I saw something very moving at Mass today. I had taken communion and was in my pew, on the red leather kneeler, saying the prayers of gratitude and reconciliation that I say each Sunday. I was in my usual seat, bathed in the winterlight streaming through a stained glass window that depicts Simon of Cyrene …
Continue reading “Life-Love 71: A mother’s care for her struggling child”
We often live our lives as though we had an endless road to travel ahead of us. We tell ourselves that there will always be another day, another relationship, another chance to make a good deal. We while away the hours in idleness or worry, day dream or anxiety. We worry endlessly about what other …
Our lives are populated by incomplete projects. Half-finished bird-houses lie in our sheds awaiting a final coat of paint or a roof, the beginnings of books and poems litter our notebooks and flutter around our offices in blizzards of paper. Sometimes, however, we steel ourselves to work, or, more likely, clear enough time to be …
Our lives are so full of noise. It’s difficult to feel enough quiet to be able to be creative, or even simply to feel human. Quiet is a funny thing – it doesn’t mean absence of noise, does it? No, in fact, one can feel quiet in the midst of a cacophonous train station or …
Many of us discount the Opera as a medium that could possibly interest us. When we think of it, we get images of dowdy people in suits and music that we can understand, sung by large people in outlandish costumes. This couldn’t be further from the truth! The opera is a vital and powerful way …
If you suffer from insomnia, the way I do, you know what it’s like to spend a lot of time exhausted. You’ve tried it all – going to bed at a set time, having some warm milk before turning in, crosswords before bed, perhaps even a night cap. Sleep eludes you, however, and you read …
For those among us who love coffee, there is nothing like the first approach our favourite muddy drink. First there is the feeling of personal sagging that brings on the desire for caffeine: drooping shoulders, twitchy eyelids, a cottony batten in the mind that seems to start around the ears and spread to behind the …
We feel a little uncomfortable, don’t we? Unknown surroundings make us feel a little out of sorts, and the pressures of life make even very familiar things like the first sip of a fresh steaming coffee hard to enjoy. At times like this, our everyday surroundings can seem unfamiliar and we can even start to …
Unexpected pleasures are the best ones, aren’t they? Our lives are so incredibly busy, steaming forward devouring the days from dawn until dusk – filling them with reports, family commitments, meetings and new friends. The pace can be overwhelming and it’s easy to start feeling as though you’re chasing your shadow, a little out of …
We all like to be remembered on our birthday, don’t we? Especially those among us who live alone and for whom a birthday may seem a lonely milestone. In fact there are many who live alone within families, for reasons of personal history and struggle. When we were children, birthdays were special and easy times …
