Years ago, I heard the analogy of equating the Trinity to the three states of water; liquid, ice and steam and that worked, sort of. At that time, I had nothing else to go by. When I studied Eastern philosophy, I was introduced to the mystical spirituality of the East and of the Eastern Fathers…
The Jesus Movement
The other day I came across a movie trailer for the film “The Jesus Revolution.” A flood of memories reawakened in me and as I watched the trailer and the special feature about making it, I had the feeling that a missing key in my spiritual search was rediscovered. This may be strange to some…
Facing Our Shadow
I have wondered over the years why there is so much suffering. The Fathers of the Church and many Theologians have pondered this question over the centuries. The great C.S. Lewis wrote books on it.[1] What I’ve learned about suffering from the Fathers of the Eastern Church[2] is that in the beginning, humanity was created…
The Two Instructions of Jesus
There are two instructions given to us by Jesus that should guide us in our spiritual life; to love God with our entire being to love ourselves and our neighbor By following these instructions Jesus told us that we would fulfill all the Commandments of God. Jesus said; “You shall love the Lord your God…
Thoughts on Pope Benedict XVI
As a Roman Catholic, I have a deep respect for Pope Benedict XVI. He was a man who became caught in the crossroads of two epochs. He was a man formed in the old Roman Catholic church, that is in the pre - Vatican II church and he came of age and was ordained in…
The Way of Jesus
Jesus knew human suffering and understood our weaknesses. He knew the struggles that humans face every day as they faced the trials and challenges of their lives and He showed us a new way. Jesus, as a teacher, healer and guide wandered the countryside of Palestine preaching the good news of the Kingdom, healing the…
Has There Been A Shift?
The other morning my wife said to me that she felt there has been a shift of some kind in the world and she couldn’t put her finger on it or explain the feeling but something has changed. Since our conversation I have been thinking about what she said. Look at all that happened since…
Loneliness and Aloneness
Our world today is hung up on activity. If people are not busy with something, they become bored with their life. As a result, they become lonely. Loneliness is one of the most universal sources of human suffering today. But by trying to avoid loneliness, we find ourselves living in a state of memory loss…
The Three Stages of Training, Seeing the Beauty of the World and the Working out of Our Salvation
The other day I met my friend who is also my old Tai Chi Sifu at the Raven Cafe in downtown Port Huron. I have not seen him since June of 2020 when we were in the middle of the “covid” debacle. After catching up with our lives we got into a conversation about the…
The Call
Over the history of the church there has been numerous “charisms” or “ways of life.” The older orders of the Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Dominicans as well as the Jesuits have been the bulwarks of Christendom over the past centuries but it seems that they have lost something deep in their souls…
A Finger Pointing to the Moon 