Archive - 2017
June 16th
What's Eating at You?
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 06/16/2017 - 04:52Young men
breaking their Ramadan fast
saw their building
consumed by flames
and sought to save
the world
by saving their neighbors.
An older man,
consumed by rage
began shooting
at congressmen;
another
at ex co-workers.
At mid-day mass
the faithful gathered
to be consumed
by God’s Love
as they tasted
the Body of Christ,
the Bread of Heaven.
June 15th
The Daily Examen - June 14, 2017
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 06/15/2017 - 08:27Between an apartment complex fire,
multiple shootings,
and the general political turmoil
it can be a challenge to focus
on spirit and beauty
and all that is good.
Yet the reminders are all around us
hidden in a flower,
a shadow,
or a cloud.
June 14th
The Daily Examen – June 11-13, 2017
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 06/14/2017 - 05:36Sunday, June 11, 2017
Sitting quietly on the deck
reflecting;
Poetry, Pilgrimages,
and a gentle reminder
that sometimes
others can care
some of the load.
Monday, June 12, 2017
What if
instead of praying without ceasing
we became
an unceasing prayer?
What if
our commute
instead of being part of the daily grind
became a spiritual exercise
and we saw the overlooked beauty
and suffering
around us.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
The Feast Day of St. Anthony of Padua
and G.K. Chesteron;
help me find the words.
A busy day, a hot day,
a day of reflecting
on spirituality in daily life
and a chance to talk
about translating
spirituality and mission
into the vernacular.
June 11th
The Daily Examen - June 9-10, 2017
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/11/2017 - 07:30Friday, June 9, 2017
Political turmoil grows
both here and abroad.
The list of people needing help
grow
greater than I can handle.
Yet at the community dinner
the old man smiles
and it is enough.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
There are still too many tasks
for a day of rest.
I am weary and queasy.
Yet as I read about Saint Anne
and Mount Athos
and looked out over
Long Island sound
as my daughter practiced her song
about a fallen Romanov
I closed my eyes
and saw pink roses
and knew
that the mercy in the Jesus prayer
was more
than just forgiveness.
June 10th
Pandora Needs Liturgical Help
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 06/10/2017 - 08:47Today I received an email entitled “Classical Advent type of weekend”. In the Christian calendar, Advent is the time of waiting before Christmas. It is a time when the secular world is playing Christmas carols interspersed with ads for Christmas sales, which seems to start about Labor Day. For liturgically minded Christians, it starts on the Sunday closest to November 30th. It is a time of reflection and hopeful expectation.
I’ve often talked about being in a advent phase of life, as I wait hopefully and expectantly for something special in my spiritual life. Is God trying to send me a message via email?
It turns out that the email was from Pandora. I have created quite a few playlists on Pandora and Spotify around specific events or seasons. One such list is “Classical Advent” and apparently Pandora thinks I should listen to it this weekend.
As a side note, when I started up Pandora to get examples from the Pandora playlist, it started a Christmas playlist instead.
