In the Coracle

One Day’s Wages Launch Video

Pat — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:57:17 +0000

I am deeply impacted by the story of One Day’s Wages, a newly launched nonprofit organization which is dedicated to providing simple ways of fighting extreme global poverty. ODW is the child of Eugene Cho, a young pastor who I greatly admire, and the story of Eugene’s vision and commitment is moving. I hope it moves you.

A video of Eugene describing ODW is here – have a quick watch, and take the challenge:

Posted via email from patl’s posterous

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The Most Important Cartoon of the Year

Pat — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:37:50 +0000

Categories: Politics

By Steve Breen, San Diego Tribune, October 18, 2009

via blog.beliefnet.com

Posted via web from patl’s posterous

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Living off-centre

Pat — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:58:11 +0000

Like a wooden spinning top
with its main mass lopsidedly near the edge,
I have wobbled erratically,
weaving an uncertain
inconsistent
and unstable course
through life so far.

I have lived inauthentically
off-centre
away from the core of my being,
not constantly tapping into the well
of my being.
I have not invoked my vocational
mystery, endowed by the Eternal One.
At an early age an obscuring
of the centre was made manifest.

Now in middle age, early forties,
I want to spin, dance truly
from my centre,
so I am still, yet turning
to the Source of life within and beyond.

- Glyn Brangwyn, quoted by Ray Simpson in Exploring Celtic
Spirituality, 2004, p.
71

Posted via email from patl’s posterous

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Wendell Berry on Spiritual Journey

Pat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:05:35 +0000

By Wendell Berry

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at home.

Source: The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982

via inward/outward

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Fun with Numbers

Pat — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:15:54 +0000

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

I’ve been alerted to an event that will take place later this week, something that happens once and only once over the course of history. Shortly after noon on July 8, comes the moment that can be called 12:34:56 7/8/9. To mark this momentous event, this week we’ll feature words that have three consecutive letters in order, something that doesn’t happen very often either (there are hundreds of everyday words, but we are talking here about unusual and interesting words).

It’s not exactly true that this sequence of time/date happens only once. If you follow the day/month/year convention, you can observe the same sequence next month, on August 7. And even though it appears to be a rare occurrence, such interesting patterns aren’t that unusual. Consider these from the past:
01:23:45 6/7/89
12:34.56 7/8/90
01:02:03 04/05/06

In a couple of years we’ll have 11:11:11 11/11/11. What other unusual patterns can you think of that are in the near future?

I love these patterns. They keep my mind working when I’m on a motorcycle ride; I’m always calculating the distance to the next odometer palindrome, or something weird like that.

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U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny – NYTimes.com

Pat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:16:02 +0000

In the coffeeshop this morning I noticed this front-page article in the NY Times (or the Wall Street Journal, I’m not sure which. However, I found the online article at NYT…).

Seems there’s an evaluation of American nuns underway, and as you can read below, it’s unclear what the goal is. It’s going to be interesting seeing how this issue develops, and I hope and pray that the issue is explored with grace and humility.

Here’s a quote, but clickthrough the link below to see the whole story.

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.

Nuns were the often-unsung workers who helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this country, planting schools and hospitals and keeping parishes humming. But for the last three decades, their numbers have been declining — to 60,000 today from 180,000 in 1965.

While some nuns say they are grateful that the Vatican is finally paying attention to their dwindling communities, many fear that the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world.

Read the whole article – via U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny – NYTimes.com.

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The Art of Spiritual Direction

Pat — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:03:21 +0000

“The art of spiritual direction lies in our uncovering the obvious in our lives and in realizing that everyday events are the means by which God tries to reach us.”

- Alan Jones, in the preface to the book “Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction” (Margaret Guenther)

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Pat — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:18:56 +0000

The Celtic Church, an Ideal Christianity

Here’s a short video clip that talks about Celtic Christianity. I wouldn’t agree that it’s ‘an Ideal Christianity’, but I do think it’s a healthy one, and one that I identify with. Enjoy this short discussion (2 min or so)

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Audiobook of Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson Free Downloads – christianaudio.com

Pat — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:24:17 +0000

christianaudio.com offers an excellent book for download – the unabridged version of Eugene Peter’s first book in his new series on spiritual theology, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. Link is below, and use the coupon code mentioned in the page.

Useful only for June 2009, it appears.

Free Downloads – christianaudio.com.

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Shared Links for May 24th

Pat — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:11:17 +0000

These are my links for May 17th through May 24th:

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