Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: Dohle

The mob (The dark desire to scapegoat)

I am not sure that there is anyone who could not be caught up in the mob mentality, or perhaps mass mind would be a better phrase.  You get a group together, fire them up and the momentum can take its individual members to places that they may have thought impossible.  Hangings, beatings and burnings… Read More ›

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Habitually impatient, or maybe not

Patience is not an easy virtue or habit to acquire.   It is not a permanent state to be arrived at, but a way of letting go of control of the illusion that being angry, or impatient, or demanding, will get results that will go according to my will.  Stuck in traffic, or dealing with someone… Read More ›

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Finding God’s will

(notes for a talk I’m giving) At times it can seem like finding God’s will for some people is like going to an Easter egg hunt. Looking under bushes and rocks, seeking to find the God’s will written out in bold letters:  “This is it, my will”….”you win”. Of course it is noting like that,… Read More ›

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What we truly believe?

I had lunch with a friend yesterday and he was talking about taking a trip, something he has discussed with me quite a few times. He is a few months older than me, he is 64 years old. I brought up the fact that, perhaps too bluntly, that he was running out of time, and… Read More ›

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Reward

What is the reward for loving God and by that fact our deepening ability to love others? The remuneration for love is too simply love more. If God is love, infinite love as manifested to us in Christ Jesus, then our relationship is not static but goes deeper into this mystery of love. Our movies,… Read More ›

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Life’s problems

No matter who you talk to, there will be problems, big ones, painful issues that have to be faced and hopefully dealt with. Yet we live in a world wherein that is often impossible, the knot is simply too tight and intricate. Then there are health issues of loved ones, personal problems that won’t go… Read More ›

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It happens to just about everyone

No matter what belief, faith or philosophical stance that is taken, the one holding it will one day be attack for being different from the attacker. It is a sling fest I believe and perhaps it has always been so. Today however it does seem to be more prevalent, no doubt because of our ability… Read More ›

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Divine Mercy

It is easy to talk about the mercy of God, but difficult to understand the depth of the mystery that we are dealing with. The human understanding of justice has to do with righting of wrongs, bringing the scales back into balance, which of course is impossible. For justice and revenge are first cousins, often… Read More ›

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The dance of being a caregiver

There is a lot of learning in taking care of the elderly.  Boundaries are understood at an ever deeper level.  For instance, when to step in and to know when doing anything is inappropriate and even harmful.  No matter the age, if the mind is still sharp, all that can be done is to try… Read More ›

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Openness

(Our beliefs are a way of seeing and being in the world) There are times when the only way to arrive at a certain point in ones life is to simply believe and move forward in expectation. Trust in others is one such example. If a person believes that people are not trustworthy, then no… Read More ›

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