Phillip Berry | Orient Yourself

Happy Birthday Sally. Today marks the 35th time we’ve celebrated your birthday together. In honor of your special day, this post will center on an insight you’ve shared with me, sparking ongoing contemplation and conversation. A critical aspect of living virtuously centers on the good works we do in the wider world. We are called […]

It’s 4:30am and I’m sitting comfortably in my chair; it’s dark and my coffee is warm in my hands. The glow of the Christmas tree lights casts colorful shadows across the room and the quiet is loaded with promise. This is my time: sacred, contemplative, renewing. Suddenly, my serenity is interrupted by the call of […]

December is here and brings with it the magic of the Christmas Holiday and the hope of the New Year. In the Catholic tradition, today is the beginning of the Season of Advent, a period of attentive waiting for Christmas and the start of a new Liturgical Year. The lights are up, trees are being […]

Normal is such a tricky word. The word presents two double-edged syllables razoring through what we claim to expect while simultaneously dissecting the very banality that has become intolerable in almost every aspect of our lives. There really is no normal, at least not one that is acceptable. To be normal is to be unoriginal. […]

In his autobiographical novel, The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce powerfully describes the discovery of his vocation as a writer as a calling to notice epiphanies and describe them to others. “Notice” is such an interesting word. The world flashes by us in so many colors, often at such great […]

Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte, Sweet Darkness Stones Across the River In October 2016, I published my first book, Stones Across the River. The book is a curated and edited collection of my early blog posts centered on the metaphor of life as a […]

We have a complex relationship with justice. As a nation organized under the rule of law, we see justice through the lens of those laws and the administration of justice as a reflection of enforcing them. If someone breaks a law, there are a wildly complex set of processes to set parameters around the determination […]

“Is this heaven?” asked John. Ray paused and answered, “It’s Iowa.” “Iowa?” responded John as he started to walk away. “I could have sworn it was heaven,” “Is there a heaven?” asked Ray.”Oh yeah,” responded John. “It’s the place where dreams come true.” Pausing and looking around, Ray said, “Maybe this is heaven.” So went […]

Stepping up to the free throw line, I set up my shot and knew the second I released the ball that it was an airball. Retrieving the ball quickly, I turned to shoot an easy layup off the backboard and found myself throwing the ball past the square above the basket. Three attempts later, I […]

A stubbornly persistent problem in our modern era has centered on the dichotomy between our increasing standard of living: wealth, comfort, technology, culture, leisure, etc. and our decreasing quality of life as measured in overall health and well-being. Headline after headline seems to affirm the struggle as we battle obesity, smoking, opioid addiction, depression, and […]