questions
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Simply by the Asking
Poet David Whyteencourages us to askthe beautiful questions,which,simply by the asking,raise our eyes to the horizon and beyond,open space within our hearts,increase our generosityand transform us. What do you regret? Where do you hurt? Who inspires… Continue reading
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What the Cats Might Know
Do my cats understandthey're adopted? Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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The Dream
I am in my childhood home–but larger–its many rooms running parallel to the lakeshore. I step into the final room,where a young woman and I nearly collide:she is 20ish, thin, with long hair.Startled, she screams;startled, I jump, wonder,"Who are you?… Continue reading
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Abraham and Isaac
The most powerful storiesare the ones from which we instinctively recoil.Take, for example,Abraham's call to sacrifice his son, Isaac–this is meant to be a doorway to the sacred? It's a doorway to an empty elevator shaft. Who is God?What is… Continue reading
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Cat Food
The cats I've hadexcitedly huntmice, moths, flies and grasshoppers,and will–to varying extent–consume them. I have yet to see themhunt downcows, chickens, calves and fish of any kind.And given their responseto the approach of a trundling toddler,I can only imagine them… Continue reading
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Abandonment
Many of us find great comfortin the assurance that God will never abandon us,but let's examine the record here:she did abandon her only Child,whose chillingly anguished cryfrom the cross to which she was nailed–"My God, my God, why have you… Continue reading
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Jacob
What if Jacob,sleeping that night in the desert,running in desperation from his deceit and dishonor,had slept with a pistolstashed beneath his stony pillow? What if,suddenly attacked by the angel(or God or whatever–it's left deliciously vague),Jacob had pulled out his gunand… Continue reading
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Job I
So Job asked(quite reasonably),"What the hell?" And God answered(equally reasonably),"Who the hell are you to ask?" And in the impasseboth realizedthe equal needone of the other. So go ahead and ask,"What the hell?" And don't be surprisedwhen God responds,"I don't… Continue reading
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The Tree of Secrets
The First Children,playing together in the Marvelous Garden,stop to restbeneath the laden branchesof the Tree of Secrets. What is this ripe, round, richly scented fruit? Eve,not yet knowing right from wrong,takes a sloppy bite.Adam,not yet knowing wrong from right,licks the… Continue reading
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Fearful Questions
The trick, in uncertain times, is not to let your decisions be ruled by questions that arise from fear. As Thomas Merton points out, "A huge network of anxious questions surrounds us and begins to guide many, if not most… Continue reading