Henry and Helene: A Transman and His Mother
June 18, 2013 By

Henry and Helene: A Transman and His Mother

From Helene…

So much has changed over the past few years. My beautiful daughter with the lithe body of an athlete is now my good looking, sturdily built son with a close cut beard. I no longer see the daughter except in my thoughts or old photos that I try, unsuccessfully, not to look at. In the beginning of Henry’s transition there were times I did not even recognize him. I guess I was still looking for Eve.

Eve and I always had a very close, typical mother-daughter relationship. We’d discuss everything she wanted to discuss, hug, enjoy spending time together, go to movies, laugh, talk about the family. You get the picture. That she didn’t like to shop, get a manicure, sit with her knees together didn’t rattle me. She liked boys, had boyfriends. But she did kind of walk like a truck driver and carrying a purse was something we laughed about since they way she held it made it appear that it was a smelly bag of trash. I dreaded the weekends because she would come home after being out with friends and throw herself on my bed in tears that she didn’t fit in. I attributed this to the fact that she was adopted (she’s Korean, I’m not) and teenage angst in general. I must have been living on another planet.

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Filed Under: Your Stories
Good at Heart
June 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Good at Heart

Medgar Evars, Civil Rights Leader I was a young teenager when civil rights leader, Medgar Evers, was assassinated, shot in the back, while returning home from a community meeting. Fifty years ago, today. His widow, Myrlye Evers-Williams, reflected on the event saying, “We are cursed as human beings with this element that’s called hatred, prejudice and racism,” said Evers-Williams, now 80. “But it is my belief that, as it was Medgar’s, that there is something good and decent in each and every one of us, and we have to call on that, and we have to find a way to work together.”( “Quoted in June 11, 2013 AP article”)

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Filed Under: Widening Our Circles Tagged With:
“Culture of Encounter”
June 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“Culture of Encounter”

Originally published in The Catholic Times

Pope Francis’ homily on Wednesday, May 22, received lots of press, mainly around his comments about redemption: “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the blood of Christ. All of us, not just Catholics. Everyone!” he declared. “‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the blood of Christ has redeemed us all!”

He continued: “And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much…”

Lost in the media flurry about whether or not atheists can be saved (or, even non-Catholics, according to some pundits) was Pope Francis’ comment about a “culture of encounter.” What does that look like?

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Filed Under: Grace in the Moment Tagged With: ,
Not Going Away
May 26, 2013 By

Not Going Away

By David Johnsrud

Being posed for a photograph in a red velvet dress, both the photographer and my mother had difficulty getting me to look up and smile, to hold the phone next to my ear as if I were talking on it. They wanted me to look up, but I kept looking down at the expanse of brightly colored dress, white leather baby shoes, and especially the itchy strangeness on my upper arms where the gathers held the fabric close in bunches. I was aware of one thing: This was all wrong. The date on the photo puts my age at 22 months.

It was a feeling that would become so commonplace as to almost be tolerable at times: The strangeness and humiliation of being literally forced into feminine-appropriate attire and behavior, coupled with the realization that not all girls were uncomfortable being girls, which was my first lesson in gender dysphoria: Not everyone has it. It shocked me to realize that most girls indeed liked being girls.

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Filed Under: Your Stories
May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Anular Solar Eclipse: Watch Live

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Genisis 1, 14-19

A anular solar eclipse will occur around 5:30 pm EDT. The moon is at its furthest point form the earth, and so, during the eclipse, will not appear large enough to block out the entire sun. It leaves a “ring of fire” around its shadow. Visible to those in Australia and islands in the Souther Pacific Ocean, the rest of us can view it live on-line at a couple of sites:
Space.com http://www.space.com/19195-night-sky-planets-asteroids-webcasts.html

You can also follow the solar eclipse live via Slooh’s iPad app and its website: http://events.slooh.com/

Once, when a partial annular eclipse was visible in North America (Maumee, OH was the prime viewing spot!) I took my children out of school for the day (one in elementary, one in middle, and one in high school) and we drove north to view the eclipse. It was beginning just as we turned onto 475. We were excited and arrived at a Maumee park in time to experience the event. We had viewers, and a small telescope. Shadows filtering through the leaves were crescent shaped, and then almost a complete ring. Well worth the trip and a day out of school!

