Religion

 In a Smithsonian magazine article quoted in the November issue of Give Us This Day, page 240, physicist Lawrence Krauss “thought about the end of the universe and observed that a backward look reveals that the end of things is often tied to their beginnings.” The sentence fascinated me. At this time of year when we typically haul out the blank page of paper to list our resolutions, it also caused me to pause and think about endings and beginnings.

My name is Joseph. I am a carpenter by trade. By nature, I am a man who loves solitude, who finds joy in creation. My love for nature led me to find deep pleasure and profound value in the working of wood. There are so few trees in my country. Each is a precious commodity, a priced gift. It always surprises me to know others cannot see the pricelessness and art found in woodworking.

 I have become increasingly enamored of Richard Rohr. It’s like falling in love for the first time. He is a fascinating, funny, famous (in some circles, at least), faithful and never frivolous Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province.

 Maybe it was the sound of the wind chimes hanging from the rafters of our tiny entryway that inspired me. It could have been a story that went viral, the one about a Texas teen who had been cruelly bullied. She wasn’t physically injured. It was worse. She was tricked into thinking she had been nominated as a contestant for class queen. The joke was turned around when her friends surprised her – and the bullies – by relinquishing the honor and offering the crown to her.