When I left the friary at age 17, I had completed all of the required credits to graduate from high school, but I lacked a course in U.S. History. I decided to go to a public high school for two semesters while working part time at nights. This would give me an opportunity to acclimate…
In 1962, I entered a friary to train to be a Capuchin. There was sort of hullabaloo about it for the year prior to my departure. My father seemed sort of proud of the thought of me going into religious life, but my mother was not as keen on it. First, I was not going…
My friend Tom and I have talked about the “lobster effect” of religious upbringing. Initially the environment feels pretty good, safe and protective. Then eventually things heat up until self-doubt and self-hate come to a boiling point. Then, like a lobster in the pot, you are a goner. I think of my early days in…
By waiting you wait more. Every waiting day makes your life a little less. Every lonely day makes you a little smaller. Every day you put off your life makes you less capable of living it. ― Ann Brashares, Sisterhood Everlasting There is a museum in Toronto with an excellent collection of Asian art, much…
Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing. — Hilary Duff, A Cinderella Story It feels like the number of ways we are urged to play it safe in life has grown past all reason. What was once a mild discomfort about asking a question “in front of a…
Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout. — Morihei Ueshiba A friend asked me a while back if I ever got tired. I responded that most nights I fall asleep within ten minutes of putting my head on the pillow, so yes, I get tired. His probe went a bit further then.…
This conflict is one thing I’ve been waiting for. I’m well and strong and young – young enough to go to the front. If I can’t be a soldier, I’ll help soldiers. — Clara Barton Last week I went to an evening discussion about race. That was how it was billed, at least. But in…
And that’s why birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it — Cole Porter, 1928 Recently I was asked a question that, in various forms and various contexts, comes up from time to time. It goes something like, “Do you believe that gay men are having more risky sex as treatments for…
A favorite passage in The Velveteen Rabbit for my friend for life, Jan, and me is the part where the Skin Horse and the rabbit talk about becoming real. In that section, the horse recalls how he became real when another little boy loved him into becoming. The rabbit is skeptical, but later in the story,…
Yesterday I wrote that my own sexuality education began on a busy street in Milwaukee nearly 60 years ago. The national discussion of sexuality education, however, heated up over 100 years ago when the National Education Association (NEA) recommended that training be provided to teachers so that they could provide school-based programs on sexual health.…
Creating Community for Everyone 