In popular imagination, we don't usually put "gift" and "elder adulthood" in the same sentence. I am convinced that there is a very special gift in this stage of life: the invitation to journey inward.
A friend reminded me that all that one needs is to "look deep" and inspiration emerges even from the ordinary, for the extraordinary is hidden deep within the ordinary. I learned this lesson that day and I am inspired!
Scripture for Life: If Bartimaeus were here, he might beg us to listen deeply for the good news in our fragmented world. He would probably tell us that we really do need to hear and respect viewpoints different from our own.
My spiritual journey has been more of a circle than a path. As I wander, there's room in a circle to move around the edges or go inward and then back out. Ultimately, it's a journey to the center, where God dwells.
Listen: Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister has a reputation as one who dares to ask big, bold questions. Explore them with her in this podcast conversation with her friend and biographer, former NCR editor Tom Roberts.
My contemplative and dialogical self is challenged in this difficult time. The U.S. election is important, and equally important is how I and we will respond to each other in the coming days, weeks, months and years.
Scripture for Life: Jesus has always had followers who recognized and still bet their lives on the faith that weakness opens them to grace, that avoiding the traps of fear and control frees them to believe in the power of their baptism.
Five out of the six featured in this book were avowed religious, and despite my earliest prejudices, their vocation was not because they were docile but precisely because they weren't.