PHOTO BY: NASA

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/ring-fire-solar-eclipse-today-watch-live-114056740.html

Filed Under: The Scallop
A New Look at the Ascension
May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A New Look at the Ascension

Originally appeared in the Catholic Times, issue: May 12, 2013

When beginning studies for a Masters Degree in theology, I was in the midst of a difficult time in other areas of my life. Perhaps it was Providence that one book assigned for a seminar was Ronald Rolheiser’s The Holy Longing. The instructor required each member of the class to prepare a presentation on a particular chapter. Mine was “The Paschal Mystery.” That was almost eight years ago, and I still find hope and wisdom in Rolheiser’s presentation of that holy mystery.

Rolheiser put a colloquial twist on the Ascension, describing its message this way: “Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing.” A necessary step to Pentecost, where we accept the Spirit for the moment we are living.

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Filed Under: Grace in the Moment Tagged With: ,
Rituals and Reverencing Holy Presence
April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Rituals and Reverencing Holy Presence

Originally published in the Catholic Times, vol 62:27

“Rituals are important,” my friend said as we gathered around the dinner table on Holy Thursday evening. The four of us read prayers together, broke bread, shared wine, and then poured water from a ceramic vase over each other’s hands, praying a blessing as we did. Later we joined with others in our parish to celebrate the Mass that began the Easter Triduum, three days packed with liturgical ritual.

As the Easter season continues, I find myself pondering ritual in life outside church sanctuaries as well as within them. My friend is right. Rituals are important. They provide tangible symbols of realities we cannot see or touch, but experience interiorly. They provide a link to people or places that are part of our history. They help us step out of routine and focus on truths that guide our lives. They help us remember the Holy Presence in which we live. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Grace in the Moment Tagged With: ,
March 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Soul Time

Originally published in the Catholic Times March 10, 2013 vol. 62:22

The fourth Sunday of Lent already? Impossible. I’m not where I thought I’d be. Spiritually speaking, that is. Each year I think it will different. I’ll be more disciplined when it comes to food. Each morning will start quietly with undisturbed time for prayer. I won’t succumb to temptations of playing Free Cell or Sudoku on my iPad.

This year I thought I had more attainable goals. In fact, I had but one: give myself “soul time.” Time for my spirit to breathe and, as an old African story goes, catch up with my body. This goal seemed reasonably attainable four weeks ago. I have been forced to admit that some behaviors have a stronger hold on me that I thought. [Read more…]

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We’re Like This…
February 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

We’re Like This…

“…You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…..you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” Mt 16

For some, this passage from Matthew’s gospel is justification for papal authority, for a pope in the first place. I don’t think Jesus intended to establish the modern papacy with this statement. What I heard this morning as I sat with these words was “intimacy.” Peter knew Jesus, and Jesus knew him. Isn’t that what intimacy is, knowing and being known? Something we crave to have with another human being, but more profoundly, with God? [Read more…]

Filed Under: The Scallop
God’s Hidden Hand
February 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

God’s Hidden Hand

“Called Or Not Called, God Is Here”

Conversion is not viewed as an act of turning away from this or that sin toward this or that virtue. True conversion is never so neatly defined or cleanly accomplished. Conversion involves the gradual reshaping of consciousness to the point that the “convert” begins to view life in a radically new way. It is not something a person DECIDES to do, as though it were in our power to do so. We are led through conversion by the gracious Lord who alone has the power to reshape our consciousness, and who must do so in the face of deep resistance. In the ways the the spirit, it is the Lord and not ourselves who determines that from which we must be purified, and this is usually the source of our greatest resistance.
Peter Fink, S.J.

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Filed Under: The Scallop