Posts by D C

I will never forget my first visit to a monastery.  I was travelling through Kentucky for a speaking engagement and made a short visit to Gethsemani Abbey, the Trappist monastery where Thomas Merton was a monk.  On that first visit, I entered the guesthouse where a monk paused from playing jazz on a saxophone to…

Next week, an odd juxtaposition of commemorations occurs when Ash Wednesday falls on February 14, St. Valentine’s Day.  On the surface, it would seem that the two remembrances couldn’t be further apart in meaning.  Ash Wednesday invites Christians to remember that we are dust and to dust we will return.  St. Valentine’s Day celebrates the…

For some people, career and vocation mean the same thing, but there are differences.  A career is usually something a person chooses based on several factors—one’s interests, the salary, or one’s employability—while a vocation is something a person feels called to do.  It isn’t surprising that vocation is often associated with a person’s spiritual life. …

A recent study conducted by a research center found that a growing number of clergypersons are leaving their vocation or are tempted to do so.  Being the son of a minister, I was already aware of the toll that the position takes on people.  I remember my father having to conduct a funeral before officiating…

Several years ago, I was invited to speak at a conference center in southern Wisconsin on interfaith relations.  It wasn’t until I looked at the conference brochure that I realized that I’d be returning to a place where I’d spent summers as a boy.  The conference center was always magical to me.  The grounds were…

In the writing workshops that I offer, I begin by sharing with participants what we all have in common.  We are all caretakers of stories that will never be known unless we tell them. This is true whether we are talking about non-fiction, fiction, poetry, plays, or songs.  To be a caretaker of anything or…

The new year begins with a lot of uncertainty, and it’s likely that our nation and the world will look quite different before 2025.  On the global scene, will 2024 bring a resolution to the war in Ukraine?  The answer to that depends not just on Putin and Zelensky, but also on American politicians.  If…

After church services a week ago, a friend stopped me and asked, “Is it just me, or does it seem that time is speeding up?” Without a second thought, I agreed. The New Year’s holiday brings with it a heightened sense of time. On the one hand, the holiday invites us to look backward, to…

Looking back over the years, I realize that many of my clearest Christmas memories are from when my wife and I were first married or when our boys were little. Paradoxically, those were the days when money was tightest. One of my favorite Christmas memories stems from when we were in graduate school in Scotland.…

Although every world religion maintains that we are spiritual beings, we can decide to believe or disbelieve that. Humans who admit that the spiritual life is real must still decide how important spiritual matters will be in their lives. Let’s think of the spiritual life as similar to basketball. For some people, basketball is a…