Anxiety

I am an anxious person. I have always been an anxious person. I come by my anxiety naturally. It is a family inheritance bequeathed to me by my anxious mother.

You Are Not Human

Most of us, when we think about the Holocaust, probably think of ghettos, transport trains, concentration and extermination camps, gas chambers, crematoria, violent evil Gestapo agents, and monstrously inhuman prison guards.

In her book Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life In Nazi Germany, Marion A. Kaplan demonstrates that the sacrifice of European Jewry began long before the first Jew was locked away behind barbed wire. Kaplan chronicles the daily routine grinding inhumanities that began in 1933 as soon as Hitler came to power in Germany and continued until the War finally brought an end to Nazi brutality.

How Much Does God Weigh?

It is difficult to perceive the presence of God in the routines of everyday life. God is not apprehensible to our normal five senses. You can’t hear God, see God, taste, smell, or touch God. You certainly cannot weigh God.

So, how is it possible to perceive the presence of that ineffable reality we give the name “God”?

Kristallnacht

Martin Gilbert’s extraordinary book, Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction is a book full of numbers, dates, names, and stories. He piles fact upon fact in an attempt convey some of the horror of the terrible night and day of November 9 and 10, 1938 that came to be known as Kristallnacht. At the same time he presents many eyewitness accounts that give an agonizing human face to the terror of Kristallnacht.

Why Study the Holocaust?

For the past four months I have been reading literature related to the terrible events that occurred throughout much of Europe between 1933 and 1945. It is difficult reading. But, the more I have read, the more I have become convinced how important it is that we look honestly at the terror perpetrated upon innocent victims in the Holocaust.

The Mass Problem

WARNING: What follows is way too many words.

Introduction

Over the past two years, I have worshiped occasionally with my brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church. These experiences have almost always been deeply nourishing and enriching to my spirit. I have felt welcomed and at home in most of the Roman Catholic communities in which I have shared.

But my worship with Roman Catholics has also frequently been deeply disturbing. The disturbance has derived from the fact that in many of the Roman communities in which I have worshiped it has been made clear that, as an Anglican visitor, I was not welcome to receive communion.

Retreat Journal Day 7

Every day is “Day 7”. “Day 7” is where we normally live. This is the world of stimulation, busyness, noise, activity, demand, and expectation. “Day 7” draws us away from depth, tempting us to live on the surface of life and forget our true identity rooted and grounded in God.

Retreat Journal Day 6

http://www.trappistabbey.org/

Monday July 12, 2001

It is 4:15 a.m. our last morning at the Abbey. As we have for the past four mornings, we sit in the darkened chapel. We face the altar beyond which two rows of white robbed monks stand at their prayer desks. The only light comes from the small piano lights attached to each monk’s prayer desk, and the faint flicker of the sanctuary lamp hanging above the tabernacle.

Retreat Journal Day 5

http://www.standrewchurch.com/

Sunday July 11, 2010

This morning after breakfast Heather and I drive into Portland. We attend Mass at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church. We have heard about the dramatic redesign of this church’s liturgical space and want to experience worship in this setting.

Retreat Journal Day 4

Saturday July 10, 2010

This morning Heather and I shared in a half-day meditation retreat at the Abbey with a group who gather normally on the first Saturday of each month. The morning includes long periods of silent meditation, meditative walking, one short Conference talk, and the opportunity for a brief personal interview with the retreat leader.