A Place To Come Home To
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This month Grotto Network shares stories of FIRSTS. I am the first in my family to own a home.
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October Book List
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If you don’t know by now, I read A LOT.
People keep asking me what I’ve been reading lately so I thought I’d put them down in one post to share.
Read MoreChoosing Joy
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"Once we know we are loved, it is easy to choose joy."
My new reflection for Loyola Press on Father Gregory Boyle new book!
Read MoreA Space Where Strangers Become Friends
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"Hospitality is not about changing people or bringing them to your side but about creating a space where they can be their authentic selves, the person they were created to be."
Read MoreThe Art We Live With: Seeking, Prioritizing, and Cultivating Beauty in the Everyday
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Conversation exploring the need to prioritize, make, and seek beauty in our everyday lives, beyond the walls of museums and concert halls.
Read MoreCatholic Imagination Conference
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September 30-October 1, I was able to attend and present at the Catholic Imagination Conference in Dallas on my upcoming biography on Catholic writer, Brian Doyle.
Read MoreWe Need to Be Community Again
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I watch as we partition ourselves into factions. Segregating ourselves more and more, until we push out those different than us. And then I watch, as they stop trying to be part of the community. They stop trying to be part of the Body of Christ.
Read MoreNo Guarantees
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The future is not promised: That is a big lesson for 13-year-olds, who think they are indestructible.
Read MoreClothed in Humility: How I’m Learning From the Holy and Humble
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Humility is a concept that is difficult to define. We often think of it as an antithesis to confidence. But this is simply untrue. Many of our favorite leaders in history or in our own lives are treasured because of their humility. I think of St Teresa of Calcutta and her work with the poorest of the poor in India. Or an old boss who always said it was the interns who did most of the difficult work on a project, not him. There is an openness in humility. A flexibility to learn something new. A teachable spirit. Humility allows us to listen. And ultimately, humility is connected to God’s sovereignty.
Read MoreZoom Event: The Art We Live With
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The Collegium Institute and Dappled Things invite you to join us for this online event which will bring together a diversity of voices to explore the need to prioritize, make, and seek beauty in our everyday lives, beyond the walls of museums and concert halls.
Read MoreSlow Down Your Day With These 3 Practices
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If you’re interested in making space for beauty in your daily schedule, here are a few easy places to start.
Read MoreA Sense of Serenity
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“Serenity now.” Instead of saying this as intended—in a calm, tranquil, meditative manner—Frank screams it, very likely skyrocketing his blood pressure even further. The effect is hysterical, and I realize, I am laughing, too, at myself.
When I am anxious or frightened, I call out to God, and much like Frank Costanza.
Read MoreThe Prayers of My Junior High Math Teacher Have Sustained Me Far Beyond My School Years
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Touched by the reaction from my jr high classmates on this essay I wrote on our math teacher. A call to prayer for our own children caught in today’s spiritual crossfire.
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Seeing Like Jesus
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We can see like Jesus by knowing him. How can we see as he does if we do not spend time with him?
Read MorePre-Order My Brian Doyle Biography!
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I am OVERJOYED to share that my biography on writer Brian Doyle is now on the Liturgical Press website for pre-order! I look forward to sharing this book with you virtually and in person as we learn to look for God in the ordinary through Brian's eyes.
Read MoreA Letter to Say ‘Thanks’ to the Workers Building Skyscrapers
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I see you bouncing up and down the hill in packs of three or four or six, with your yellow hard hats and your weighty shoes and your igloo coolers with lunches large enough to sustain a teenage athlete or a member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery or … a construction worker.
Read MoreUwen Akpan's "Say You're One of Them"
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Each opening sentence of Uwem Akpan's short stories in his debut collection "Say You're One of Them" pull the reader into the story:
"Selling your child or nephew could be more difficult than selling other kids."
Or "Now that my eldest sister, Maisha, was 12, none of us knew how to relate to her anymore."
Each of these five short stories is told from the perspective of a child, and with the first sentence, Akpan demands your attention.
Grace at Rock Bottom
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"When a person is at rock bottom, one is humbled. He or she finds him- or herself in a place where all one can do is depend on the grace of God."
Read MoreCalled to be Holy
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I don’t want to be afraid of looking different or of being made fun of anymore.
It’s time — for our sense of community, our sense of justice, and our Church to look completely different.
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