Posts

From Point A to Point B

-
Image
I have a cartoon drawing on my desk that serves as my reality check.  A straight black line goes across the paper with A at the starting dot and B at the end.  But also found at the A starting point is a different line with color and texture – one that loops and twists and swoops and crosses and recrosses that nice neat straight line – and when  that  line ends at the B dot  it has spelled out the word “LIFE.”  Why do I persist in thinking all my efforts and prayers and projects and plans can or should only work the straight line way I envision them when I start out at A?  What keeps me from enjoying – or even celebrating --  the loops and swoops and crisscrossing – instead of seeing them as obstacles or unwelcome detours?  This Easter season calls us to see the LIFE of the Risen Christ in our own lifelines. This Easter season reminds us of the call to constant conversion and not immovable certainty - aka a straight line --  the call to constant renewal and redirection, a call to embra
Post a Comment
Read more

Dominicans and Spring

-
Image
This beautiful tree and friend of mine can be seen from almost every window in the home in which I live.     I have had the great privilege of watching the tree move into spring.     What a gift to see the dormant beauty of winter turn into springtime splendor.     First were the buds, then the flowers came, and now, the green leaves are moving in… I am reminded that each part of our journey holds grace.  Each step we take is crucial and needed.   As  Dominicans, we are called to be open to finding God everywhere.  During springtime, that means being open to finding God in the sunshine and in the rain, in the warm weather and in the colder days…wherever we turn, God is there.   How about you?  Where are you seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, or touching God these days?     Peggy Ryan, OP Dominican University River Forest , IL 
Post a Comment
Read more

Wildflowers

-
Image
As I take my daily walk these spring days, I come across lots of wildflowers--Texas blue bonnets, Indian paint brushes, pink primroses, and a host of others that I can’t name and in various colors.     They pop up in unexpected places.     That’s the thing about wildflowers, they pop up wildly.     No one planted them, no one takes care of them, and some of them can actually be found in very unkempt areas and scraggly areas.     Not only are they beautiful, but they are abundant and carefree.     What are they telling me about life?  About the world?  About God’s grace?   LouAnne Willette Austin, TX
Post a Comment
Read more

Sisters

-
Image
At this moment, I am joyfully looking forward to a week of vacation with my youngest sister.     I live in Wisconsin and she in Florida.     Though we are 6 years apart in age and have very different personalities, we have come to be each other’s best supporter.     She called me last night to ask a couple of questions that could easily have been answered when I arrived, but I think she, like me, just wanted to connect in anticipation of my arrival.     Though she as hostess looks for a “fun” event or two in her geographical area during our visit, mostly we just enjoy being with each other - sharing stories, teasing each other, offering support to each other through life’s challenges, and laughing a lot.  We have come to respect and honor our unique personalities and life choices.     My relationship with my biological sisters (there were 5 of us growing up together) has prepared me well for being sister with my nearly 300 Dominican Sisters.  As Dominicans of Sinsinawa, we say, “Relati
Post a Comment
Read more

God Who?

-
Image
My Aunt in England  was a little deaf, and my American accent didn't  help. On one of my visits home I was talking to her about God. "God who?" she queried. I said:" You know, Gawd."   "Oh Gawd, YES!",   Another time a little girl was busy coloring her paper, filling it in with her yellow crayon. Her wise teacher asked: "tell me about your picture." Looking up with amazement, she said: "This is God!"   For me today, The Divine Heart beats in all that was, is, and will be in the Cosmic Universe.    For you today, what color, texture, taste, smell, sound and or name have you grown to experience for "God Who?"    Until next time, let's breathe LOVE together,   Caroline Sullivan, OP DePere, WI
1 comment
Read more

Letting Go

-
Image
  I like to swim laps. I love moving through water and reminding myself of Catherine’s words,  ” As the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish, so I am in God and God is in me.”   At the end of my daily swim, I turn onto my back and for a few moments just float on the surface. I allow myself to be conscious of the water supporting me and I practice letting go. I relax my arms and legs, hands and feet, neck, and head.    I focus on my breath, each slow inhale and exhale, and I practice letting go.  For one day I will need to let go of all things. I will let go of my body, of my final breath, deeply trusting that just as the water supports me in this moment so too in my final letting go, I am held and supported always in God’s love.   We humans are born with a prehensile grip and cling tightly to things. No matter how I may try to let go of things, plans, control, I find myself soon grasping and holding on again. I guess it takes a lifetime of practice.   We are above ground f
1 comment
Read more

Patterns and Meaning

-
Image
My nephew Daniel was three years old at the time and his sister Brenna was two. It was early April in Wisconsin, and the streets were clogged with slush. The sky was gray, and the air was damp and cold. Brenna turned to her brother and asked, “Will it ever be warm again?” Daniel, having acquired an unusual lot of wisdom in his young age, responded, “Yes, it will be warm again…and then it will be cold again. It’s ALWAYS like that!”   As we human beings move from one period of life to the next, we begin to see patterns and the patterns give our lives meaning and as we share that meaning with one another we grow together in the realization that there is a Being in the Universe who loves us and cares for us and provides us with what we need. As we share life’s journey, let us be grateful for the kind of change that makes us whole. Mary Ellen Green, OP Woodruff, WI
1 comment
Read more