Matt Spotts details his plan to lay off the spiritual anaesthetics during Lent 2012.
Posts in Spirituality
Good Enough: On the Lie of Worthlessness
Some of us are just really good at what we do. Others worry that they’re actually really good… just not good enough.
Sarcasm Part 2: Simpsons, Seinfeld, and St. Ignatius’ Response to Cynicism
You can tell a lot about a person by what they read. I, for one, love perusing people’s bookshelves – but all bets are off in a Jesuit community…
Ash Wednesday: Leaving the Guided Tour
What are we to do with the hypocrisy of this day? Remember that what’s important is who we are before God…
Common Phrases, Uncommon Faith
I used to have a fairly deep distaste for the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason”…
Suffering Love: On What the World Does to Children
During the first week of my long retreat I was having disturbingly vivid dreams about wounded children. I’d awake having dreamt of kids in hospital beds…
Life of a Spiritual Athlete: Learning to Sing
Late last fall, I gave my first public singing performance. I had picked up voice lessons for the first time in my life last fall and was totally shocked by how much I enjoyed it…
Sarcasm Part 1: On Discerning Love, Valentine’s Day, and the Danger of Sarcasm
My mind has forgotten, or blissfully blocked, the sarcastic comment that prompted her words. I may never recall what I said to her, but I sure remember my sister’s response. It cut like a knife…
Falling Trees: On the Weight of Life
A few months ago two 1500 year-old giant sequoias, twinned at their base, fell in California. While not unheard of, this kind of thing certainly doesn’t happen every day—if it did these trees wouldn’t grow to be as old as they are…
‘Tis A Gift To Be Simple…
I still remember memorizing the Our Father as a child in Sunday school. Whenever I’m on a bumpy plane ride, that familiar prayer of my youth comes to me sooner than any comforting words I could assemble on my own…