Category: Body

Simplicity and Silence

First off, hope you’re having a good day. I had to go to Baltimore for a meeting, and someone I work with asked me to pick up a bag of the country potatoes I wrote about yesterday. I had to go to two Trader Joe’s stores before I found them 🙁 As it turns out, they’re a new item. I hope you can find them easily.

When I was on my eight day silent retreat last year, my spiritual director told me that, generally, it’s taking people until the fifth day before they can relax and fully de-stress. Of course, he made this comment to me on my fifth day, if that tells you something. Why do we find ourselves so exhausted that we can hardly function? Is this the way its supposed to be?

According to Brother Victor, (author of Sacred Feasts Cookbook), he says no, it is absolutely not supposed to be this way. He writes,

In an age such as ours, full of feverish consumerism, instant communication, loud music and noisy tv, it is quite a challenge to being speaking about the reality of silence. Occasionally I am asked to give a talk to a group of people , either young students or adults. I often notice a visible expression of skepticism on their faces when I mention or stress the importance of silence in daily life. The value and appreciation of silence in today’s culture has dwindled… Today, belief in the truth of silence is not only disregarded and underestimated, it is considered plainly outmoded… Everyone needs to rediscover some silent, quiet space within himself or herself just to maintain basic sanity.

The simplicity of silence creates this inner space within us, and silence purifies our vision, cleanses our hearts, and strengthens and deepens our prayer…

The simplicity of silence brings light and clarity to our minds; it grants peace, tranquility, and perseverance as we toil daily. (taken from the Gift of Simplicity)

If you are feeling particularly stressed right now, maybe it’s time to take a little break. Go out and take a little walk around the block. Go to a park or some other place where you can enjoy nature. If you’re stuck where you are, close your eyes and dream about some peaceful place where you have had the chance to visit. No matter what you do, just remember that, as Brother Victor reminds us, we’re not supposed to go through life exhausted, unhappy, and depressed. I hope you can get the re-charge you need.

Body Main Course Vegan Vegetarian

Morningstar Farms

Around this time last year, I began walking every day for about 45 minutes. I was trying to lose weight and get myself healthy, and I was quickly seeing results. I was feeling good!

At that point, I was trying to avoid meat, especially beef. Of course, as I walked my neighborhood, grilling season was just firing up. There are very few smells that get my mind thinking about food as does the smell of something tasty being cooked on an outdoor grill.

It took just about ounce of willpower to stop myself from running to the store for some hamburger. I love hamburgers, and I was missing them greatly. But, willpower won out. Low cholesterol and hamburgers don’t go together.

Well, in order to resolve this critical dilemma, I sought out alternatives. I didn’t realize all the veggie burgers that were out there. I began trying them out, and for the most part, it was hit or miss. Some were o.k., some were downright tasteless. Then I found Morningstar Farms.

They have 11 kinds of veggie burgers, and my favorite right now is the Chipotle Black Bean Burgers. Unfortunately, from what I can tell you can only get them at one of the big box stores. Around here, that would be B.J.’s.

Right now, Morningstar has a bunch of good stuff on their website, including a $1.00 coupon for their burgers, tons of burger recipes, and even a guide to meatless grilling.

One of my goals this summer is to try all 13 burger recipes on their website. I think I may add a page to my blog to rate them all. I’m hoping some people will join me in this cookoff, and together we can comment on what we liked, and what wasn’t so good.

In the meantime, please take a stab at trying out veggie burgers. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy them as much as I do. Lastly, get out and talk a walk today. It will do your body good.

Body Ignatian Spirituality Mind Spirit

Ready to Relax

For the last several years, one of my tasks in getting ready for the summer ahead is to break out this fountain, which I position next to my pergola. Yesterday, as hit the switch to turn it on, the water slowly filled the upper reservoir, and began to spill down to the basin below.

It’s splashing water is just loud enough to hear from my open bedroom window upstairs. It’s music to my ears as I drift off to sleep. There’s something so relaxing about the sound of water. In the mornings from now until October, I’ll sit in my lounge chair, listening to the fountain, and think/pray/dream. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

Now a days, you don’t have to have a lot of money or space to get yourself a little water feature. Although they might be a bit cheesy, they even have them for your desktop. Maybe listening to water helps transport us to a better place, maybe a vacation or trip to the beach.

