FOR THE JOURNEY Mom was recuperating, years ago, in front of the television set in her hospital room following surgery. As she grew older, surgery was hard on Mom, physically and mentally. It took her down and she was never quite able to climb back to pre-operation levels. On this particular day, when the nurse […]

FOR THE JOURNEY So, after two years, I finally succumbed to COVID-19. When I woke up feeling like a cold was coming, I wasn’t surprised. I’d been exposed by a grandchild. Nevertheless, since I was going out to lunch with friends, I took a quick test. Negative. On the drive home, I started to feel […]

FOR THE JOURNEY My great-grandfather, a refugee from the devastating famine in Ireland, came to Nebraska to farm. Generations later, I grew up on that farm. I have roots — literal and figurative — in the land he purchased, a very small acreage of which I still own. These roots help me to identify with […]

FOR THE JOURNEY One of my daughters recently reunited with college roommates on the opposite coast. It was her first airplane flight since COVID-19, and the first time she would be away, overnight, from her almost 2-year-old daughter. She was nervous. The 2-year-old? Not so much. “How’s the baby doing?” I asked my son-in-law. “Is […]

FOR THE JOURNEY In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the saint asks us to make a choice between “the two standards.” Using our imaginations, we envision the banner, or standard, of Christ arrayed on one side, and the legions of the evil one gathering in opposition on the other. Which side do […]

FOR THE JOURNEY A story about St. Teresa of Avila tells us that one day the devil appeared to her in the guise of Christ. Immediately, she dismissed him. You are not Christ, she told the devil. The devil was puzzled. How did you know I wasn’t Christ? Because, Teresa replied, you have no wounds. […]