Meister Eckhart

 

I had no idea that Meister Eckhart was an environmentalist.

Apprehend God in all things,

for God is in all things.

Every single creature is full of God

and is a book about God.

Every creature is a word of God.

If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature--

even a caterpillar---

I would never have to prepare a sermon.

So full of God is every creature.

Pucks Not Bullets

I'm sorry I can't find the source to give credit for this picture.  I found it on Facebook.  Sin ce my family is so hockey crazy, I thought it appropriate during the Putin invasion of Ukraine.  

Types of Prayer

 Today at a Lay Dominican regional meeting, suggestions were given as to inquire whether or not someone would be a good candidate to enter the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic.  One of the questions gave me pause: "Is prayer a meaningful part of your devotional life?" I kind of thought this was a silly question.  Don't devotions count as prayer?

The more I thought of it, the more complicated that question became.  Most of the people I know have no devotional life, but they are very prayerful people.  They pray differently.  In fact, they talk to God all day long. Yet, they don't ever pray a rosary and definitely have no desire to learn.  It's not their type of prayer. They never pray chaplets, litanies, or novenas.  However, they go to daily Mass and meditate and do lectio divina.

I'm not going to ask the suggested prayer.  I'm going to use, "What devotion is a meaningful part of your prayer life?"  Don't you think this is a more open-ended question?

Skunk Cabbage

 On my next hike, I'll post some pictures of skunk cabbage.  Obviously, these plants are called "skunk" because they don't smell good.  But when you see them, appreciate that they are harbingers of spring coming soon.  Skunk cabbage does a good job of warming up the earth.  Since skunk cabbage grows in wetland, that's where you'll see plant life first.  Among the clusters of skunk cabbage look for flowers.  The flowers will bring the pollinators.  And so forth...

Greek to Me

 Alex Michaelides' "The Maidens" is a gothic mystery. Mariana is the detective type trying to solve "who done it." She's a group therapist who was recently widowed. Her niece, whom she helped bring up when her sister died, had a friend who was murdered. More girls are murdered. The setting is the college where her niece attended. The red herring is a Greek tragedy professor. It's his "groupies" that are nicknamed "The Maidens" that are being murdered.

Mariana is annoying because she always chooses the wrong thing to do. What bothered me the most was the author's method of writing inner dialogue. I'm not even sure these inner thoughts were the murderer's. A chapter would be written in bold print; that's how the reader would know that they were reading "inner thoughts." But whose?

I still don't know.

The Sound of Silence

 

 

We have no words to describe the silent movement beneath the earth that causes a mushroom to appear in the morning.  Last night, it wasn’t there.  This morning, here is a creamy white umbrella? Alien space ship? Group of fairies?

There is no word in English to describe this creation of vegetation.  English, with all its nouns lacks the descriptive power to name the action of a mushroom appearing.  It’s a force which causes mushrooms to appear overnight.  Not even in science, botany, etc. is there a term, vocabulary, noun, or action verb to describe this mystery.  Scientific language defines many terms, but this particular action is beyond its grasp. 

Only in Native American is there a word.  Leave it to Native Americans, who lived so close  nature to hear that sound of a mushroom being created under the earth.  The word is “Puhpowee.”  It means “rising,” “emerging,” responding to the spirit.

I learned this word from the book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  She is a Native American who is a botanist, scientist and professor.  This is a book of short stories about nature that she has learned from her elders. She writes beautifully.  I am enjoying her mystical history of nature.  She writes like a poet with metaphors of images of cedar trees, wild strawberries, maple syrup, and the fragrance of sweetgrass.  These images are staying with me as I read and I hope will be a permanent picture in my mind, for a long time.

2022 King Cake

 Last year, I made an authentic King Cake.  It was too much work, looked like hell, and no one liked the taste.  This year I was going to purchase a store-bought one but couldn't find one.  The closest I could find was an all-white cake.  The deal maker was the price, $ 6.45.  It would cost me more to make a real one.  So I bought the all-white cake and added the Mardi Gras colors, and put the King Baby Jesus in the middle.  Happy Mardi Gras!