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Facebook, Beauty, and Good Friday
I don’t use Facebook often, but when I do, I love the memories on my feed. You know the ones: “Three years ago today, you were here… Seven years ago today, you posted this,” etc. Last Friday, my Facebook memory was from 5 years ago in Venice, Italy. More specifically, it was a video that I had posted inside St. Mark’s Basilica during the Good Friday Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. After not sleeping last night, here are a few things that kept me up all night about the video and the significance of this day, Good Friday 2021. The music strikes me first in the video, a rendition of…
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Moments in Time: Dingle, Ireland
As many of us celebrated St. Patrick’s Day this week, we are on the Dingle Peninsula in southwest Ireland. Dingle is the largest town on the peninsula in County Kerry. The magnificent road that winds around the peninsula is called Slea Head Drive. A little side note: The westernmost part of the peninsula not only brings a spectacularly beautiful view of the rough surf of the Atlantic, but the islands off to the west are the closest part of mainland Ireland that you can get to the United States. A statue of the Cross is nestled in the rock just off the road. The scene from the crucifixion sits facing…
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Moments in Time: Glen Coe, Scotland (Highlands)
The winds were overwhelming but calming. The periods of rain were drenching but refreshing. The brisk air cut through your skin but awakened the very breath of your life. Standing in its midst was somehow a confrontation with truth beyond the ability to explain with my senses. Quite simply, it was one of the most mystical experiences of my life. Glencoe is nestled in the Scottish Highlands. It is about 100 miles or so from Edinburgh. If you leave from Edinburgh, as I did, you go through the lush greenery of the Scottish lowlands, passing many breathtaking lochs (lakes) and some picturesque towns. Stirling, for one, with its famous castle…
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Moments in Time: Helena, MT
This week’s “moment in time” takes us to Helena, Montana. The state capital of Montana, Helena, became known as the “Queen City of the Rockies” due to the boom of the 1864 gold strike. That said, baseball brings us to the beautiful city of Helena today—specifically, June 1996. We find ourselves at Kendrick Legion Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers Rookie Ball Team at that time. I was a skinny 18-year-old boy playing for the Great Falls Dodgers, the Rookie Ball Team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the opening night of the Pioneer League, and we had a road series against the Helena Brewers. Great Falls, Montana,…
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“Shining Like The Sun”
There was a moment last week that gave me great pause. Standing in an outdoor shopping area, watching people walk by, I was struck with a profound wonder. Blame it on the COVID-19 shut-in orders, blame it on not being out and about regularly in almost a year, blame it on sitting every day with my 4th-grade son teaching him. There I was, engaging in an ordinary, mundane activity of heading to the store before a snowstorm, yet being swept away with wonder and awe. Namely, to be in the presence of others. What a gift. Standing still and watching people frantically move about to get milk and bread before…
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Moments in Time: Worb, Switzerland
This week’s “moment in time” takes us to Worb, Switzerland….specifically to a particular bench, one of my favorite places to sit and regain perspective. Worb is a small village southeast of the city of Bern. It was our home for 4 1/2 years while we lived in Switzerland. We loved it. We lived in a house that sat halfway up the “Worb Hill,” as we would often refer to it. Down the street sat the 13th-century Worb Schloss, Worb Castle. We stayed in the converted stable of the NeuSchloss, or the New Castle of Worb. Here is a fun fact about the Neuschloss: the Von Grafienrieds family has owned the…
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Random Thoughts on my 43 Birthday
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A Fire of Hope
The light slowly and quietly breaks the dark condition of the horizon. The first glimpse of the sun gives energy to all who see and feel it. The canvas of colors instantly invites us into a renewal that we all know so well, for it is offered daily. A renewal of life. A revival of our hearts. A restoration of our souls. Peace. Beyond the peace, we feel a burning desire that smolders from within: a desire to start anew, escape the past, take a step forward, and breathe. We yearn to be fully alive right here and now in the present. We might call this intense desire Hope. Over…
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Gift of Silence
Due to COVID-19, the world community has paused. Humanity has been forced to stop, allowing for a type of collective vulnerability that has rarely, if ever, happened before. This shared experience has forced us to examine ourselves individually and culturally in ways we might never have been able to do during our times of “normalcy.” The first observation is one of sadness. Sadness for those who have died, usually alone, and for the families who have had to watch a loved one die from afar. Sadness for the millions who have lost their jobs and, with that, their dignity, and now struggle to find ways to support their families and…
