People For Others

Down By The River Jordan

Paul — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:17:35 +0000

Ed Duffy, who describes himself as a “digital storyteller,” recently went with a Charis Ministries group on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He attached a photo of the River Jordan to an email and it gave me quite a surprise because the river was not at all as I had imagined it. At least in this photo, it looks lush and lovely.

I always imagined the River Jordan as being a trickle of water flowing through a barren wasteland. My image of Jesus’ baptism was that it took place in a spot they’d damned the water to form a small pool.

I keep getting things like this wrong . When I first saw the Mona Lisa with my own eyes, for instance, I was astonished at how tiny it was. In my imagination, because it was such a famous portrait it had to be at least life-size, if not bigger. And there I was standing in front of what seemed like a glorified postage stamp…

Anything you’ve gotten spectacularly wrong (or right)?

Liminal Space

Paul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:23:32 +0000

We all know what “subliminal” means, but we don’t talk much about things being “liminal,” on the threshold. Well-conceived worship spaces around the world understand the need for some liminal space between the everyday world and the world of the spirit. In Japanese shrines, for example, you enter through the torii [gate] and walk to the ritual washing station before climbing the steps of the shrine to enter the sacred space.

We experience something of the same with many of our finest churches and cathedrals. Walking across the parvis [piazza] in front of Notre Dame in Paris can help prepare you to meet God within. More recently, the designers of Our Lady of the Angels in L.A. understood the need for liminal space by designing a plaza you cross, before climbing stairs to the main doors and, once inside, walking along a deep wide corridor that leads you to make a right turn into the worship space.

We all need liminal spaces in our lives. What are yours?

Growing Up

Paul — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:09:37 +0000

My colleague Tom McGrath recently pointed out that when we are in First Grade we all love to draw and we paint joyously and unselfconsciously. By the time we get to Eighth Grade, however, most of us have become too self-conscious and have given up on the idea that we can draw.

Why is that?

16 out of 100

Paul — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:17:25 +0000

Well, I’ve just had my clock cleaned. Jim Manney of our sister blog, dotMagis, sent me Art & Faith blog’s list of their top 100 films. Having recommended to you the 10 Best Ignatian Movies and 5 Life-Altering Movies, I opened the link petty confident that I’d know all of them. Imagine, then, my chagrin when I realized I’d only seen 16 of their suggested 100 (and only because several of them are Japanese.) Many I didn’t even know existed.

Check out their list for how many you’ve seen. Any that you particularly want to recommend to the rest of us?

Loving Our Planet

Paul — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:45:04 +0000

Have you noticed how Pope Benedict has been emphasizing ecology? We have a duty to take care of our planet, not just dominate and plunder it. Maya Lin, designer of the stunning Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. – amongst many other achievements – has produced a hauntingly beautiful video [3'17"] about the catastrophic results of deforestation.

Maya Lin – Unchopping a Tree from What is Missing? Foundation on Vimeo.

A Wisdom Story – 8

Paul — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:11:58 +0000

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked. “Bitter,” spat the apprentice.

The master then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake nearby. Once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.” As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man.

At this, the master took the young man’s hands, offering, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things . . .Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

[Hat tip to Joe D.]

The Mighty Pen

Paul — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:16:34 +0000

Recently, I was moved to write to a friend — a proper letter, not an email or a text message — in which I told her how precious she was to me and how she had brought me so much happiness over the years because of her constant goodness to me.

Her husband tells me that she’s too delighted and too astonished to yet know how to respond. Fine by me. I’m simply happy that I went out of my comfort zone to thank someone who richly deserves my gratitude.

Anyone you should be writing to or, at least, talking to right now?

Jim Martin on Lent

Paul — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:39:44 +0000

Jim Martin, author of our best-selling My Life with the Saints, had a wonderful reflection on Lent over the weekend at The Huffington Post. [You can read it here.] In it, he quotes Henri Nouwen on the significance of fasting:

“For now, it seems that some fasting is the best way to remind myself of the millions who are hungry and to purify my heart and mind for a decision that does not exclude them.”

Not excluding the hungry from my decision-making… that’s a plan I can take on board.

Hidden Talent?

Paul — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:17:45 +0000

Do I have surprising talents or, at the end of a busy day, did I simply put my name into the “Search” box on YouTube? You decide.

Who knew?

Se non è vero…

Paul — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:04:13 +0000

The Italian phrase, “Se non è vero, è ben trovato,” can be translated as, “If it isn’t true, it should be.” I found the following while surfing the net and it seems too good to be true but I laughed and I hope you will, too.

Some children’s answers to church school questions – from the Church of England:

• Noah’s wife was called Joan of Arc.
• Henry VIII thought so much of Wolsley that he made him a cardigan.
• The fifth commandment is “humor thy father and mother.”
• Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.
• Salome was a woman who danced naked in front of Harrods.
• Holy acrimony is another name for matrimony.
• The pope lives in a vacuum.
• The patron saint of travelers is St. Francis of the sea sick.
• Iran is the Bible of the Moslems.
• A Republican is a sinner mentioned in the Bible.
• Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat twelve partridges.
• The native of Macedonia did not believe, so Paul got stoned.
• The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
• It is sometimes difficult to hear what is being said in church because the agnostics are so terrible.

[http://www.wisdomquotes.com/000087.html#000087]

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