What Inspires You?

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This question appears on a tee shirt I was given recently. Where to begin? People come to mind at once: Jesus and his prophetic followers; family members and friends; the people I meet on Friday mornings at the Bridgeview Detention Center to pray for immigrants being deported that day; amazing teachers; my Dominican sisters who preach so well and who work so faithfully for justice; mystics who dared to take the plunge into God; the miners in Chile who never gave up hope; truth seekers and peace makers; poets who write so movingly about love and beauty, about life and loss. The list of people, thank God, is endless, because without inspiring people life would be dull indeed, barely worth living!

What else inspires me? Well… music; sunrise and sunset; a pristine shoreline; snow geese in flight, lit by the sun and outlined against a dazzlingly blue sky; stories of courage and compassion and fidelity; conversation about things that matter. All of these things animate and invigorate me. They make me want to persevere in the search for wisdom and truth, in a word -- for God.

What inspires you?

Kaye Ashe, O.P.


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