I started writing/sharing something here every day more than five years ago. I’m taking a sabbatical from writing here probably for the rest of the year, so that streak comes to an end today. When I started the habit of daily writing, it was as much a commitment to “put pen to paper” or “think…
What we’re doing now and what we’ll do later
I went for what turned out to be a great run late this afternoon in an empty Washington; sharing a few scenes from the run and some quarantine thoughts. E. J. Hutchinson writes on “learning in quarantine,” reflecting on his post-September 11th experience and C.S. Lewis’s 1939 Learning in War-Time address: We are once again…
Palm Sunday during pandemic
Yesterday I walked to Saint Stephen Martyr for confession. Spring is emerging in its fullness in Georgetown, so the walk there was beautiful. I also saw my first Biden yard sign. It was the first time I’ve set foot in a church since the pandemic closures, since I got back from my Longlea retreat three…
Into a perfect state
I spent today with Michael Pakaluk’s latest book, “The Memoirs of St. Peter: A New Translation of the Gospel According to Mark“. Perfect for Holy Week and Easter, and a rich and fresh way to encounter Christ through Peter. Like Romano Guardini’s “The Lord”, there’s a closeness and an immediacy with Christ through the book. There’s…
Rose Park in springtime
Washington feels largely emptied out since self-distancing and quarantine/lockdown really came into place in mid-March. And since Mayor Bowser’s formal stay-at-home order, the feeling of emptiness has increased somewhat. I still get out to go for runs, and public exercise is allowable along with other reasons to be out like heading for groceries, etc. Americans…
Potomac pandemic run
I’ve been letting too many of the days under quarantine go by from waking to sleeping without meaningfully getting outdoors. As our typical routines have evaporated, the simple interludes in our day that we end up taking for granted or complain about turn out to be key bookends that give structure to our days: our…
Spanish Flu and solidarity
A century ago the Spanish Flu tore through the United States and the world for three years, an influenza that infected one of every four people on earth and killed at least 17 million human beings, but probably millions more. As we debate the right prudential balance between the harms posed by the health crisis…
‘What we set our eyes on’
It’s spring in Washington and flowers are starting to bloom. Though few are out to enjoy them in this season of quarantine. Karen Swallow Prior and Jen Pollock Michel dialogue on autonomy and true freedom in an eight minute conversation on “why freedom needs boundaries”. Worth watching/listening: Karen Swallow Prior begins the conversation by reminding…
‘Within easy walking distance’
Alan Watts writes in his book, “In My Own Way: An Autobiography:” Two things amaze me. One is that American bureaucracies cannot tolerate those minor pockets of irregularity that are essential to a free people—little areas where building codes and bluenose laws do not apply, and where adventurous young men and women can try to…
‘Whatever the place of death in you is’
In the Gospel today we hear of Jesus raising the dead man, Lazarus. Since churches remain closed due to the virus, this Mass was spiritual communion today: Bishop Barron’s homily is beautiful today, I think one of the best I’ve heard from him. It speaks of Christ’s power over death and the divisiveness of the…