Monthly Archives: December 2015

Thursday This has made for a fine Christmas Eve morning, astonishing sun fills our senses.   Wrestling with words to describe the story within this 1946 photo helps me taste Christmas wonder.  For you too, I hope. John sj Today’s … Continue reading →

Tuesday, December 23  —   “my little heart loses its limits in joy” Advent ends today: three plus weeks of prophecy daring us to see the world, realistically,  as beautiful and beloved.   That dare can shake us when Advent’s antiphons … Continue reading →

Tuesday  December 22  “I have found you in the story again” Joy Harjo has written a new book this fall, “Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.”   A young friend — living in immediate grief when one of his soul friends … Continue reading →

Dec 21 — Winter Solstice 5th O Antiphon “O Oriens” At Detroit’s latitude we will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daylight, 14 hours and 57 minutes of night time. Our shortest day. Today’s O Antiphon, “O Oriens” (“O … Continue reading →

Sunday,  Antiphon # 4 –  O Key of David I drove home on the Ohio turnpike from 3 days renewing c. 40 year friendships in Pittsburgh.    Its time to settle into the last 4 days of advent here on … Continue reading →

Saturday, December 19 O Antiphon #3   O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse O Root of Jesse’s, Who stands as sign to the peoples in whose presence rulers close their mouths to whom the Gentiles send their prayers come … Continue reading →

Friday December 18  –  “to ease attention off when overtight” We are 4 days out from the winter solstice, the shortest day, the sun rising as far south as it gets before turning round to begin its 6 months march … Continue reading →

Thursday December 17  — “It is the 3 strange angels . . . ” D. H. Lawrence, of Lady Chatterley fame, wrote poetry as well. Here is an Advent prayer if there ever was one. “What is the knocking? What is … Continue reading →

Monday, December 14 Last August, Professor Fatemeh Keshavarz, poet and scholar, sent this poem to UDM’s “work day in a hard time” poetry list.  We posted it last August 14.  This morning the language of the poem feels just right given … Continue reading →

Friday, December 11 –  “imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty” November 29 was the anniversary of Bill Pauly’s sudden death at 59, 2006, of a heart attack.  That year Bill played inside a lovely sabbatical after years of demanding … Continue reading →