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Language-Borrower

Sunday night, as a part of our Hanging of the Green service, we sang the poignant and lovely hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.” That hymn, based on a medieval poem, includes a question with which I gladly and gratefully wrestle:What language shall I borrow...

Turning Experience into Thanksgiving

I once read an interview of the poet Richard Wilbur in which he admitted that he was having a hard time with the writing of new poems: “I might have something like half a new book of poems done. At the moment, I’m struggling to recover the habit of writing poems, the...

Finding our Voices

The fine poet, Seamus Heaney said in his essay, “Feeling into Words”: “Finding a voice means that you can get your own feeling into your own words and that your words have the feel of you about them.” That is a daunting but rewarding challenge for any...

Grinning Gremlin of Fear

Over the last few years, I have (gratefully) become aware of the wisdom and insights of the Jungian therapist James Hollis. One of his most recent books is titled Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life. It is a hopeful and realistic appraisal of the challenges and...

Love is our Vocation

Near the end of the 19th century (1897), Therese of Lisiuex died at the age of 24, after spending nine years in a small convent. During the illness that took her life, Therese overheard one of her sister nuns say: “Sister Therese will die soon; what will our...

What I’m Reading

From time to time, people ask me what I’m reading. So, occasionally, I’ll post here the books on my current stack. I don’t necessarily recommend the books I’ll mention, and I certainly don’t always agree with them. But, I don’t read...