i sit before myself

on days when no one's watching

gazing upon the universe

before my face, walking

view it in its beauty

view it in its commonness

view it with its ugly truths

truths that weigh us down

pulling us into madness

or to the Manse of God

to the earth where hearths sour

to hearts that open wide

where Christ is nourishing bread

or Christ is burning lye

drinking in what's seen

i wait with patient peace

sitting here before my self

viewing the universe

*There are days when all I want to do is cry.

*You're not getting out of here alive, so, at least, try to die joyful.

*Love is the only prayer I know.

-Anon.

*Reflections of Jean Sulivan:

  -The refusal to risk a policy of baptizing at an age when it would be an adult act is concealed by pious notions that also hide the desire for conquest.  We ought to recognize that many men and women of our time, when they eliminate every trace of their baptism, experience a sense of liberation.

  -Not living the faith profoundly within themselves, their Christianity contains neither vigor nor joy; it's therefore not very contagious, since their notion of communion is only nostalgic.

  -We need to relearn the sense of the temporary.

  -We need a form of authority - author, one who gives life (the author of my days), who increases it - a chief if you prefer, but without power.

  -If the Church were an army, the hierarchial system as it now functions would be extremely efficient.  For the strength of an army is generally related to the commitment and ambition of its officers and junior officers; they're totally available.