Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process. -Anne Wilson Schaef

Recently my favorite baseball team clinched a postseason berth earlier than any other team in the major leagues…Vamos Gigantes! I have enjoyed two blissful weeks of coaching 5th grade boys’ soccer, and my wife starts coaching 4th grade girls volleyball in a few days. Next week I begin my limited fall travel for work, and all feels right in the world. The return of our back-to-school routine and my professional activities are welcome and appreciated. I find myself even enjoying doing homework with my children after-school, which is a nice relief from the challenge of distance learning not that long ago.

In “How to Build In Time to Pray,” author Marina Berzins McCoy cites the importance of intentionality, building in breaks, and practicing gratitude. These elements of a healthy spiritual life resonate with me, as does her suggestion about listening to a song or a hymn to draw ourselves closer to the divine mystery that is God. To that end, I am pleased to share two resources from this past week that supported my prayer. This quote from Meister Eckhart depicted in the image, along with this live performance from Bruce Springsteen of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” filled my heart with appreciation for the time and space to reflect upon the wonder and goodness of God and eternal life. Enjoy.

The key to success is action and the essential in action is perseverance. -Sun Yat Sen

Christ on the Sea of Galilee (1841, Eugene Delacroix)

This week while in a meeting, one school leader described the awkward “nuances of interconnectedness” that are strained during this current round of re-opening schools. She referenced how students are unable to speak during lunch because they are forced to eat indoors due to the physical campus restraints of this particular school, and how faculty miss out on the informal lunchroom professional development and community-building. All the schools I work with are now open for this new academic year, and I remain inspired that they continue to do so with grace given all the realities presented by how our society continues to confront Covid-19 in our communities.

Meanwhile my family, friends, and colleagues in the New Orleans area are challenged by the damage, loss, and lack of electricity caused this week by Hurricane Ida. Family in Pennsylvania may be threatened by tornados and/or flash flooding today. And fellow Californians flee the Lake Tahoe area and other locales around our state that are devastated by wildfires.

What are we do amidst such conditions? God invites us to love. To trust. To persevere. To serve.

Monday’s Psalm reading encourages us to give praise to God. This is easier for me to do as a person of privilege, whereby others without medical care, those who do not have the economic means to evacuate areas, or and those without communities of support may be unable to do so. Let us keep those individuals especially in our prayers throughout this week ahead.

In addition to the Psalm below, I invite you to listen to these two songs as well. I have been listening to a lot of blues music lately, and California is a song from a 1960’s British blues band that played with John Mayall. And this cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah– by my favorite Irish cellist Patrick Dexter- is worth a listen, too.

Psalm 96

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell God’s glory among the nations;
among all peoples, God’s wondrous deeds.

For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is God, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.

Before the LORD, for God comes to rule the earth.
God shall rule the world with justice.

Prayer is paying attention. -Joan Baez

This week at home we are off to the races- the new school year has begun and the mornings in our home are abuzz with anticipation. And some frantic energy to start our walk to school on time! I love this time of year and it’s wonderful to be reminded of the joys of the post-summer return to in-person learning. It’s been a couple LONG years since we’ve experienced this type of reward…and I am very grateful for the health officials and educators who work so tirelessly to make our schools safe for kids these days.

Yesterday I became re-acquainted with one of my favorite ballads, “The Lakes of Ponchartrain.” The version of this old Irish tune is best performed by Paul Brady, in my opinion. I invite you to view it on YouTube here. It’s a beautiful and at times tragic story. Yet resilience shines through, much like faith challenges us to do as well.

Journey of Exploration

Let us set out together on a journey of exploration,
an adventure of discovery.

Let us trust our Self
to find our own unique ways
to walk with God on our journey.

Let us trust our Self
to learn to dance along the path …
our own special dance in rhythm with the Spirit
of God…

Let us trust our Self
to be able to follow the Spirit with confidence…
the Spirit of Life and love…
who longs to lead each of us to abundant life
and love and happiness.

Let us trust God in the depths of our Self…
and believe that our own deep desire for God
is “only a shadow”
of God’s passionate desire for us.

