Look Up! A Poem for a Busy Fall: “October Canopy”

October Canopy - Novosibirsk

Fall seems to be the time of speeding up — but also of slowing down. The academic year begins; schools and families launch into a flurry of activity; summer sleepiness rouses into the frenzy of harvest and winterization (and I don’t just mean the fields and tractors). On the other hand, something in the soul … Read more…

“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and Your Call to a Deeper Life

The Lake Isle of Innisfree and the Call to a Deeper Life

In the dark of the concert hall, as the voices of the chorale floated on air, I closed my eyes and saw myself on a snow-covered hill, trudging up through wilted stalks of tall grass and bare birch trunks. As I neared the summit, I saw in the distance, in a valley, the golden domes … Read more…

My “Miracle of the Sun” in Russia

What a "Miracle of the Sun" Taught Me About Living Deeply

In October 2015, while living and teaching abroad in Siberia, I had an extraordinary dream. I was attending Mass in a large hall with both Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers. During the Mass, I was talking to the Orthodox about the differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, when suddenly I realized that while talking I had missed … Read more…