Earlier this spring, my family and I went on a little camping trip to Sycamore Cove, just north of Malibu, California. I could hear the waves crashing all night as I lay in my tent. Now, as I sit here in Westminster, Maryland, listening to my lion’s head fountain, I can think about that trip as well, and all the fun my family and I had that weekend. Or, there was the time in Rome sitting in front of the Trevi fountain, eating gelato. But, as my mom pointed out the other day, don’t forget the dolphin fountain in Cortona’s public park overlooking the Val di’Chiana below. Oh, and how about…

Body Ignatian Spirituality Mind Spirit

Time to get moving

Probably like you, I’m on several email subscription lists. Just about every day I receive an email from John Eldridge, and they contain some quote from one of his many great books. I thought today’s quote from his book, Sacred Romance was a great one to share:

Journey or Homestead?

Every great story involves a quest. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins ran from the door at a quarter till eleven without even so much as a pocket handkerchief and launched on an adventure that would change his life forever. Alice stepped through the looking glass into Wonderland; Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter stumbled through the wardrobe into Narnia. Abraham left his country, his people, and his father’s household to follow the most outlandish sort of promise from a God he’d only just met, and he never came back. Jacob and his sons went to Egypt for some groceries and four hundred years later the Israel nation pulled up stakes and headed for home. Peter, Andrew, James, and John all turned on a dime one day to follow the Master, their fishing nets heaped in wet piles behind them. The Sacred Romance involves for every soul a journey of heroic proportions. And while it may require for some a change of geography, for every soul it means a journey of the heart.

The choice before us now is to journey or to homestead, to live like Abraham, the friend of God, or like Robinson Crusoe, the lost soul cobbling together some sort of existence with whatever he can salvage from the wreckage of the world. Crusoe was no pilgrim; he was a survivor, hunkered down for the duration. He lived in a very, very small world where he was the lead character and all else found its focus in him. Of course, to be fair, Crusoe was stranded on an island with little hope of rescue. We have been rescued, but still the choice is ours to stay in our small stories, clutching our household gods and false lovers, or to run in search of life.

I don’t know about you, but I think the time has come for all of us to make that leap of faith and run towards the prize that St. Paul speaks about. It’s time to hop on the bridge that will take us somewhere new…

Body Vegetarian

Sacred Feast

One of my goals this year is to introduce people to a new way to eat, basing it on a vegetarian diet. Over the last couple of months, people keep asking me, “how are you doing it? Can you help me?”

So, I’ve decided to start inviting people to my house, cook them a good meal, give them recipes and cooking tips, and have some fun. My hope is, that through these “Sacred Feasts”, we might be able to celebrate the fact that, starting with small lifestyle changes, we can be get our health back, renew and strengthen relationships, and enjoy all that God wants to give us.

I’m hosting my first “sacred feast” tonight. I’ve got five friends coming over, and I’m excited! We’re starting out with several easy appetizers, including grilled polenta, caponata in phylo shells, and marinated olives. All served up with a nice Prosecco.

Next, a salad made from lettuce from my garden (yea!), mixed with a classic vinaigrette. For the main course, Pasta Primavera with roasted vegetables. I’m pairing this wish a good Italian white wine named Vernaccia. The grapes used to make this wine come from the area around the beautiful Tuscan hill town of San Gimignano.

Dessert will consist of strawberries with a splash of basalmic vinegar. Although this sounds weird, don’t be afraid to try it, along with a little freshly ground pepper. I know… strange. Try it. With the strawberries, everyone can nibble on a couple of chocolate biscotti.

I’ll let you know how it all went!

Body Ignatian Spirituality Mind Spirit

Resolution Review

Well, it’s been about five months since many of us made our annual New Year’s Resolutions. I was trying to remember mine, so I guess maybe I haven’t quite met them. Hum…

USA Today did a study where researchers tracked individuals who made New Year’s resolutions. They divided them into two groups: (1) Those who made a resolution and wrote it down, and (2) those who made one but didn’t write it down. The results were astonishing. Of those who neglected to put their goal down on paper, only 4% kept their resolution, however, those who did write it down, 44% kept them. That’s a ten fold increase!

So this got me thinking. Did I write them down somewhere? If I was smart enough to, where did I put that paper? Maybe you share in this dilemma?

Well, whatever those goals were in January, they are still probably relevant today. So, maybe its time to start over. If you didn’t make at least one resolution, then maybe we can all set some goals together.

Here’s some easy tips:

Write it down. Put it in a prominent place, or somewhere where it won’t be lost.
A goal must be achievable. Maybe you could have two, one easy, and one that is challenging.
The goal must be measurable and specific.

