On the Nightstand: Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz

The queen of looking back was Lot’s wife. In Genesis 19, angels tell Lot his city will be destroyed due to the Lord’s displeasure, and that he, his wife, and his two daughters need to leave and not look back. And Lot, whose actions are sometimes less than admirable (earlier, he offered to let his… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Tree of Souls by Howard Schwartz

On the Nightstand: Wife, Mother & Mystic

Every saint’s and saint-in-the-making’s story has something to teach us. This month, I’m going to be delving into the life of Blessed Anna Maria. She was born in Siena, Italy, in 1769, and married shortly before she was twenty. It was not long after her marriage that she had her first encounter with Jesus. Many… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Wife, Mother & Mystic

On the Nightstand: Surrendering to God by Keith Beasley-Topliffe

I had not heard of the Covenant Prayer or 17th century Puritan minister Richard Alleine before I picked up this book. It’s a slim volume, not even 150 pages. I’m just about to begin the conclusion, and highly recommend the book and the prayer. The prayer begins: “I am no longer my own, but thine.… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Surrendering to God by Keith Beasley-Topliffe

On the Nightstand: How to Relax

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, died earlier this year at age 95. I had a vague recollection of him meeting with the Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton during the Vietnam War, but that was about it. But the obituaries about him intrigued me, and I learned that a friend had been on… Continue reading On the Nightstand: How to Relax