Tag: Monastic Way

PLAY – the Best Medicine

A couple weeks ago Floey and I went for a long morning walk, and it really felt like summer for the first time this year. The sun had warmed the air to the mid 70s, a few white clouds floated in the bright blue sky, the birds were singing, and cornfields were showing off neat…

Marian

June 20, 2017

Gardening, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

Albert Einstein, Alexa, Amazon Echo, arthritis of the soul, best medicine, childhood memories, cowboys and Indians, Floey, importance of play, Joan Chittister, lazy hazy crazy days of summer, Monastic Way, morning walk, play, summer, treasure hunt, walks with Floey
Let’s Pray, Floey

“Hey, Mom. We need to have a talk.” “OK, Floey. What’s on your mind?” “Ever since you stopped writing your blog every week, I feel that we don’t talk at all. Oh, I know we still talk about the birds and the bees and the gophers when we’re on our walks – how beautiful the…

Marian

September 13, 2016

God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Amazing Grace, authentic prayer, balm in gilead, chaplain, communicating with God, conversation with Floey, conversation with God, Floey, glowing prayer, God’s healing, goldfinches, gophers, Joan Chittister, killing niece, Monastic Way, murdering niece, prayer, prayer circle, praying for each other, praying in jail, role of prayer, Teresa of Avila, The Monastic Way
Dot-to-Dot Life

Dot-to-Dot books were my absolute favorite activity books when I was a little girl – even better than coloring books – well, maybe my Red Ryder cowboy coloring book was the best of all – but other than that, dot-to-dot pages were my favorites. I could spend hours drawing lines from number to number…

Marian

July 5, 2016

Book Recommendations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

50th high school class reunion, 50th reunion, activity books, career aspirations, career changes, career dreams, Catherine of Siena, class reunion, coloring books, David Viscott, destiny, different gifts, discovering our gifts, dot-to-dot, dot-to-dot books, early writings, Firstlight, God’s gift to us, high school reunion, Joan Chittister, Lee Kampstad, life calling, lifelong adventure, meaning of life, Merton, Monastic Way, Navy Parachute Rigger, one dot at a time, our gift to God, parachute jumping, purpose of life, Red Ryder, ripcord, selfhood, St. Catherine of Siena, Sue Monk Kidd, That First Step, The Monastic Way, vocation, work of life
Making the World a Softer, Better Place

This past weekend I kept checking Facebook on my smartphone, waiting for news and pictures. It was a big weekend for my family. My great niece Mollie was in Fort Worth, Texas, competing at the national championships for gymnastics. Meanwhile, her twin sister Katie was on the prom court of the Cambridge High School Junior…

Marian

May 10, 2016

Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

African proverb, Cambridge High School, Facebook, Fort Worth, Gracie Korth, guardian angel, gymnastics, It takes a village, It takes a village to raise a child, Joan Chittister, Junior Olympic National Team, junior prom, Katie Korth, Kevin Korth, kindness, making the world a softer better place, Mollie Korth, Monastic Way, national championship, No act of kindness, No act of kindness is ever wasted, Olympic coaches, prom court, Shawn Korth, stilts
Why in the World do I keep writing blog posts?

When I sat down at my computer to draft this blog post, my dog Floey came up to me, sat down, looked up and asked, “Hey, Mom. Why in the world do you keep writing blog posts? Just think about how much time we would have for walks if you didn’t do all this writing.”…

Marian

December 8, 2015

Blogs, God’s Love, Reflections

blog posts, Floey, God’s love, God-given gifts, going for a walk, Joan Chittister, life calling, Monastic Way, passion for writing, reflections, spiritual beings, Teilhard de Chardin, term paper, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Blog, writing
No Vacuum in this Mind

My mind is incapable of tolerating a vacuum. It always finds something to be anxious about, or some problem to be solving, or at least some imminent decisions to be mulling over. Often there are multiple urgent thoughts competing for my attention. Then my mind might start thrashing – a technical computer term that kind…

Marian

November 10, 2015

Life’s Challenges, Reflections

choice, Choice is the holiest of the virtues, choice of action, choices, Christmas Mountain, decisions, getting a new car, gratitude, Joan Chittister, John Dewey, joy, kindness, MacBook, Monastic Way, mulling over, Prius V, selling the farmhouse, special word, The Monastic Way, The things we love tell us who we are, Thomas Aquinas, thoughts, thrashing, vacuum, Victor Frankl, virtues, Windows laptop
I’m Getting Smarter Every Day

“Congratulations, Floey. You did it. You graduated from Intermediate Class at Dog’s Best Friend Training in Madison. I was surprised your teacher decided to award you your certificate, even though you will have to miss your last class. Apparently you learned everything you needed to know in five classes instead of six. Wow! I guess…

Marian

July 27, 2015

Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

accomplishments, Dog’s Best Friend Training, Floey, getting smarter, Intermediate Class, Joan Chittister, learned everything, Monastic Way, open-minded, open-mindedness, right way, The Monastic Way
For Crying Out Loud

According to the idioms section of TheFreeDictionary.com, “for crying out loud” is “An exclamation of anger or exasperation, as in For crying out loud, can’t you do anything right? This term is a euphemism for for Christ’s sake. For crying out loud, I’ve been reading Joan Chittister’s monthly pamphlet for more than four years now.…

Marian

June 2, 2015

God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Anne Frank, avalanche, Brother Mickey McGrath, Cry Out, First they came for the communists, For Christ’s sake, For crying out loud, Helen Keller, Joan Chittister, Martin Niemoller, Monastic Way, silence, snowflake, spiritual narcissism, St. Catherine of Siena, the world is rotten
Why Was I Created?

Over the last few years I’ve had the practice of starting the day with reading from two or three devotional books by my favorite inspirational writers. This year I’m reading: The Monastic Way by Joan Chittister (a pamphlet that comes monthly, with the readings of each month based on a common theme), Bread for the…

Marian

March 10, 2015

Book Recommendations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

called by God, change in my life, daily devotions, devotional book, failure, God’s love, God-given gifts, Henri Nouwen, Jimmy Carter, Joan Chittister, Korth-Jacobson LLC, life calling, life challenges, life changes, life purpose, listening for God, meaningless work, Monastic Way, reflections, self-employed, spirituality, talking with God, The Purpose-Driven Life, USA TODAY poll, wasting my life
Canine Wisdom

Floey came running over to me. Her tail was wagging as fast as it can wag, but she dutifully sat down and looked up at me. “Hey, Mom. Has it come yet?” she asked. “What’s that, Floey?” “My check for $50. Remember Ellen at ARVSS (Animal Rescue & Veterinary Support Services) where I came from…

Marian

March 3, 2015

Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Animal Rescue & Veterinary Support Services, ARVSS, canine wisdom, Certificate of Achievement, daily devotions, diploma, dog training, Floey, graduation present, Joan Chittister, life challenges, lost check, Monastic Way, patience, reflections, SIT-STAY, spirituality