Witnessing Truth

I've been reflecting on the deaths I have experienced in my life.  Death, and the grief that follows, is an isolating experience. Even though others are experiencing the same loss, even they seem like outsiders.  They had a different  relationship with that person.  And, their loss looks and feels different.  Not only was their relationship different, but their personality and the way they individually grieve is different.  It is in the midst of this difficult time that the world feels completely other.  While you feel like things will never be the same, the world and all your friends continue on, as if this life altering event doesn't even stretch to touch the confines of their life. Then time goes on, we grieve, we heal, and we "get on" with our lives.  Sometimes that takes a couple months, sometimes a few years. But, if you're like me, you never forget.  I still remember very distinctly those experiences of loss, those moments, those f...

Dear Jamaica Plain, Leaving you feels like the bittersweet moment of college graduation.  There's the excitement to move onto the next thing, but also the sadness of leaving a place that has become so dear.  The beginning of my time in Boston was a rough one, but you were always there for me.  Your people were kind and friendly.  Your green space, plentiful.  Your bars were homey and, most definitely, one of a kind.  You gave me the city, but you also gave me the suburbs - all in one.  You provided me with some of the dearest running friends.  You gave me a quiet place to pray, that was unlocked throughout the day.  You gave me the Turkey & Brie sandwich.  The Eliot School House where I played soccer with the ladies of 7P for my first birthday that I celebrated in Boston.  My little spot at the Pond where I would read for hours during the summers. I remember the day I fell in love with you.  I had already accepted the...

"Thirty, flirty, and thriving..."  The wish that Jenna uttered on her "disastrous" 13th birthday in 13 Going on 30  ...and the wish that came true when some magic dust flutters onto her head... (Shout out to my OLHC girls who watched that movie a million times with me). There was something magical (even without the magic dust) about the idea of being 30 when I was younger.  It was the age when I was supposed to have life figured out - an illustrious career, a man I love, friends who have been with me on the journey for years.  But now, as I am only a few short months away from my 30th birthday, I feel like all of my original hopes and dreams are no where close to being realized, and I am left wondering, "Where's my fairy tale ending?" While in the eyes of the world, I may have achieved success - I am after all a Senior Project Manager/Producer for a Video Marketing Agency at the age of 29, after quickly climbing the ladder in 3 short years. Yet, wh...

"Relax." A command so often given, Advice so often dispensed. "Drop the 'shoulds'" Isn't that in and of itself a "should"? My intensity, my drive is so often guided By this misguided direction, end game. The perfect Catholic. Who is she and what should she look like? How do I become her? How does she live and who is she friends with? What kinds of conversations does she have? Where does she spend her time? Relax. Relax?  But shouldn't I be driving, striving for perfection? An objective, a destiny, a destination. The saints, I'm mimicking. There are only so many hours in a day Heaven seems forever away! Let me attain it, let me work for it, let me hustle, and bustle. Here I am a flurry of activity, so busy you can't see me. Does anyone see me? Lord, you know when I sit and stand When I run, when I pray, when I fast, when I work, when I go, go, go. It's all for you, Jesus.  I promise. It's got nothing ...

Fall train rides. Beautiful colors whirring past As the train horn blares Beware, here we come, I'm on my way! To and fro That's where you go All the while seeing the places you pass

"We're in a war, man!" Name that movie.  Anyone?  Well, you probably can't name it because it is such an innocuous and obscure line from Mulan.  Yes, the cartoon. For whatever reason, it has always stuck with me, and often comes up when I think of the spiritual life.  It captures what I need to be reminded of sometimes.  We are in war!  This war may not involve impressive martial arts skills.  Nor does it involve a bunch of cartoon characters breaking out into song.  But this war is for my soul and your soul.  It demands that we know who we are fighting and what we are fighting against.  It is only with this knowledge that we can choose our appropriate weapons.  My current battle ground: my life, my priorities, my time.  So quickly and so easily I find myself bowing to the pressure to stay at work for "just another hour."  Or cutting my prayer time short so I can finish a production schedule because "Jesus understand...

Have you ever been slacklining? If your answer is yes, keep reading.  If your answer is no, I instruct you to shut down your computer or electronic device, and make your way to the nearest park, find a group of people slacklining, and ask to give it a go.  It will change your life.  Okay, maybe that's an overreaching promise, but it will help you understand this post a little bit more. The first time I approached a slackline, I was terrified, but I wasn't going to let anyone else know my secret fear.  I bravely raised myself onto the line, began to extend my legs so I was standing, and then promptly tumbled off.  After a few more shoddy attempts, I eventually gave up on slacklining and regressed to playing with sidewalk chalk (true story).  It was a year before I had another opportunity to approach this "hippie" and "crunchy" activity. This time it was through the same friends that introduced me to the wonderful world of rock climbing.  The very ...