No Guarantees
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The future is not promised: That is a big lesson for 13-year-olds, who think they are indestructible.
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Clothed in Humility: How I’m Learning From the Holy and Humble
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Humility is a concept that is difficult to define. We often think of it as an antithesis to confidence. But this is simply untrue. Many of our favorite leaders in history or in our own lives are treasured because of their humility. I think of St Teresa of Calcutta and her work with the poorest of the poor in India. Or an old boss who always said it was the interns who did most of the difficult work on a project, not him. There is an openness in humility. A flexibility to learn something new. A teachable spirit. Humility allows us to listen. And ultimately, humility is connected to God’s sovereignty.
Read MoreZoom Event: The Art We Live With
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The Collegium Institute and Dappled Things invite you to join us for this online event which will bring together a diversity of voices to explore the need to prioritize, make, and seek beauty in our everyday lives, beyond the walls of museums and concert halls.
Read MoreSlow Down Your Day With These 3 Practices
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If you’re interested in making space for beauty in your daily schedule, here are a few easy places to start.
Read MoreA Sense of Serenity
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“Serenity now.” Instead of saying this as intended—in a calm, tranquil, meditative manner—Frank screams it, very likely skyrocketing his blood pressure even further. The effect is hysterical, and I realize, I am laughing, too, at myself.
When I am anxious or frightened, I call out to God, and much like Frank Costanza.
Read MoreThe Prayers of My Junior High Math Teacher Have Sustained Me Far Beyond My School Years
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Touched by the reaction from my jr high classmates on this essay I wrote on our math teacher. A call to prayer for our own children caught in today’s spiritual crossfire.
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Seeing Like Jesus
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We can see like Jesus by knowing him. How can we see as he does if we do not spend time with him?
Read MorePre-Order My Brian Doyle Biography!
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I am OVERJOYED to share that my biography on writer Brian Doyle is now on the Liturgical Press website for pre-order! I look forward to sharing this book with you virtually and in person as we learn to look for God in the ordinary through Brian's eyes.
Read MoreA Letter to Say ‘Thanks’ to the Workers Building Skyscrapers
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I see you bouncing up and down the hill in packs of three or four or six, with your yellow hard hats and your weighty shoes and your igloo coolers with lunches large enough to sustain a teenage athlete or a member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery or … a construction worker.
Read MoreUwen Akpan's "Say You're One of Them"
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Each opening sentence of Uwem Akpan's short stories in his debut collection "Say You're One of Them" pull the reader into the story:
"Selling your child or nephew could be more difficult than selling other kids."
Or "Now that my eldest sister, Maisha, was 12, none of us knew how to relate to her anymore."
Each of these five short stories is told from the perspective of a child, and with the first sentence, Akpan demands your attention.
Grace at Rock Bottom
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"When a person is at rock bottom, one is humbled. He or she finds him- or herself in a place where all one can do is depend on the grace of God."
Read MoreCalled to be Holy
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I don’t want to be afraid of looking different or of being made fun of anymore.
It’s time — for our sense of community, our sense of justice, and our Church to look completely different.
Read MoreNew Substack Undaunted Joy Launched
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Joy is the present tense, with the whole emphasis on the present. -Soren Kierkegaard
Welcome to Undaunted Joy!
The world seems to suffocate joy—but joy is not an indulgence; it is a way of life! Undaunted Joy offers the gift of bliss and wonder in weekly brief but glorious prose. I’ll share an unrestrained and delightful lens to view both the ordinary and mysterious, and I hope you will seek to see the world through this lens too.
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Joy Can Follow Suffering
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Fear attached itself to our ability to experience happiness, as did a sense of guilt. Who am I to be happy when people are dying? When others are unhappy?
But who are you not to be?
Read MoreA Study of "Christ in Limbo"
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Benvenuto di Giovanni’s painting “Christ in Limbo” captures the split second before these faces realize who is standing before them. Who has come to save them.
Read MoreGuard Your Heart and Mind
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I’ve been spinning. Reacting. Getting caught up in things that are not important.
Maybe you have been too.
Read MoreCome Thou Fount of Every Blessing
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“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,/ prone to leave the God I love.”
This line from the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” rings true to me.
Read MoreWhen Your Life is in Ruins, Simple Companionship is Such a Gift
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Shemaiah’s world fell apart when her fiancée left unexpectedly. The next day, she crossed paths with a work acquaintance who had the vision to see that she was in distress. His simple gesture was enough to help her return from the margins of grief.
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