Author Archives: Patrick Cole

Unknown's avatar

About Patrick Cole

Husband, parent and writer. Sharing stories with a little humor and wisdom along the way.

Oct 22 – Dr. Ilia Delio, OSF

Leave a reply

an author to read

a voice of reason and love

Sister Delio

Today is a good day to learn more about Ilia Delio. Check out the references below.

“God Is the Source of Our Life

When we search long and hard enough to know the source of our own lives and the source of life at the heart of creation, we discover that the whole creation is pregnant with God. To see, to contemplate and to be transformed so as to become what we love marks the path of Franciscan prayer. The problem today is that we love many things—our freedom, independence, financial wealth, status, power and whatever else our culture tells us will make us happy; thus, there is little room within us to fully embrace God. God, in a sense, has to push through all the things that clutter our lives in order to dwell within us. Franciscan prayer calls us back to poverty, penance, conversion and a heart full of mercy, values and attitudes that are counter-cultural but life-giving. Only when we acknowledge our need for God can we begin to find God. Prayer begins in the poverty of the desert and is the cry of the poor person who is far from home and seeks the way to the source of life.

—from the book Franciscan Prayer by Ilia Delio, OSF” @ http://www.franciscanmedia.org/minute-meditations/god-is-the-source-of-our-life

shop.franciscanmedia.org/products/franciscan-prayer

“Masterfully written and intensely enlightening, Franciscan Prayer could very well be considered the essential handbook for all those seeking to pray and live the Franciscan way. With exquisite execution, Franciscan theologian Ilia Delio clearly outlines what it means to pray as a Franciscan. Through her experience as a discalced Carmelite nun and then her transformation into Franciscan scholar, Sister Delio brings to light the “contemplative,” “cosmic” and “evangelizing” aspects of Franciscan prayer.”

Bio

“Ilia Delio is a Franciscan Sister of Washington, D.C. and holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University.  A native of Newark, N.J., she earned doctorates in pharmacology from Rutgers University-School of Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences and in Historical theology from Fordham University, N.Y.  She is the recipient of a Templeton Course in Science and Religion award and the author of twenty-two books, including The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, which won the 2014 Silver Nautilus Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award.  Other books include Care for Creation (Catholic Press Book Award 2010), The Emergent Christ (Catholic Press Book Award 2013) and Making All Things New : Catholicity, Cosmology and Consciousness nominated for the 2018 Grawemeyer award.  Her books have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Portugeuse, Polish and German.  In 2015, she became general editor of a new book series by Orbis Books called “Catholicity in an Evolving Universe” of which there are currently ten books scheduled for publication.  She lectures nationally and internationally on topics including evolution, artificial intelligence, consciousness, culture and religion.

Dr. Delio’s work in Science and Religion is influenced by the Jesuit scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) who devoted his spiritual writing to bridging Christianity and evolution.   Like Teilhard, she sees the essential need to integrate Science and Religion toward a new way of thinking, consonant with evolution.  Her research interests focus on exploring divine action in a world of evolution, complexity, emergence, quantum reality and artificial intelligence.   She continues to lecture and write on religion and evolution, catholicity, cosmology and culture, artificial intelligence and human becoming.  Her work has a wide public audience and can be found on the website:  www.christogenesis.org.”

http://idelio.clasit.org/

Sept 28 – With a Dog

Leave a reply

I can walk into the night

down any alley, up any flight

or up or down, for that matter,

into the depths of hell

because I know, all will be well …

with a dog.

In season or out, blue skies or gray,

warm or cold, friendless or fourfold,

in good times or bad,

every day, such is life,

I always have hope …

with a dog.

Three more adorable and adoptable dogs from Stray Rescue of STL.

https://www.strayrescue.org/adopt-a-dog

Sept 21 – LOVE IS BUT A SMILE AWAY

Leave a reply

your smile helps me smile

my life is always better

in your company

https://www.strayrescue.org/adopt-a-dog

So grateful to have the opportunity to walk the fur friends at Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Above are the five that reminded me yesterday that love still exists, and we can be a part of giving and receiving it, whenever we volunteer at our local animal rescue facility.

Aug 26 – International Dog Day

Leave a reply

Can you feel the love,

see the desire to be close?

Nose to nose, we see.

“INTERNATIONAL DOG DAY: A SPECIAL DAY TO CELEBRATE ALL DOGS AROUND THE WORLD!

The International Dog Day is observed annually on August 26 to honor all dogs – no matter shapes, sizes, age and breeds – and encourage adoption to all those who have yet to find a home and a family forever.

It is a good and symbolic occasion to celebrate man’s best friend and to remember that every dog around the world should deserve a better life: a life of joy, love, protection, care and respect. A special day to raise awareness about dog adoption because if you are looking for a life’s companion, shelters are full of four-legged friends who are waiting for their chance and will bring just happiness to your days.

Today we also want to give special thought to all dogs that are still left behind in many parts of the world because people, government or local authorities do not care. We should remember all dogs killed, abused, mistreated, but also those who live homeless, in suffering with no care and need to be helped and rescued.

This day was created in 2004 by Colleen Paige, a pet and family lifestyle expert and animal advocate who chose to celebrate the day on August 26 as it was the date that her family adopted their first dog ‘Sheltie’ from an animal shelter home.

Since the first celebration in 2004, National Dog Day has grown in popularity and is now celebrated across the world as International Dog Day.

Today choose to celebrate by giving your dog an extra cuddle, but also do not forget the others and help them by volunteering in a shelter, making a donation or consciously adopting your friend forever.

