Being back in Boston for a while now, I run into familiar faces every now and then. And one of those places is on the street. A few days ago I ran into a guy named Richard for the first time in years. After hellos and catching up, he filled me in on a lot…
Every time I’m back in Boston, every several months or so, I take some time out and I head over to the back Bay. I go to the same spot, outside the condo where I lived back some 24 years ago, and I walk the 15 minute walk from there to a certain church. It…
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Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a short course on English pronunciation for Spanish speakers. I found a resource and method that brings together all the instincts and insights I had over the years learning and sharing language and culture, and with that, I developed a short course. What…
This last time I was in Ecuador, I went out one day with the church priest to a small community that’s part of the parish, for a Mass. On the way back, and on the way, we talked in the car. I presented some of my story, some of my ideas and inspirations. And the…
This time while I was in Ecuador, every day I used to chat with some Indigenous vendors in the pueblo. We talked about English and Kichwa. I learned a lot of basic Kichwa phrases that way. One day, one friend taught me a phrase to go and say to his brother in the other store…
There is a short, wordless animated video you can find on YouTube, that I show sometimes for spiritual retreat. It’s an man who lives in a high-up apartment, with a flowerpot on the window ledge. The flowerpot falls to the ground one day and breaks. The old man gets nervous that that could be him,…
This past year, I was visiting the village of Chontal each week. It was a 3-hour trip to get there, and then another 3 hours to return, but usually with an extra leg and stopover of another 3 hours on the return. It got a little tiring, but I enjoyed making the trip nonetheless. Each…
In January 2018, police received a 911 call from a distressed teenaged girl. It was her first time ever talking to a stranger, and when police arrived, they found a young woman who had lived in a house of abuse all her life. She had 12 other siblings that had lived under control of their…
Recently I went out with a friend who is retired, to assist him getting to a medical appointment, and then we had lunch afterwards. When we wrapped up, we went back to his retirement home, where there was a priest in residence there. My friend introduced me to him, and mentioned that I’m a lay…
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” John 1:46 That’s the question that Nathanael asks in the Gospel after someone tells him that they’ve found the Messiah. Now, in Philip’s explanation and excitement, you can almost imagine going along with it, with yes, yes, yes: We’ve found the one (yes) … about whom Moses wrote in…
This past time in Ecuador, I was staying in a town and natural area that was now a small tourist location. I spent a lot of time with some of the artisans who have stores along the main route to the restaurant I often went to, on my way from the hostel nearby. I became…
Recently I was in a store for computer stuff, and I realized that I could use a really cheap, simple, small bag to carry some of the wires for my laptop. I remembered many years ago finding one along the line you wait in while you’re waiting to check out. You know those long serpentine…
The other day, I was in the downtown area of Boston running a few errands, and I decided to head into a Walgreens to see if they had what I was looking for. On my way in, I noticed a homeless man holding one of the doors, looking for tips. I went in the other…
Just before it was my time to leave Ecuador, I made my last visit to Chontal for the last language class and to visit the little school up in the mountain. It all went well, and I returned to Mindo and was chatting with an artisan friend. She asked how it all went, and I…
Where I was staying in Ecuador recently, the family had a 3-year-old boy. It was a miracle to see him starting to have longer conversations. But he loved to play of course, and if you notice, kids are always using their whole bodies in everything they do. And before he knew how to speak enough,…
ALM 