Soul-Shaking Wonder at the Incarnation

Soul-Shaking Wonder at the Incarnation

One of the most remarkable features of human reality is how the supernatural relates to the natural. At once, the supernatural brings out what was somehow latent (and in a sense waiting!) in the natural, even as it stunningly transcends, and so also elevates and...
Do the Stars Really Stand in Attendance?

Do the Stars Really Stand in Attendance?

Yesterday I experienced once again the astounding Byzantine liturgy of Epiphany. Among other things, there was the special blessing of water, wherein the entire natural world is invoked as a chorus of witnesses to its Creator. This gives occasion to ask whether we...
Learning from Trees like St. Bernard

Learning from Trees like St. Bernard

“He has no other teachers besides the oaks and beeches.” Words we might expect about Thoreau in fact are about one of the great Christian intellectuals of the Middle Ages. Today when a focus on trees too often betokens a turning away from the Creator of trees, we can...
Spring: Make Life Seasonal Again

Spring: Make Life Seasonal Again

Spring is calling. And we can answer, before it’s too late. Nature—and I mean the wonderful world bursting into bloom and the human nature throbbing within us—is always on our side. It never stops calling us to richer, fuller life. We can listen to our flesh. It has...
Rediscover the Ordinary This Spring

Rediscover the Ordinary This Spring

I am convinced that our most significant response to the challenges of our age will be in the most ordinary practices. I do not say the obvious but the ordinary. Ordinary is a great word; it means what pertains to the regular order. We live in a time when what used to...

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