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Category Archives: religion
Our Shame
Hardly ever do I see starkly the disconnect between something that really matters and what I’m being fed by the media. Usually my days play out like this: the media (NPR mostly) tells me what is important and what is … Continue reading
Posted in politics, religion, The Saint John's Bible
Tagged Guantanamo Bay, hunger strike, media, president, President Obama, press conference, war on terror
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We Sinners, a review
I just finished reading Hannah Pylväinen’s 2012 debut novel We Sinners. Of course, it caught my attention by the title alone, and the description that it was about a large family (9 children) in a Christian sect. The book is … Continue reading
Posted in religion, reviews, writing
Tagged critique of modernity, debut novel, Finnish Christianity, Hannah Pylvainen, liberalism, religion, sects, We Sinners
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The Habits Broadside Project
OK, so it turns out we weren’t exactly north of the storm… In the end, we got 10 inches of heavy snow over 30 hours. This morning, the sand hill cranes were very quiet, delaying their mating rituals until the … Continue reading
Posted in art, Benedictine monastery, poetry, religion, writing
Tagged book arts, broadside, Catholic Nuns, College of Saint Benedict, letterpress, poetry, polymer plates, student artists
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Preparations
I love hosting Easter at our house. Steve has hosted lots of family gatherings in this house, and it’s only taken me five years to relax and realize that there is an order to this and everything will work. I … Continue reading
Posted in Benedictine monastery, garden, recipe, religion, St. Joseph, the Farm
Tagged Easter, eggs, sand hill crane, snow, spring, Triduum
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The Nun’s Story
I just finished reading The Nun’s Story by Kathryn Hulme. It is really good. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in why someone might choose to enter a religious order and how the discipline of religious life … Continue reading
Posted in Benedictine monastery, religion, reviews
5 Comments
Chinua Achebe
If I were making my desert island list of fiction, my top four would be, in no particular order, Bleak House, My Antonia, Middlemarch and Things Fall Apart. I initially read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe to prepare for an assignment teaching … Continue reading
Posted in religion, reviews, writing
Tagged African literature, Catholicism, Chinua Achebe, colonial literature, modernity, religion and modernity, Things Fall Apart, world literature
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Sister Ruth
My friend Ruth Nierengarten, OSB, died on Sunday night at the age of 87. Although her health was delicate and she had been living in assisted living (St. Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud) for the last two years, this was … Continue reading
Posted in Benedictine monastery, religion, St. Joseph, Uncategorized
Tagged Benedictines, Benedictines in Minnesota, Catholic educators, Catholic Nuns, Saint Benedict's Monastery, Sisters
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Flax
Last year, some folks at the college planted a field of flax with the intention of using the fiber to make paper. The paper hasn’t been made yet, but the artist in residence mentioned to me that they were looking for text … Continue reading
Posted in art, Benedictine monastery, garden, religion, St. Joseph, the Farm, writing
Tagged Benedictine monastery, crafts, flax, flax processing, linen, monastery life, nuns, Sisters, spinning, textiles, weaving
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Keep Death Always Before Your Eyes
It was a hard week in my neck of the woods. Last week a police officer was killed in Cold Spring, in an alley behind Winner’s Bar, about six blocks from where I used to live. The case is very … Continue reading
Posted in Benedictine monastery, religion, St. Joseph
Tagged abbey church, Benedictines, Catholic, cold spring, funeral, officer decker, Rule of Benedict, St. John's Abbey, tom decker
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Vatican II 50th Anniversary
On October 11, 1962, the first session of the Second Vatican Council began. Today I finished up some work on The Saint John’s Bible project at 11:35, with time to drive over to Saint John’s Abbey for noon prayer. I … Continue reading
Posted in art, Benedictine monastery, religion
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