Written On Our Hearts

‘What day is it?’ ‘It's today,’ squeaked Piglet. ‘My favorite day,’ said Pooh. ~A.A Milne A few years ago during the Christmas Season my family sat down to watch old videos of previous Christmas day celebrations. One of the more memorable moments was watching the video where my brother and I opened the original Sony PlayStation console. There was a lot of screaming, celebrating, dancing and merrymaking as we received the hottest gift on the planet from Santa. Today, that PlayStation is long forgotten, its games are outdated and neither my little brother nor myself can remember whether we sold, misplaced or buried the console in a box marked “basement”; but watching that moment on film was a lot of fun for my family as we laughed at our original excitement and childhood exuberance. Our joy was a greater gift than the PlayStation.  As I reflect upon the readings for today , I can’t help but notice how the scriptures are reminding us to recognize how spiritually rich we are in the ...

Just over a month ago I underwent open heart surgery, it was the third heart surgery I’ve had and hopefully the last one I’ll need. My previous surgeries happened before I turned two years old, so needless to say I don’t remember them. The scars left by the operations I had as an infant represented parental worry stemming from profound love of me; their first born child, deep concern from family and friends, impeccable skill and care from healthcare professionals and abundant prayers lifted up in my name. Intellectually, that knowledge about my first two surgeries was sewn into my heart; it has always been a part of who I am as a rather unique child of God. Certainly, their results impacted my life. I suffered a stroke that weakened my left side because of one of the many different procedures I had in the first two years of my life and had some learning disabilities growing up, but the physical pain and suffering of heart surgery was not part of my childhood or adolescence. In a stran...

It was a hot Chicago summer day four years ago. I was at Navy Pier deciding what to do. My friends had just left on a four-hour Segway tour of the city that I was unable to accompany them on because of some physical limitations that I have. I had some time to kill, but even if you are alone it isn’t hard to entertain yourself in downtown Chicago. There was music blaring from the “Beer Garden” stage, an IMAX theater and the Billy Goat Tavern. My friends would be back before I knew it. As I made my way down the pier looking for something that was going to strike my fancy, I remembered that I had never seen Holy Name Cathedral. With four hours to kill I decided that I’d walk to it and check it out because when I visit a city I like to see two landmarks – the Baseball Stadium and the Cathedral; I’m not quite sure why, I just like to see both. I’d been to Wrigley Field the night before but Holy Name Cathedral remained on my list. I pulled my Chicago navigation guide up on my iPod touch as...

The erosion of “absolute truth” in American society is a growing problem. For the past few weeks, I have been reflecting upon this in the wake of a bold statement made by President Obama during his second inauguration address. He said that we must not “ mistake absolutism for principle .” On the surface, this might seem like a benign or even acceptable statement to Americans. It’s not. Those four words from our president suggest that we should reject absolutes. Furthermore, he is alluding that the principles (beliefs which beckon action) by which you choose to live your life should not affect that of others. It’s like you deciding to call the color “ red ” by a new name “ green ” just because that is the “ personal principle ” by which you’d like to live your life. Moreover, it is beyond ridiculous to think that it is not going to affect your relationship with others. An example: We are walking through a garden on a spring day and I mention to you how nice the green leaves look. In res...