McEntyre notes that, in the ancient practice of lectio divina, one sought to maintain “spiritual focus and equanimity” by “reading Scripture slowly, listening for the word or phrase that speaks to you, pausing to consider prayerfully the gift being offered in those words for this moment.” Ditto, the author says, for reading literature.
Tag Archives: Christianity
Reading Literature, A Spiritual Practice
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone, Paul, reading, Religion, Spirituality Comments closed
Let He Who Is without Sin Judge Others
Spiritual Sunday Jackie Paskow, a former colleague from the Foreign Language Department, recently mentioned to me a Flannery O’Connor story that had made an impact on her. We normally visit the Paskows on Sunday evenings—Alan is my friend who has cancer—but as we are out of town for the week, I thought I’d send her, […]
The Church and the Chimney-Sweep’s Cry
In his August 29 Washington Mall speech, rightwing television commentator Glenn Beck attacked (among other things) the notion that Christianity should be concerned with issues of social justice. He accused Barack Obama and liberation theology of distorting Jesus’s message. For the President, Beck said, it’s all about victims and victimhood; oppressors and the oppressed; reparations, […]
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Out of Near Death, a Vision of Love
Spiritual Sunday Thanks to all of you who wrote this past week following the twin blows of my uncle’s death and news of the severity of Alan’s latest cancer diagnosis. The discussion in response to Thursday’s post about which goes deeper, self or love, brought to the periphery of my mind a catechism in which […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged God, Julian of Norwich, love, Religion, Suffering Comments closed
Moving beyond August Madness
Alexander Pope, taking his cue from the Roman poet Juvenal, knew what a crazy month August could be. In The Dunciad the end of civilization occurs in August, coinciding with the rise of the “dog star” Sirius: Now flam’d the Dog Star’s unpropitious ray, Smote ev’ry brain, and wither’d every bay [poet]; Sick was the […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Spring", "Strange Gathering", Cordoba Institute, Islam, politics, Religion, Rumi Comments closed
I Sing of a Maiden
Spiritual Sunday Here’s a lovely spring poem from the Middle Ages about the conception of Jesus. Jesus enters Mary as “stille” (quietly) as April dew falls upon the grass. Mary is described as “makelees,” an adjective which (according to the Norton Anthology of British Literature) is a three-way pun: spotless, matchless, and mateless. I love how […]
Glorify Easter, Not the Crucifixion
Film Friday When Mel Gibson’s The Passion was released in theaters in 2004, Bjorn Krondorfer, my good friend and colleague in the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Religious Studies Department, wrote the following powerful critique of the film. Bjorn’s article is as relevant today as it was in 2004. In his view, the film elevates […]
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A Poem for Those that Feel Unloveable
I can think of no better poet to move us into Holy Week than George Herbert, a 17th century Anglican rector who wrestled mightily with a sense of his unworthiness. In his poetry, Herbert is determined to be as honest about his doubts as possible. He is not a facile Christian. When he believes that […]
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On Lent, Faustus, and the 7 Deadly Sins
Dr. Faustus, Rembrandt etching Here we are in the midst of Lent with less than a month to go until Easter. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the season as follows: After Christmas there came the cold cheer of Lent, When with fish and plainer fare our flesh we reprove . . . The […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 7 Deadly Sins, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, Lent, Religion, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Comments closed
