Muselet

Imagine you are outside in a field where there are interesting views from all angles.  Heading in any direction you find something appealing that lures you forward, but inevitably you come up against a wall.  There's no way around the wall, and attempting to scale the wall would obviously involve subjecting yourself to much pain and possible dismemberment.  You eventually try all the paths that lead only to walls.  A few times you even scaled a wall, with great harm to oneself, only to find upon reaching the top of the wall, that there was a cliff on the other side with a bottomless pit beneath.  You spend nearly your whole life exploring these walls. Finally, you notice a small stream of people following a path that seems to go somewhere.  The only thing attracting them is a light.  You follow the path, and you discover to your complete amazement that the path continues beyond all the walls.  A whole new world lays before you.  The path itself has some ups and downs, and for the

It's one of those days when I want layers of music to accompany my writing.  I currently have Dave Brubeck on in the back-ground ( Time Out ), and Cliburn via Grooveshark on my laptop , with Ballad in Blue (featuring Ray Charles ) via the tv in another room! Somehow, all this "layering" has a calming effect.  It's as if I have several musical and emotional needs, and in having them all anchored, (even if some more so than others), in these various degrees on listening, my mind is freed to concentrate on my thoughts. Catering to this way of "anchoring" through means that others might find distracting, I find there is also a purging component.  It's almost as if the music is a tap for my musical-desires.  Without finding some expression, there is too much pressure w/in, making it difficult to do anything.  So, allowing part of my mind/heart "express itself" through passive listening to multiple sources, it's as though I've turne

We were unexpectedly without a priest yesterday. That was the first time I experienced that. (I've attended Communion Services before, but they were planned as such.) There were 2 big things I noticed: 1) how beautifully, lovingly, and competently  we all pulled together and were able to adjust graciously and efficaciously, and 2) even so, how obviously we missed witnessing the consecration. I had to think of the communities (in other countries?) who have had to experience months of this. I was a Mennonite before I became Catholic at age 25. When I was baptized I was filled w/ joy. But I never really accepted the Mennonite teaching that communion was "just a symbol" (and their understanding of 'symbol' is also altogether different). I LONGED to come to the Table of Christ; I LONGED for full communion w/ Him. When I "discovered" the Mass (as a grad student in Madison, WI), I knew I had found Him; I knew I was Home. I wish everyone in the whole world coul