February 19, 2024 Photo credit: Andrew Lubimov/Associated Press “If your beliefs are worth something, you must be willing to stand up for them. And if necessary, make some sacrifices.” Alexsei A. Navalny Disclaimer: This quotation is not one that I included on the notecards that I made for my daughter at Christmas, nor is itContinueContinue reading “Lent Day Six: Alexsei A. Navalny”
Author Archives: remcmahan
First Lenten Sabbath: Wendell Berry
February 18, 2024 During the Lenten Season, before Easter Sunday, “regular” Sundays, like today, are not included in the 40-day count of preparation because they are considered “mini resurrections.” So, instead of sharing a meditation on one of the many quotations I have procured this past year, I will share a poem that matches theContinueContinue reading “First Lenten Sabbath: Wendell Berry”
Lent Day Four: David Bowie
February 17, 2024 “Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~ David Bowie On this fourth day of Lent, my messenger is the extremely talented musical artist David Bowie, who died at age 69 in 2016. These days, 69 doesn’t seem very old to me. I wishContinueContinue reading “Lent Day Four: David Bowie”
Lent Day 3: The Buddha
February 16, 2024 “Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement.” The Buddha On this third day of Lent, the quotation that I sit with comes from Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as The Buddha (‘the Awakened’), who was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher living in South Asia during the 6th or 5th centuryContinueContinue reading “Lent Day 3: The Buddha”
Lent Day Two: Anonymous
February 15, 2024 “Let a need to love replace my need to understand.” From The Cloud of Unknowing On this second day of Lent, the quotation that I sit with comes from the book Where Only Love Can Go: A Journey of the Soul into The Cloud of Unknowing (quite a title!). The introduction explains,ContinueContinue reading “Lent Day Two: Anonymous”
Lent Day One: Anthony De Mello
February 14, 2024 “Both what you run away from—and yearn for—is in you.” Anthony De Mello, Society of Jesus I begin these Lenten day blogs with a quotation from Fr. Anthony de Mello that seemed to peg me. I sometimes wonder if we really are as complex as we imagine we are, or if, instead, weContinueContinue reading “Lent Day One: Anthony De Mello”
Sifting Ashes ~ A Lenten Poem
Feb. 13, 2024 Sifting Ashes What would you doif you were invitedto enter your heartin this seasonof self-honesty?If you were encouragedto leave reason and judgmentbehind and insteadask grace to be yourcompanion?Would you say yes?Would you accept the flashlightoffered when you crossedthe threshold, the decoder ringneeded to deciphereach message that begsrevelation?Could you look?Once inside, would youContinueContinue reading “Sifting Ashes ~ A Lenten Poem”
From Pelagius to David Bowie
Feb 12, 2024 Note: Second attempt to email this post. “Write down with your own hand on paper what God has written with his hand on the human heart.” Pelagius For Christmas this past year, I gave my daughter a stack of notecards, each one inscribed with a quotation that had drifted across my path fromContinueContinue reading “From Pelagius to David Bowie”
From Pelagius to David Bowie
February 11, 2024 “Write down with your own hand on paper what God has written with his hand on the human heart.” Pelagius For Christmas this past year, I gave my daughter a stack of notecards, each one inscribed with a quotation that had drifted across my path from the Universe and had gifted me. ContinueContinue reading “From Pelagius to David Bowie”
Reverie ~
December 26, 2023: The Second Day of Christmas ReverieThe tree stands bare in the spillof white candlelightthat beckons remembrance,the still air laden with pungent pine.I unwrap memorieslifted from silk-worn boxes,and passing years emerge,reflecting faces mirroredin each round and shiny ball. A piece of crumpled tissue dropsand here is the rocking horsesuspended on a crimson stringthat markedContinueContinue reading “Reverie ~”
