Tag Archives: identity
On becoming who you are
In early summer, I look for good commencement speeches. I look for speeches that offer sound advice for living, insights that help me wear my life better, timeless truth dressed in fresh language. Most of what I find offer little more than ordinary boilerplate, quickly and easily forgotten. A few rise above the ordinary and […]
On getting to know the Sirens
“You are worried and distracted by many things.” The words have dogged me for decades. Jesus addressed them to Martha when she tried to triangulate him into settling her disagreement with Mary about some after-dinner chores (Luke 10:38-42), but they keep hitting their mark in me. So do the ones that followed, “there is need […]
Mary’s question
Mary Oliver’s question keeps returning. “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” Like the question from Thomas Merton, “If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live or what I like to eat or how I comb my hair, but ask me […]
The use of money, part 2
Enough small talk. No more chatter about what team we favor for the playoffs, or which apple we think makes the best pie, or what we like to do in our free time. If we’re going to know one another, Thomas Merton – if we take him seriously, and if we take our life seriously […]