Be sure to spend this day acknowledging how wonderful and valuable dogs are and give them something positive back as they deserve.”

https://www.oipa.org/international/international-dog-day/

Jun 28 – One Week Later

Leave a reply

Zorro and me a few months back

Today’s dogryu: One Week Later

miss you so, Zorro

grateful for the time we had

still holding you close

http://www.strayrescue.org

I return to Stray Rescue today to walk some big dogs. Plenty of dogs looking for love and attention. The feelings are mutual.

In his book HOW TO LIVE WHEN A LOVED ONE DIES, Thich Nhat Hanh explains:

“Letting Emotions Flow Through You

Do not be afraid of your painful feelings and difficult emotions. If we try to repress our painful feelings, we create a lack of circulation in our psyche which can lead to depression or other psychological problems. Just as the body needs good circulation of the blood to remain healthy, we also need good psychological circulation. …

Mindfulness is the blood of our psyche. Like the blood in the body, it has the power to eliminate toxins and heal our pain. Every time our pain is embraced by mindfulness, it loses some of its strength; it becomes weaker each time. …

When mindfulness circulates in our consciousness, we begin to experience well-being. We needn’t be afraid of our pain when we know that our mindfulness is also there, ready to embrace and transform it.” p.56

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667266/how-to-live-when-a-loved-one-dies-by-thich-nhat-hanh

A Final Goodbye with Zorro

7 Replies

A final goodbye in the consolation room

After 8 days of not eating and 5 days of medical tests and treatment, I made the decision not to continue medical intervention, based on consultation with multiple medical advisors.

Zorro, a 12-year-old male Chihuahua, had an enlarged kidney, gallbladder, liver and pancreas with multiple cysts attached. The doctors said the combination of his age, size and multiple organs involved indicated that further treatment would be too intrusive and not likely to make a difference anyway.

Goodbye dear fur friend.

As Will Rogers reportedly said:

The Messiness of Life by Terry Hershey

3 Replies

Zorro not feeling well (picture taken by me, also not feeling well)

Today, June 21, 2023, I will be asked to decide on end-of-life procedures for my beloved 12-year-old male Chihuahua. To say I am sad cannot express how low I feel.

As an animal chaplain, I have taken a vow to “honor animal lives and heal human hearts.” Today, I will honor Zorro and someday, maybe not today, I will heal my own heart. I know I will need help to do this and I’m uncomfortable asking for help. Giving help is easier for me than asking for it or even accepting it when it is offered.

Life is messy and Terry Hershey’s message below is especially meaningful for me today.

The Messiness of Life

Messiness exposes vulnerability. I will admit, vulnerability is not my strong suit. I do prefer self-sufficiency. And rising above. And yet, self-reliance sounds laudable, but can be an obstacle, because it is difficult to say the words “help” or “thank you.” So, here’s the good news: There is power in embracing vulnerability. And vulnerability never exempts us from the sacrament of the present. Because vulnerability allows us to rest in that touch, that blessing.

—from the book This Is the Life: Mindfulness, Finding Grace, and the Power of the Present Moment
by Terry Hershey

I Am Imperfect – Daily Stoic

Leave a reply

Below is another wise reminder from Ryan Holiday who quotes Gandhi, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius on how best to handle critiscim: own our imperfection.

Check out Holiday’s posts and other great offerings at https://dailystoic.com/how-to-not-be-afraid-of-criticism/ and dailystoic.com

How To Not Be Afraid of Criticism

Daily Stoic Emails

No one likes to be found at fault. In fact, this is what many of us walk around fearing–that we’ll be exposed as imposters, we’ll be put on the spot in front of people, we’ll have to admit error. This makes us defensive, it makes us play it safe, and in some cases, it even makes us dishonest.

It’s a cure, you could say, that’s worse than the disease.

Gandhi, once being interviewed by a reporter, dispensed with all that. “I am very imperfect,” he said. “Before you are gone you will have discovered a hundred of my faults and if you don’t, I will help you to see them.” Why would he do such a thing? Perhaps it was because he knew that as a leader, egotism and an outsized sense of one’s abilities was dangerous and destructive. Perhaps he was inoculating himself against the fear in advance–taking away the power of the reporter to control Gandhi’s fate by disclosing up front what might otherwise be investigated (or even misconstrued).

There is a line from Epictetus who, after being criticized, joked “Yes, and he doesn’t know the half of it, because he could have said more.” It’s not that Epictetus had a bunch of bodies buried somewhere, it was that he had also inoculated himself against criticism by being more aware of his flaws–and more concerned about addressing them–than even his enemies.

Why should we be afraid of criticism? As Marcus Aurelius writes, if that criticism is correct and we are in error then the person criticizing us has done us a favor by correcting it. If they are wrong, what do we care? More likely, if we are doing our job right, we should already be well aware of the issue that people are raising and already be fixing it. We should have no sense of ourselves as perfect or above critique. Nor should we be so fragile and vulnerable as to not be able to bear being disliked or disagreed with.

Jun 15 – 3 + 1 = JOY

Leave a reply

I am the luckiest man in the universe and this week I walked three new dogs and one lovable repeater. Pictured below are Elmers, Manifest, Fury (all new to me) and The Supreme (a personal BFFF).

Today’s puppyru: 3 + 1 = JOY

how lucky am i

to meet and breathe air with you

truly JOY divine

All pictures taken by Stray Rescue of STL