A few weeks ago I was preparing a thank you note to send to someone. I neatly wrote inside a card, placed the address label and stamp neatly on the front, and fastened the flap with a monogrammed sticker. I wanted this person to know that I was truly appreciated this, and thought indicating thisContinue reading >>
A good interpretation
It is necessary to suppose that every good Christian is more ready to put a good interpretation on another’s statement than to condemn it as false. – St Ignatius of Loyola Is there a work of art, or piece of writing, that means something different to you each time you come back to it? ItsContinue reading >>
We must love one another or die
There is a poem by W. H. Auden I return to often when I am discouraged. After a political season characterized more than ever by hatred and division, I needed these words today more than ever. They refer to a particular moment in history, but explain a fundamental truth that guides my life: that weContinue reading >>
The thing worth chasing: on saying goodbye to a friend
I get awfully emotionally seeing the people I love receive the Eucharist. When I was quite ill with Crohn’s, before surgery put me into remission, I was often unable to stand through mass. I would hoist myself out of the pew with my parents or brother or now-husband, and would weep at the sight ofContinue reading >>
The weariness of remembering
This is the time when we are exhorted to remember the tragedy of September 11th. We hear stories of sorrow and heroism that have been told hundreds of times, and we hear the stories that are still being revealed, knowing that there is an endless supply of such stories. On the tenth anniversary I happenedContinue reading >>