Contemplative Haven

… that I feel we will be bursting with creativity.  It’s behind the scenes with so many of my blogger-friends.  It’s been building up for years (sometimes decades) in the heart area to such a degree that if it isn’t released the heart will surely implode.  This, of course, is exactly the opposite of what is [...]

My intention for 2010:
Bruce Springsteen Live in Dublin

 
And with God’s grace, how I’m going to do it:

Does anyone remember this?  Well, it’s not quite that bad yet, but this morning we awoke to far too many centimetres of the white stuff, with howling winds and blowing snow.  But I absolutely had to go to the office, so I donned my heavy coat, wrapped a navy-blue scarf (as attractively as possible) around my [...]

Autumn Closing (Bliss Carman)
The show is over, and the leafy tent
All gold and crimson where the sunlight lingered
Through the slow afternoon, is coming down.
The bittersweet is scarlet on the bough
Reluctant to be gone, though frosts have strewn
Patins of glory on the forest trails,
While tatters of torn splendour go to feed
The smoky bonfires in the village [...]

Well, call me a diehard, but our turkey is real and I’ll be up all night making the pumpkin pies!
 
CBC Archives
 

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, my fellow Canadians!

Jerome, of Living Monstrance, has a gift for taking everyday incidents and making a spiritual connection; this is the main thrust of his blog, and his posts are consistently some of the most insightful, uplifting and encouraging that I have read anywhere online.  While I do experience an awareness of the sacred and sacramental in everyday life, [...]

I had a very peculiar experience coming home from work yesterday.  I was on the bus coming from downtown to home, when about three-quarters of the way through my commute the back door of the bus started acting up.  The open-shut mechanism wasn’t working properly; people would get off and the door wouldn’t fully shut, etc., and [...]

To start the day’s celebrations, a prayer to St. Joseph, patron saint of Canada:
 
                                                  
Joseph, Guardian of the Pure in Heart

Gentle Joseph, God is captivated by the
quality of your heart. Your entire being is
focused on doing his will. With Mary and Jesus,
you answer the Holy Spirit’s call to build a better world.
With one heart, we join [...]

Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain, and gathering them about him, he taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor…
Blessed are the hungry…
Blessed are those who mourn…
Blessed are the oppressed…
Then Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this down?”
And Andrew said, “Are we supposed to know this?”
And James said, “I don’t have papyrus with [...]

If you have young children or grandchildren (or are just a kid at heart), here is a wonderful site:  My Light Magazine
It’s an online Catholic magazine for children, with lots of activities, and you can also receive it in PDF format in your inbox.
I just spent 18 minutes and 37 seconds trying to put together [...]