There’s a lot of info out on the net, including a website set up to help with goalsetting, http://www.mygoals.com. I haven’t spent a lot of time on the site, just pointing out there’s help available.

So, what are my goals going to be?

Keep working on my diet and exercise by maintaining my present weight and making it to the gym at least three times a week.
Set up opportunities to share with people the importance of getting healthy, body, mind and spirit.
Getting a vegetable garden planted by May 1st.
Complete the Spiritual Exercises and start sharing with others about the experience.
Finally start my Sacred Feast dinners, inviting people to my house to share in the cooking and eating of a healthy meal.

So, folks, those are my goals/resolutions I want to keep for the next several months. If you have some goal/resolution you want to work on, post it in the comments section of this post. Let’s cheer each other on!

Body Vegetarian

Real Food Revolution

I raced home from the gym last night to catch Jamie Oliver’s new show “Food Revolution.” I missed the first thirty minutes or so, but overall, I was pretty disappointed.

Oliver had travelled to Huntington, West Virginia, a place with the unfortunate honor of being the “most unhealthy town in America.” As I watched the show, I quickly realized that just about any town I’ve been to int he last couple of years could be up for consideration the next time around.

Anyway, my overall feeling is that the show places too much responsibility for poor nutrition on the school system. Kids don’t know what a tomato looks like, blame the school. Kids don’t know how to use a knife and fork, blame the lunch ladies. Kids choose pizza over chicken? On that one, I blame Jamie. If kids are unhealthy, the first place to look is home, and I wish that’s where Jaime would have turned to first.

I really like Jaime’s idea of having cooking classes in a downtown storefront that he’s rented. Teach parents how to cook simple, good tasting, and inexpensive meals, and I think a lot of people will move away from our fast food culture. It’s been my experience that many folks are just overwhelmed, and fall to the pressure of quick, easy, and cheap. We also fall to multi million dollar ad campaigns targeted at people just like the residents of Huntington.

As I was watching the show last night, I flipped through Oliver’s newest book, also titled “Food Revolution.” Great title, great concept. But poorly executed, and not really helping people out the their unhealthy lifestyles and encouraging them to eat healthier food. Eight of the twelve veggie recipes included butter or heavy cream. A lot of the recipes call for the frying of ingredients. Not much better than heading to Mc Donald’s or Denny’s.

I like Jaime Oliver, but if the remainder of the episodes are anything like the first, his revolution will fail to help us out of a desperate situation.

Body Ignatian Spirituality Spirit

butterflies

I’ve just come back from a trip to Chicago. It was a time to renew friendships, meet some new people, and learn about all the ways Loyola Press is helping people grow in their faith. Thanks to everyone for making it a meaningful trip.

One of the exercises we did involved taking a butterfly cutout and embellishing it with words and decoration in order to tell a story. It was an interesting task, and I couldn’t wait to share the meaning behind the message I was trying to convey. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and couldn’t fully explain (at least I didn’t have enough time).

So, here’s my story: Sometime in May last year, I was sitting on my patio praying. It was late morning, the sun was warm, a gorgeous day. Unfortunately, I was down in the dumps, trying to get my life back on track, and had to make some big changes. Change is always hard, isn’t it?

So, as I as sitting there with my coffee, I saw a monarch butterfly go shooting past. It caught my attention, and I was mesmerized as it flew through the air, darting, weaving, back and forth. I’d never seen a butterfly do this before, and I thought it might have been poisoned somehow, maybe landing on a leaf that had been sprayed with pesticide.

As it flew, side to side, up and down, fast and slow, it suddenly came to me. This must be its first flight! Shortly before I witnessed this inaugural journey into the sky, it was in a cocoon. How difficult is it to make this change? What did the Lord want to say to me in giving me this experience?

As I continued to watch, I was almost moved to tears. I had never seen anything like it, and it truly was a gift. And I know God was speaking to me through it. I believe He wanted to tell me that it was time for a new beginning for me. A radical transformation was in order. It would be hard, painful, but also exhilarating. And it would lead to places I previously could not have gone.

Most big changes are going to be hard. But I think God is there, standing on the sidelines, cheering us on, calling us to a new Way, a new Life. I continue to be struck by the experience I had that late spring morning. I could never had predicted the transformation the Lord began in me that day, which still continues even now. What do you think God wants to transform in you?