Let us believe that we only need to let go…
and to be open to God
in whatever tiny ways we are able…
and that God will respond with eagerness…
illuminating our path…
and then running exuberantly to meet us
with arms flung wide
to embrace each of us
in divine and fervent love.

– By Jean Gill

Come to us, Holy Spirit, remain with us, and enlighten our hearts. Give us light and strength to know your will, to make it our own, and to live it in our lives. -Vatican Council II (1962)

Recently while on vacation, my daughter took a tumble off of her bike. From 50 feet in front of her, my viewpoint left me fearful that I would peel her off the bike trail with her bottom teeth sticking through her forehead. Miraculously, she escaped relatively unscathed! With just a couple scratched elbows, she planted herself firmly back on her bike following her fall, in order to successfully complete the final two miles of our six mile family bike ride. The resiliency of children continues to inspire and amaze me!

The schools with whom I am privileged to work are now back in session; my kids return next week. Summer is over, Covid continues, and together we persevere. I pray for all who are suffering.

I recently read this poem by Mary Oliver that reminded me of the benefit of placing ourselves within the context of God’s greater creation.

Wild Geese- Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

And this morning I read today’s Scripture and recalled the strength of the Hebrew people as they persevered toward their own liberation. I have hope.

Psalms 85(84),9.11-12.13-14

I will hear what God proclaims; 
the LORD–for God proclaims peace. 
To God’s people, and to God’s faithful ones, 
and to those who put in God their hope. 
Kindness and truth shall meet; 
justice and peace shall kiss. 
Truth shall spring out of the earth, 
and justice shall look down from heaven. 
The LORD will give God’s benefits; 
our land shall yield its increase. 
Justice shall walk before God, 
and salvation, along the way of God’s steps.

Blessings to you, and in a special way, to all educators and students, in hopes for their healthy and safe return to school. I pray that they build and sustain nurturing relationships of trust and support. May this new year ahead bring us growth, community and unity.

I don’t regret. I don’t forget. But I still love. – Miles Davis

The other night I spent two hours on a plane on the tarmac of Philadelphia’s International Airport. While patiently awaiting to take off at the conclusion of the thunder and lightening storm, I watched “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” on Netflix. Not only was I grateful that I had thought to previously download the movie onto my I-Pad, I also enjoyed this documentary about one of my favorite musicians. I learned new aspects of his life and inspirations, and appreciated the welcome chance to sit still and be entertained.

I have spent significant time with family in Philadelphia throughout the past six weeks. Reflecting often on the notions of community and time, I recognize the privilege I enjoy of traveling back and forth to where I grew up. And I’m also grateful for the love and support of my spouse throughout these ventures back east.

I have also been thinking and praying often about the concept of “Journey,” most especially the journey of life. Richard Rohr, OFM, recently offered this excellent reflection on the journey of the Hebrew People. I am pleased to share it with you in hopes that you too find it a helpful resource. Visit the Center for Action and Contemplation for this resource below and many more…enjoy!

Great Themes of Scripture:
Hebrew Bible

Sunday
When we have an understanding of the great themes of Scripture, the whole book from Genesis to Revelation, we see it as communicating a pattern to humanity. The message is this: You are loved. You are unique. You are free. You are on the way. You are going somewhere. Your life has meaning. 

Monday
Perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind when reading the first chapters of Genesis is that it is written not about the past but about the perennial present, the present that is always with us.

Tuesday
Israel is, as it were, humanity personified, and so what happened to Israel is what happens to everyone who sets out on the journey of faith.

Wednesday
God has communicated in a million ways that “I am your power,” but we do not believe and trust what we cannot see or prove. Instead, we bow down to lesser kings (like institutions, nations, wars, ideologies, etc.) that we can see, even when they serve us quite poorly.

Thursday
Job has experienced life’s meaninglessness. Yet in the experience of God he has found meaning, he has touched on something Real, something that seems capable of going on forever.

Friday
God’s chosenness is for the sake of communicating chosenness to everybody else!

