well-being and comfort

Saw this quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn today, and it seems like a good thing for me to hear right now:

Long periods of well-being and comfort are in general dangerous to all. After such prolonged periods, weak souls become incapable of weathering any kind of trial. They are afraid of it. Yet it is a fact that difficult trials and sufferings can facilitate the growth of the soul. I know there is a widespread feeling that if we highly value suffering this is masochism. On the contrary, it is a significant bravery when we respect suffering and understand what burdens it places on our soul.

And I don't say that just because Heather left yesterday for two weeks...

good discussion

The visit to the Catholic Worker house in Champaign went great. Heather got back just in time to go with me and I was so glad she was there. I even found this Dorothy Day quote from a (very) old journal to use:

Where are our Catholic college youth who will turn their unemployment into a vocation and use it to tramp around the country like St. Francis and share the gospel with these forgotten ones?

I copied that down even before I joined the Dominicans, several years before I first went out walking.

There were eleven people at the CW discussion and they responded well. Good participation and even some heated debate, since there was a nice mix of people from different perspectives and backgrounds. There are only three people volunteering full time in the house there, but many others who help in the soup kitchen or food pantry part-time. I was glad to see so many involved in what they are doing there.

that time of year again

Getting in the Christmas mood...