» Archives for calm

Lessons from a Flight Delay

Written by on June 15, 2010 - 14 Comments

As I write this I’m cruising at 30,000 feet on my way to Omaha, Nebraska to spend the week at the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) at Creighton University.  IPF is a wonderful program designed to help seminarians enter into a deeper relationship with the Holy Trinity.  There are 175 seminarians from all over the country that will spend ten weeks studying, praying, and doing volunteer work.

My flight was scheduled to leave Providence at 12:30, but due to bad weather in Detroit it was delayed by about an hour.  The delay almost made me miss my connection, but the pilot did a good job of “making up time in the air.”  On a side note, I’ve never figured that one out: if they can make up time in the air, why don’t they just increase the flight speed all the time to shorten all flights?

The short delay prompted me to ponder some life lessons: Read more »

Calm in the Midst of the Storm

Written by on September 1, 2009 - 6 Comments

“Stop this train.  I want to get off and go home again.  I can’t take the speed it’s moving in.  I know I can’t; but honestly won’t someone stop this train.”  -John Mayer

We often miss the gift of life because we live at a speed that is just too fast.  Our American way of life is just too fast.  Few of us are exempt from the busy, fast-paced life—priests included.  The demands of job and family life can be overwhelming for the laity; the demands of ministry can be overwhelming for priests and religious.  But so many of us believe the lie that if we’re not busy, then we’re not effective; and as we get caught in the maelstrom of our busyness, we experience emotional and spiritual pain.wilma

I’ve reflected on this reality of the busy, fast-paced life for a while and I’ve come to see that it’s not so much about being too busy that causes our pain; it’s really about not being rooted.   Read more »

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...