The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A comfort to me during the pandemic

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A comfort to me during the pandemic

I got this book as a gift a long time ago, around 2017. I only read one chapter during a difficult time in 2018. However, I started re-reading this book when quarantine started in March of 2020. It was a great companion to me during such a challenging time. Some tears were shed as I went through the chapters. However, the chapter that still resonated with me the most Chapter 13: Be Who You Is! since it was about vocation. "God desires for you to become who you are meant to be." The Salt Doll parable at the end of the chapter still moved me the same way it moved me in 2018. "Now I know what I am." This line also struck me: “In Ignatian spirituality nothing is hidden away; everything can be opened up as a way of finding God. ‘God must be found in everything,’ as Nadal noted, summarizing Ignatius.” I wrote this in my journal, in response, last June 26: "With each student and task, I touch God's face." These are such difficult times but this book reminded me to look beyond the immediate suffering and see the eternal in each moment that I encounter.

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By Hand: A Meditation on a New Year of Gifts

Drawing by the author, May 3, 2009

By Hand

If I follow this line, will it lead anywhere?
If I start at the root, will I capture the outline of the tree?
If this is not beautiful, can it still be art?
If I ask you to read this, would it be enough?

If I start with black, will I end up with purple?
If I make fifty lines, will the next patch be eighty lines?
If I make a curve here, will the next shape be linear?
If I make downward strokes, will I then make upward strokes?

If I don't think, will the drawing draw itself?
If I breathe deeply, is it meditation?
If there are no words, is it a poem?
If these are the leaves, is there a tree?
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When was the last time you made something by hand? I drew the drawing above in 2009. This was significant to me. I had just lost a baby. It was an ectopic pregnancy and I was on maternity leave. I remember painting, too, after my first miscarriage in 2005. For some reason, the loss of life spurred a very deep need in me to create something with my hands. It was an expression of grief. And hope.

I thought back to this because I mentioned on Facebook, today, that I wanted to go back to an artisanal life: a time when we enjoy well-made things (not mass-made things), well cared-for things, things that last for lifetimes. It's not about a consumerist life but a life that combines art and work...when work is finally not something that has to do with money but something to do with full self-expression and service to others. Then no one would have a job, just a vocation. Then everyone would have a gift to give to life and life would only have abundance to give back for every gift. Then everyone would know everyone in their community...because you would know the person who sewed your clothes, the person who wrote the books you read, the person who cooked your lovely meal, the person who repaired your chair, the person who grew the tomato in your salad, and so on and on.

I come to this as I prepare for life in 2014. I want this to be a year of gifts. Below is a video of Amanda Palmer's TED talk on the art of asking. It's the other face of giving. Because one does not give if one is not actually asked. That's the beauty of a gift: it is given from the heart...not out of obligation but out of appreciation.


I imagine a life, a world populated by gifts that people give to each other. A life that needs no copyright because each one is unique (and uniquely gifted). I imagine a world where we recognize the gifts given to us, freely, by the earth. I imagine a world full of gratitude for all these gifts. I imagine each person, each creature of God alight with gratitude.

So here's to your 2014 (and mine). May it be the beginning of a new age of gifts.

L.I.T.E.R.A.L. #6: Whose Career Do You Wish You Had?

L.I.T.E.R.A.L. is an occasional blog meme/writing prompt for authors hosted at Indie Books. Indie Books created it to serve as a support group for participants of the Author at Once workshops, but they welcome all writers (from anywhere in the world) who’d like to respond to their writing prompts!

Here's the question from BronzeAge.ph: When we visualize our success as writers, we usually have "career pegs." Whose career do you wish you had?

My answer: 

Three Js

My first reaction was: J.K. Rowling.

J.K. Rowling reads from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the Easter Egg Roll at White House.
Photo by Daniel Ogren. 

Why? Because she's rolling in money due to a fascinating story that she genuinely loves. But then I'll have to recant my choice. Precisely because of her fame and success...I don't want to choose her career as my only peg. I need to remind myself that fame and success are nice byproducts but not at all the motivation for my writing. And I bet...neither was it J.K. Rowling's motivation either. Like many other writers...she probably just wanted to be read. And not just by her kids or her family or her neighbors. She wanted Harry Potter to reach every child. I guess...maybe that side of her career can be my peg.

The next writer that came to mind was Jane Hirshfield.

In "Come, Thief," Jane Hirshfield reflects on the landmarks of a life, including the fact that she found true love at age 49. Photo by VOA - A. Philipps.

Why? Because she's a deeply meditative poet. That's what I want my writing to be: a reflection, a mindfulness of my life, of the lives around me, of creation. She not only has a deep passion for writing but also for biology and physics. While her work has roots in Zen and Buddhism, she doesn't want to be stuck in a label. She has been quoted to say: “I always feel a slight dismay if I’m called a “Zen” poet. I am not. I am a human poet, that’s all.” I truly admire her work and I want that kind of life: a life of writing poetry, studying poetry and writing about poetry. That's not what my life is like right now...but it's a career that I could imagine for myself. From Hirshfield, I take the discipline of mindfulness and craft.

But in the end, I'll have to refer to another writer that I've never read: Julianna Baggott...only because she writes so poignantly about being a writer, a mother, and a professional. She says: "Put your elbows out, protect your time. "

This is Julianna Baggott, pen names: Bridget Asher and N.E. Bode. Picture from www.english.fsu.edu. 

She talks about the brass tacks that come with writing: discussions with a partner, grappling with limited resources, going at it with "efficient creativity" (i.e. writing while nursing while vacuuming). Just because she captures so much of the difficulties that come with writing and bringing up children and working...I think I'll go buy her book, Pure. She admits to raising two children under poverty level at some point in her life. This girl has got guts! From Baggott, I'll take the strength, the perseverance, and the cross between optimism and realism that got her to where she is.

Career....calling...I don't know what the right word is. I look at the lives of each of these women (whose names all coincidentally start with J) and I can see some facet of their writerly lives that inspires me.

Once again...thanks for the question Indie Books and BronzeAge.ph. These are great reflections for me and a good way to inspire myself and others to keep writing.

And a big Thank You to Indie Books for featuring my poetry book in their e-newsletter today! :-)