Top of the mornin'

We are having some beautiful spring weather. It makes me want to grab a book and a cup of coffee and head down to the river. The park here has this great trail that goes for miles and some swing benches looking out over the river. An ideal place to spend some time.

I finished a few books in the past few weeks. I have my nose in several others and will probably finish them all about the same time-at the end of the semester. The first of the two is "Sister Freaks" by Rebecca St. James. She's interviewed several women of differing ages and their experiences regarding faith. It's a little to evangelical for my tastes but it's one of those books that somehow you finish it anyway. However, within it was a bio on a woman that has my deceased mothers name. That got my attention. I had been tossing around some questions about major-involving America or Europe. Then in a way I found some answers to my question within the womans bio. Her choice seemed an encouragement for me-from my mother. Maybe I was just finding what I needed when I needed it. But, it seemed like a gentle nudge from the beyond.

Second book was "An Infinity of Little Hours" by Nancy Maguire. Great read! It's about a small group of men who wish to join the Carthusian order at St. Hugh's Charterhouse of Parkminster in England. For those who aren't familiar, the Carthusians are cloistered monks looking for a very isolated life of worship. Maguire gives an interesting history lesson of the order, follows some se fellows before, during and after 1960-1965. Only 1 of the 5 would take solemn vows and it's not the one I expected. She gives a very humane view of the interior and physical struggles the men go through. It's an amazing thing-to have a religious order and it's lifestyle change very little since the eleventh century. I don't think I could ever live in such an extreme way but I admire those who can. I admire those who tried to make it their lives. It tickles me for the toughest Catholic order to be prospering in England.