Christmas: Contradiction, Paradox and Humiliation? When watching the ads, listening to the music and wandering through the stores online and off, it’s easy to get duped into thinking that this is merely another excuse for a long weekend. This one special because of what we get. The words “contradiction,” “paradox,” and “humiliation,” don’t fit with […]
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The Why and What of Advent Quietly competing with the banal and boring commercialism of Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays extended sales is another invitation. But it cannot be heard outside in the streets or while listening to CNN. Instead we must silent all the shouts of the marketplace to listen to another voice…more like
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Angels- Bible Fantasy or Real? The Christian liturgy celebrates the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Rafael on September 29th. Three days later on October 2nd, we celebrate our Guardian angels. Catholics were brought up believing, even trusting, in their Guardian Angels. For the rest of us, the notion of such heavenly beings was fitting
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Revisiting the Three Rules for Writing A Novel As I close in the completion of my latest book, I, Claudia, I need to review this wonderful quip of a writer far more well-known than I. “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” I love quotes like this
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Gratitude: What is it? The word gratitude doesn’t resemble what it signifies. Both the noun gratitude and its adverb grateful seem to me to be passive, inert, easily overlooked. Maybe that is why so few of us talk about it. In a world where so many billions live in conditions which would be considered unacceptable
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How do we package love? That question needs a bit of reflection, right? It’s a bit of a mixed metaphor, isn’t it? Or, is it? Three reasons to consider our overemphasis on the packaging of love. Pretty, glitzy paper and ribbons tend to get us much more interested than does a plain wrapper, encouraging us
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“Forgiveness is the only thing that is new in the world, the one sure sign that there is a God.” One sure sign that there is a God: To some, those are words that can evoke a number of questions, confusion or even incomprehension. Reverend Ron Rolheiser wrote them in an article about Sister Helen Prejean’s
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Writing the end first. Makes no sense, right? Writing the end first before the whole story is told? And yet, I’m doing just that. The thought had been niggling around for several weeks, until it stopped being a thought and took on legs. So yes, I am now writing the end of I,Claudia. Why?
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Is Malthus Revisited Spiritual or Something Else? A number of reviewers have referred to my latest novel, Malthus Revisited, as ‘spiritual.’ Until a recent review, I did not stop to ponder why. A recent reviewer wrote that he was ‘disappointed’ that I ‘resorted to the supernatural’ in writing what he thought was an intriguing plot
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Why do you pray? “Why do you pray?” “Because it is the only way I can figure out who I am.” My surprising response to my friend’s rhetorical question was heartfelt-perhaps too weighty to be understood by one who had not, like me, chosen to spend a large segment of their life without God. Being