Archive - Jul 21, 2017
The Daily Office and Maximizing Mission
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/21/2017 - 06:55One thing I have asked of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.
Recently, I’ve been attempting to pray Celtic Daily Prayer each morning from the Northumbria Community Daily Office. I save additional reflections on what it might mean to dwell in the house of the Lord in the Celtic context for a different post. For the time being, I’ll simply quote John Scotus Eriugena
Christ wears two shoes in the world: Scripture and nature. Both are necessary to understand the Lord, and at no stage can creation be seen as a separation of things from God.
Instead, I want to start off thinking about this story: Eric Trump Picked a Fight With Keith Olbermann on Twitter. It Did Not Go Well.
Eric Trump tweeted, “You mean the $16.3 million dollars I have raised for dying children (before the age of 33) at a 12% expense ratio.”
One thing I have asked of the Lord, to keep my expense ratio low….
To me, this seems to capture the fundamental issue underlying America today, what matters to you? Is it lower taxes, lower expense ratios, maximizing revenue?
I am not arguing against fiscal responsibility. I think that is important. The head of the health center I work at often says, “No margin, no mission”. Efforts to serve to common good must be sustainable. Yet the goal isn’t maximizing the margin, it is maintaining the mission.
Unfortunately, this focus of maximizing the margin has become a be all and end all for too many people.
Daily Examen, Thursday, July 20, 2017
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/21/2017 - 00:47Headline: Senator McCain
Has Brain Cancer
and all the pundits
scramble
to recalculate
the political calculus,
and I think of
the Late Senator
Edward Kennedy,
and a friend posts on Facebook
about her son
who has also died of brain cancer,
and I think of
another friend on Facebook
who lost her son
a few years ago
this month
to brain cancer.
We must listen to other voices
and pray for those who grieve.
At noon-time Eucharist
we celebrated the life
of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and the importance
of women’s voices
in politics,
in religion,
in arts,
in life,
and a friend
whose brother died
on the shores of Dunkirk
said she couldn’t watch
the documentary;
it wasn’t likely to tell
her side of the story
hearing the battle raging
across the channel,
and we talked about
the importance
of women’s voices
in politics,
in religion,
in arts,
in life.
