Zoar

Well, it's graduation time, isn't it? Who here has been to a graduation or a promotion or a moving up day recently? (Show of hands) This time of year can be a knotted ball of sorrow for leaving the past behind, nostalgia for the ways things were, anticipation of futures mapped out but not yet trod, relief for just getting past the finish line or regret for not quite making it there. It's a complicated time, this graduation season that we're in. And as I read today's gospel, I

One day last week, I was driving through Barlow on my way to an appointment. I was almost at the stoplight at the intersection of Highway 99 when suddenly the bells began to clang and the railroad crossing bars came down. I rolled my eyes and sighed - as one does! - and thought to myself, "If only I'd been five minutes earlier! Grr..." Then I settled back in my seat to wait, hoping it wouldn't be a long train. Since I was right up front at the crossbars, I had a perfect view

Chances are, if you and I live long enough, we may end up having a mystical experience - a Holy Spirit encounter - that we can't explain. It might come in the form of a vision or dream. It might come as a voice that seems to speak from somewhere deep within us...or from somewhere far beyond us. Over the years, I've heard a number of people tell of such experiences, and some have even said that their experience included an acute sense of smell or a profound sensation of touch.