps because of that novelty it’s been teaching me some spiritual lessons. A first lesson has been about following. A da...
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First Vows

 AMDG I, a hopeful follower of Christ, to my brothers, sisters, siblings, mothers, and fathers. I am grateful, so grateful, for the community that has made me. For each of you. This morning during mass I could feel my heart beating. It was a tangible reminder of the symbolic gift I want to make. My heart is only one heart, corporal, small, and limited, yet capable of the greatest miracles through the grace of God. What I have copied below I wrote mainly for myself, and ultimately for God. It is part aspiration and part declaration, a prayer and a promise to do my best. Peace, Your Other Brother Introduction The ultimate rule of life is the following of Christ proposed in the Gospels. Each person is a uniquely created child of God, called to be loved and to love, to grow closer to God and in so doing to become more purely themself. This growth, however, may be greatly hindered by the abundance of distractions and deceptions which come from within and from without. My heart burns w...
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Into the Wilderness

  AMDG “I will go after my lovers,” she said, “who will give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.” She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for Baal. Therefore, I will now allure her, and lead her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. From there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. On that day, says the LORD, you shall call me, “My husband,” and no longer will you call me “My Baal (my master).” -Hosea 2:5, 8, 14, 16   I, a new man, to my siblings in Christ: may the abundant peace of God fill your hearts. I am home from my long retreat, as are (I hope) the 17 others who journeyed with me. Although I cannot and have no desire to explain everything that God revealed to me or all the graces w...
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Soon to make the Spiritual Exercises

  AMDG I, an expectant retreatant, to you, my friends. I think it was in reading Fr. James Martin, SJ’s My Life with the Saints that I first heard about the “spiritual exercises” of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Fr. Martin recounted making the exercises as a novice at the retreat center in Massachusetts, giving me vivid images of the Atlantic ocean beating on grey, rocky outcroppings and shelves of books waiting quietly to sing praises to God. These exercises, called “the heart of the Jesuits,” would continue to show up in the narratives of Jesuits and non-Jesuits as I explored Catholic culture. You can read about them here , but suffice to say the exercises are more than your typical retreat. 30 days deep, they are real quality time with God, a period to tune your inner ear finely to that still, small voice and to give it your whole attention. And under the guidance of St. Ignatius of Loyola, they are a journey with landmarks, lessons, and decisions. In 2018, a newsletter from Ig...
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Love and Listening

AMDG   I, a simple traveler resting in the shelter of Christmas, to you, my brothers and sisters. I wish y ou a restful and awe-filled celebration of the coming among us of our God.   Since the US presidential election, I have heard repeated th at p eople “just don’t understand” each other , nor do they demonstrate interest in understanding. I also hear a theme of reversal s: Biden reversed Trump’s policies, Trump will reverse Biden’s policies, and everyone is planning how to undo  each other’s hard-won victories in four  or eight m ore years. What wearies me , perhaps because my spirit recognizes it as the true leviathan of our tim e, is the dearth of love. It’s like we’ve lost the desire or intention to see one another as beloved brothers and sisters. Through the first three weeks of Advent, I was thinking about the pillars of Hope, Peace, and Joy. These brought questions and consol ations, but I was missing something. The fourth week brought clarity: Love...
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