Visiting My Father

Today is Monday and it feels like it. My mind is open because it feels empty. Yes, I am moving a little slow today. You would think I would be well rested. I slept a lot over the weekend. Even Chloe slept till 10:00 AM on Sunday. Maybe the fatigue of recent days caught up with me. It may have been the dark, dreary, rainy weekend we had here in Louisville. Whatever the reason, whenever I wasn't doing something or being with Chloe, I was out like a light. I did go see my father on Sunday afternoon. He is still in the hospital. When I visited him he was calm and docile. I'm not sure he realized who I was all of the time. We talked a little. The rest of the time I just sat with him and watched the fish aquarium in the sitting room. We hope he's home for Christmas.

Today is my mother's 78th birthday. You know you're getting old when your child is 56!

Today is also the 39th anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton. For those that don't know, he was a monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani and one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century. I did not know him personally but I feel like I do. Some of his former students at the monastery are my friends, I lived in the same monastery for a year though not at the same time, I've made two retreats in his hermitage located in the woods near Gethsemani, and I have read many of his books as well as other books about him. I was honored in 2005 when I was asked to speak about him at the Cathedral of the Assumption here in Louisville. Giving a homily at mass is not something I normally do but I gave it my best shot.