Praying the Psalms

Christians tend to read much of the Hebrew Scriptures as a history book, but I hope this week’s meditations provided a glimpse into how much more they have to offer us. They are not merely descriptions of events that happened long ago, but an ongoing revelation of what God is doing today—not only in other people but in us! Perhaps no book is more accessible in this way than the Psalms, which reflect the fullness of the human experience—celebration and sorrow, praise and lament—on a personal and collective scale. Author Nan Merrill created a modern text based on the Hebrew Psalms, not a direct translation but as a way for us to access the depth of their beauty and emotion. She hopes that praying them can serve as a “loving movement toward engendering peace, harmony, and healing in our wounded world.” [1] She writes: 

Who among us has not yearned TO KNOW the Unknowable? . . .

The Psalms have ever been a response to these deep yearnings: cries of the soul . . . songs of surrender . . . paeans of praise. . . . Affirming the life-giving fruits of love and acknowledging the isolation and loneliness of those separated from Love, may serve to awaken the heart to move toward wholeness and holiness. [2]

I invite you to pray with Merrill’s interpretation of Psalm 60 today:

Psalm 60

O Beloved, why do I believe that
       I can separate myself
                  from You, feeling like
       an alien in a foreign land?
       O, that I might return to
                  the Light.
You know how I tremble with fear;
       help me to break down the walls,
       to let go of illusions, for
                  I want to stand tall.
You have allowed me to suffer
                  hard things;
       You have not prevented my
                  downfall.
You, who are Love, gave me leeway
                  to choose,
       to wander far from home.

O my Beloved, be gracious unto me,
       welcome me back into new life,
                  hear my prayer!

The Comforter came to me:
       “With joy are you ever at home
                  in my Heart,
       as I have always lived in yours.
You are mine; I belong to you;
       the broken are blessed with
                   humility,
       the wayward who turn back
                  walk with me as love,
                  walk with me knowing Love.
Let your mind be guided by truth,
       your heart informed by wisdom;
       then will you know peace and joy.”

Who will enter the Heart of Love?
       Who will open their hearts and
                  know the Beloved?
Who dares to face their fears, to
       break down the prison walls,
                  to walk with Love?
O grant us help to answer the call,
       strengthen us with pure resolve!
With the Beloved we shall triumph;
       with Love we shall be free! [3]

Experience a version of this practice through video and sound.

[1] Nan C. Merrill, Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, 10th anniv. ed.  (Continuum: 2007), x. Used with permission. 

[2] Merrill, Psalms for Praying, ix. 

[3] Merrill, Psalms for Praying, 111–112. 

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. – Maya Angelou

This morning my daughter asked if we would do different activities once all our kids were vaccinated. I replied back, “sure,” and then asked her the first new thing she wanted to do. She quickly replied back, “Go to the movies!” One of my sons immediately chimed in, “Yes, let’s go to the movies!” I haven’t even thought of a movie theater in about 18 months….and so I appreciated their perspective.

Speaking of perspective, last night I sat looking out the front window of our house at John McLaren Park. This park has been one of our family’s pandemic finds, as we’ve enjoyed hiking there, riding bikes and playing at a completely renovated playground. The view of this water tower depicted in this picture reminded me of the sacred nature of water. Here in California, and amidst record breaking heat in the Pacific Northwest, I pray for water and the safety of all who protect us against wildfires.

A friend sent me this poem last week- enjoy!

Continue by Maya Angelou (2016)

Into a world which needed you
My wish for you
Is that you continue

Continue

To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness

Continue

To allow humor to lighten the burden
of your tender heart

Continue

In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter

Continue

To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined

Continue

To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you

Continue

To remember your own young years
And look with favor upon the lost
And the least and the lonely

Continue

To put the mantel of your protection
Around the bodies of

The young and defenseless

Continue

To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise

Continue

To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected

Continue

To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good

Continue

To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit

Continue

To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing

Continue

To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name

Continue

And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue

Eternally

“Growth-minded leaders… start with a belief in human potential and development – both their own and other people’s. ” Carol S. Dweck

In recent weeks I have participated in several year-end meetings and rituals via Zoom. The experience, resiliency, and empathy demonstrated by the leaders of our Lasallian schools continue to impress me. One colleague noted that “transparency builds trust,” most especially during this recent pandemic year of leading, teaching, and learning. Modeling vulnerability is one primary way that I have witnessed this transparency in leadership, and I am grateful for the maturity, self-awareness, and discipline demonstrated by my colleagues in sharing so generously of themselves this past academic year.

