Seeking Authentic Voice

My three year old granddaughter, like most preschoolers, is figuring out her world. She is a child that is stoic about physical pain, but very expressive in  her emotional agony when she does not get her way. From the sound of her cries one would think the world was ending. Her brother, almost 20 months old, observes his sister. Although he is generally more easy going, when he has been affronted because of something he cannot have, he will slowly “fall” down, slow enough that he doesn’t get hurt in his collapsing, but at the same time the dramatic wailing of his cry informs us that he is suffering and displeased. Because these two are so young their suffering is short lived and they are easily redirected to something else, usually by picking them up and taking them outside where I point out the birds or the squirrels.  The Covid times we are living are being experienced by each of us in different ways. Some of us are managing this time just fine, with little interr...

A reflection on 1 Samuel 3:1-20 and John 1:43-51 The rectory at my former parish in the Chicago area had a wooden deck outside the kitchen that over looked 2-1/2 acres of land, bordered by a small section of woods. At one time this deck had surely been the site for family cookouts and fun, but, because the house had been empty for three years, the deck was practically unusable due to a tilt from end to the other. Underneath the deck various animals had built dens and so it had also become a wild life habitat. One day, as we were moving in, my dog stated barking wildly at the sliding glass door that led to the deck. And, there outside, standing on its hind legs, was a woodchuck, baring its big buck teeth. Eventually the woodchuck moved on, finding a better home somewhere in the neighborhood. Over the next few years the various underground dens that resided under the deck, became home to rabbits and an occasional possum. The rabbits we enjoyed, but the possum we evicted, immediate...

A reflection on Matthew 22:34-46 One of my favorite television shows is found on the Discovery Channel from 6:00pm to 7:00pm Monday through Friday; it’s called Cash Cab. The premise of this show is a New York taxi driver who hosts a game show in his taxi. The game show is simple to play. The host/driver asks the riders a series of general knowledge questions and the riders respond. Each time the contestant gives a correct answer they earn prize money. Each wrong answer is a strike against them. Three strikes and the cab ride is over, they have to get out of the cab immediately and they lose all their accrued prize money. Once everyone agrees to the rules the cab starts the trip and the driver asks the first question. The first few questions are worth $25.00, then after awhile the prize money doubles to $50 and then the last few questions, if the riders get that far, are worth $100. I’ve seen people win over $1000 in just one cab ride. The questions are supposed to be general knowledge...