Monthly Archives: November 2017

Nov 29 “to keep his date with love” W. H. Auden

Wednesday, November 29 —  close the semester’s  finish line. What do we want to tell students as they bring this semester in for a landing with final papers and exams?  — These fifteen weeks  demanded work, and patience, mistakes and starting … Continue reading

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Nov 27 G M Hopkin sj ‘the caged skylark”

Monday, November 27   —  “Man’s mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells” Back to work after a lovely 4 day weekend, a weekend that can open the imagination to beauty and stillness and rest.   Turning back into … Continue reading

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Nov 22 Rumi — “When I die”

Wednesday, November 22   Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi  —  “When I die” Wednesday before Thanksgiving,  work, for many of us, begins to shift from professional skills to hospitality arts – calculating the weight of a large turkey in terms of cooking … Continue reading

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Nov 20 — Jamaal May “Shift”

Monday, November 20   “I don’t know if it’s better to be good at a bad job or bad at a good job” What’s sweet about Thanksgiving, at least one of the sweet things, is a 3 day work week followed … Continue reading

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Nov 14 – Mary Oliver “making the house ready for the Lord”

Tuesday,  November 14 After some wet and gray days, today just knocks me out with classic November sun on crisp November air.  Mary Oliver writes of buttoning down for winter’s coming.  Her poem is all about welcoming improbable visitors into … Continue reading

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November 8 Looks different from Detroit at 6, 000 feet and 30 degrees Fahrenheit

I’m helping with a silent retreat at the Jesuit retreat house on the prairie just south of Denver.  Each morning and evening a small herd of mule deer is outside my window grazing in our very large yard (circa 250 … Continue reading

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Nov 3 – Denise Levertov “Ancient Airs & Dances”

Friday,  November 3   –   “Greyhaired, I have not grown wiser, unless to perceive absurdity is wisdom.” The sun came out for Friday in this work week.   Autumn’s about 1/3 finished (if you count from the equinox in September to the … Continue reading

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Nov 1 – The Feast of All Saints

Wednesday, November 1 Three saints in my life I’m posting All Saints Day like a Jesuit Homie –  three Jesuits: one I lived with for years before he died, Art McGovern.  The second lived a barely recognized life in the … Continue reading

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