This past weekend, my family and I attended a San Francisco Giants baseball game against my home-town Philadelphia Phillies. To be honest, it felt like the most normal thing we have done in nearly a year and a half. Along with our kids’ return to summer camps this week, our next big re-opening adjustment will be when our neighborhood library re-opens later this summer. I recognize our privilege of enjoying these types of activities while other societies around the world struggle with the danger and devastation of their local Covid-realities.

Lately I have been praying to Mary, the Mother of God, for her support and guidance. This picture is from the site of my office, which is located on the grounds of a beautiful retreat center in Napa, CA. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

“Education is about elevation.” – George Courus

On Sunday I came across this beautiful image on Twitter, and thought it a perfect picture to honor Mother’s Day. Sunday also marked the feast of Saint Louise de Marillac, herself a single mother who overcame great adversity to co-found the Daughters of Charity. I was privileged to previously lead a school named after her, and as such have a special affinity toward her life and legacy. This year, too, I cherished my own mother on Sunday, for a variety of reasons, along with my wife and her mother, and I remain grateful for all mothers and mother-like figures who support and guide young people today.

In recent weeks, my ventures out to the schools with whom I work have been a source of great inspiration to me. Today I met with various faculty, staff and administrators at one of these Lasallian schools and I left hopeful. The work is not yet complete (although graduation is soon:). I pray for the opportunity for a break for each of them this upcoming summer…along with their students, who also deserve a respite from the educational rollercoaster of the past 12+ months!!!

This week I came across “New Beatitudes for Today” in The Little White Book. I share them in hopes that they clarify for each of us our shared priorities both as people of faith, and at the most foundational level, as members of our global family. Here’s to the week ahead!

From Pope Francis (2016):

Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils influenced on them by others and forgive them from the heart.

Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness.

Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover them.

Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

“The whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of God to whom we pray.” – Julian of Norwich

Here in San Francisco, yesterday we moved into the “yellow tier,” the least restricted level of California’s re-opening system. The state plans to fully re-open within about six weeks. In some ways I find it surreal, in other ways I continue to marvel at the miracle of modern medicine, the heroism of so many individuals, and the beauty of coming together as community.

I am pleased to share one of my favorite prayers from Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I trust that we can continue to place our hopes and dreams in the hands of God. Blessings on your week ahead!

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

“Tell the truth. Communicate for understanding. Practice compassion.” -Dr. Anthony Fauci

This morning on the walk to school we noticed so many birds – a dove, a robin, a crow and a finch, among others. We previously walked with our kids for years without noticing these pleasant additions to our daily morning experience. Perhaps there are simply more birds during this spring time, yet I also bet that our attentiveness to these important observations has been honed over the course of this past year…another pandemic blessing.

Yesterday I rode public transportation for the first time in a year. I also re-introduced myself to our local tailor when I dropped off dry-cleaning. I feel as if I am gradually re-awakening from hibernation. While the transition to this period of hibernation was forced and abrupt, that my family can be slow and purposeful in our re-entry to renewed life is an incredible privilege. I pray that our intentionality and awareness of our gift of health, and life in general, is sustained throughout the months ahead.

Dr. Anthony Fauci “stopped by” a virtual conference I am currently attending, and his honest reflection on leadership and community provided a welcome perspective. He credits his Jesuit education in high school for shaping his values. My own experience with the Jesuits in college reflects a similar sentiment of gratitude and appreciation on my part.

I’ll conclude this week with sharing the Psalms passage from this Monday’s readings. May your week ahead be a blessed one!

Psalm 42

Athirst is my soul for the living God.

As the hind longs for the running waters,
    so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
    When shall I go and behold the face of God?

Athirst is my soul for the living God.

Send forth your light and your fidelity;
    they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
    to your dwelling-place.

Athirst is my soul for the living God.

Then will I go in to the altar of God,
    the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
    O God, my God!

Athirst is my soul for the living God