REFORMATION SUNDAY | Ps 46; Rom 3:19-28; Jn 8:31-36 I’ve been teaching spiritual direction for more than fifteen years, now. Most of my students arrive on their first day thinking they’ll learn a set of skills, then they’ll go forth and use those skills. And…they’re not wrong, but the skills they discover they have to master are very different than they suppose. Sure, there are listening skills, and there are discernment tools, as you would expect, but the number one skill th

REMEMBRANCETIDE 3 | Heb 4:12-16; Mk 10:17-31 In the Chuang Tzu, the second-most important book in Taoism, we read the story of Prince Wen Hui’s cook: The cook was cutting up an ox. Out went a hand, down went a shoulder. He planted a foot, he pressed with a knee, the ox fell apart with a whisper. The bright cleaver murmured like a gentle wind. Rhythm! Timing! Like a sacred dance, like a beloved song, like ancient harmonies! “Good work!” the Prince exclaimed, “Your method is fa

It was 1540 the first time members of the Cherokee Nation saw Europeans, an expedition commanded by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Luckily for the tribe, the expedition was just passing through. But as the years passed, they and other Cherokee tribes did not fare as well. Future expeditions brought settlers and the building of forts and fortified towns. Although the Spanish eventually drew back in favor of more lucrative conquests, word had gotten out, and had spread. Ent