Sacraments

Pat Dawe offered a great subject for our February discussion: objects or mementos that we gather around us; that give us strength and courage in difficulty; items that have special meaning and offer memories and feelings of important times, events, and people in our lives. Such things are the “sacraments” of our lives; they are symbols that touch our spirits, speak to our deep selves, bring us peace amid chaos, warm remembrance in cold times, and smiles in the dark.

The idea excited many thoughts for me, and I hope it will do the same for you.

I start by looking at my desk…it’s a usual mess…a favorite photo of me at twelve with my older sister and brother sitting on a Chicago park bench on a wintry February day. It’s there when I phone either of them, still in Chicago, 76 years later…

On my walls, an original serigraph by Sister Corita which I bought in the 60’s while still a priest; an oil by an artist friend depicting a colorful scene of the lower desert which we bought during our years in Palm Springs; a Paul Klee print, a favorite from the Norton Simon.

And books that I’ve refused to part with through the ten moves we’ve made during our marriage: biographies and writings of mentors and afar heroes of mine like Dan Berrigan, Jack Egan, Matthew Fox, Saul Alinsky, Rabbi Joshua Heschel, Karen Armstrong, and Andy Greeley. Some fiction and poetry which I’ve visited again during the pandemic.

There is so much in this apartment that is sacramental to me that it could be my “desert island”!

Tell us about your mementos and their meanings…tell us about your desert island “bring-alongs”…and who gets them? Tell us what you’ve never told us!!!

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