the burninghand...
"We were just sitting there talking when Peter Maurin came in.
"We were just sitting there talking when lines of people began to form, saying, 'We need bread.' We could not say, 'Go, be thou filled.' If there were six small loaves and a few fishes, we had to divide them. There was always bread.
"We were just sitting there talking and people moved in on us...
"We were just sitting there talking and someone said, 'Let's all go live on a farm.'
"It was as casual as that, I often think. It just came about. It just happened...
"The most significant thing about The Catholic Worker is poverty some say...
"The most significant thing is community, others say. We are not alone anymore...
"But the final word is love. At times it has been, in the words of Father Zossima, a harsh and dreadful thing, and our very faith in love has been tried through fire...
"We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship...
"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community...
"It all happened while we sat there talking, and it is still going on."
-- The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day
Years and years ago, as I was hiking in Kings Canyon National Park, on the Mist Falls Trail, a poem came to me, unbidden as it occasionally happens. It began with five words: the burn of Love's hand... That image of a "burning hand" has come to symbolize to me the necessity of living a life of great purpose, a life of solidarity, service, and surrender... This "burning hand" is Love unleashed... is compassion activated... and is a sweet passion for the Planet and Beings who will be alive seven generations from now...
I founded and "built" through stumbling error and steady perseverance, a Catholic Worker "Soup" Kitchen that we called "Dorothy's Place Hospitality Center" in Salinas, California, an intentional community "Companions of the Way", and assorted other service projects. From April 7, 1982 until my departure, thirty years later, on a sabbatical which morphed into a permanent move to the Midwest, I lived the Catholic Worker dream, headache, and heartache. (We are now in River Falls, Wisconsin)...
Years of contemplative prayer and reflection found their way onto paper and laptop, and now into a book: Resplendent In Rags "The Wild and Homeless Gospel of the Ragged-Man and Friends"... The deep satisfaction of holding book-in-hands has, perhaps not surprisingly, prompted the potential of summoning of enough energy and time to begin again... and so a new Catholic Worker is being birthed... Much older, hopefully a tad bit wiser, I hold to heart what Dorothy used to say with a wistful fondness, "Beginnings are always exciting"...
You can help build a dream through the purchase of Resplendent In Rags! Other than the costs associated with keeping Resplendent in print, monies generated by the sale of this book will serve the dream of a "farm / retreat / beloved community / in particular service with disadvantaged youth -- and others seeking a life of meaning and purpose"... Going forward, www.theburninghand.com will steadily evolve into your connecting link with the Iona House Catholic Worker... And, since we can't afford to set up an e-commerce "store" as part of this website, we'll be doing this the old-fashioned way: you can use the Contact Page to arrange for your copy (or copies!) of the book... Or, you can call me directly at 1-715-531-3515 (Central Time in the U.S.) and we'll talk and take care of your purchase order! And since I am not practicing to become an Amazon robot, this will likely prove to be a very human enterprise!
If you are interested in hosting or facilitating a presentation / book talk, likewise, give me a call! Lastly, if you are so inclined, donations above the cost of the book ( $15.00 + 5.5 % sales tax here in Wisconsin) will serve the building of a new Catholic Worker dream... I mean, Jimminy-Christmas and Holy Moly, "What if?" and "Why not?"
"We were just sitting there talking when Peter Maurin came in.
"We were just sitting there talking when lines of people began to form, saying, 'We need bread.' We could not say, 'Go, be thou filled.' If there were six small loaves and a few fishes, we had to divide them. There was always bread.
"We were just sitting there talking and people moved in on us...
"We were just sitting there talking and someone said, 'Let's all go live on a farm.'
"It was as casual as that, I often think. It just came about. It just happened...
"The most significant thing about The Catholic Worker is poverty some say...
"The most significant thing is community, others say. We are not alone anymore...
"But the final word is love. At times it has been, in the words of Father Zossima, a harsh and dreadful thing, and our very faith in love has been tried through fire...
"We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone any more. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship...
"We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community...
"It all happened while we sat there talking, and it is still going on."
-- The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day
Years and years ago, as I was hiking in Kings Canyon National Park, on the Mist Falls Trail, a poem came to me, unbidden as it occasionally happens. It began with five words: the burn of Love's hand... That image of a "burning hand" has come to symbolize to me the necessity of living a life of great purpose, a life of solidarity, service, and surrender... This "burning hand" is Love unleashed... is compassion activated... and is a sweet passion for the Planet and Beings who will be alive seven generations from now...
I founded and "built" through stumbling error and steady perseverance, a Catholic Worker "Soup" Kitchen that we called "Dorothy's Place Hospitality Center" in Salinas, California, an intentional community "Companions of the Way", and assorted other service projects. From April 7, 1982 until my departure, thirty years later, on a sabbatical which morphed into a permanent move to the Midwest, I lived the Catholic Worker dream, headache, and heartache. (We are now in River Falls, Wisconsin)...
Years of contemplative prayer and reflection found their way onto paper and laptop, and now into a book: Resplendent In Rags "The Wild and Homeless Gospel of the Ragged-Man and Friends"... The deep satisfaction of holding book-in-hands has, perhaps not surprisingly, prompted the potential of summoning of enough energy and time to begin again... and so a new Catholic Worker is being birthed... Much older, hopefully a tad bit wiser, I hold to heart what Dorothy used to say with a wistful fondness, "Beginnings are always exciting"...
You can help build a dream through the purchase of Resplendent In Rags! Other than the costs associated with keeping Resplendent in print, monies generated by the sale of this book will serve the dream of a "farm / retreat / beloved community / in particular service with disadvantaged youth -- and others seeking a life of meaning and purpose"... Going forward, www.theburninghand.com will steadily evolve into your connecting link with the Iona House Catholic Worker... And, since we can't afford to set up an e-commerce "store" as part of this website, we'll be doing this the old-fashioned way: you can use the Contact Page to arrange for your copy (or copies!) of the book... Or, you can call me directly at 1-715-531-3515 (Central Time in the U.S.) and we'll talk and take care of your purchase order! And since I am not practicing to become an Amazon robot, this will likely prove to be a very human enterprise!
If you are interested in hosting or facilitating a presentation / book talk, likewise, give me a call! Lastly, if you are so inclined, donations above the cost of the book ( $15.00 + 5.5 % sales tax here in Wisconsin) will serve the building of a new Catholic Worker dream... I mean, Jimminy-Christmas and Holy Moly, "What if?" and "Why not?"
