Every journey begins with a single step so it is with a blog, I suppose. It begins with a single word. Now this blog begins with the word EVERY. It is a good word, very inclusive. I like that. My hope that the choice of this word will color, effect, influence somehow manifest itself into my journey and affect how I act and present myself. I get ahead of myself. As in all journeys I am anticipating the end of the journey, (how it will be, how I will be) before I have even taken my first step. That is not really true. I have been on this journey all my life. My choices, my action have brought me to this point today. By the grace of God, and the providence of his holy guidance I am where I am and who I am today.

So, where am I going? Beginning August 30 I leave the US for Brussels, Belgium. There I will participate in a program designed to prepare Franciscan Friars for work in the Missions. More on all this in later blogs. This will be a three month program. After that I will travel to Nairobi, Kenya to begin a six year commitment to work in East Africa. I do not have much information about what I will be doing there except that my background in counseling and my experience working with people recovering from trauma will be useful. I may be working with people still struggling with the after-effects of civil war, displacement and returning home, in places like South Sudan. I go with no agenda and remain open to the Spirit to send me to where I an needed. I go in service.

A word on the title of the blog; Omnes Donum Est. It is a Latin phrase that means “All Is Gift”. It has been a personal motto of mine since 2000, the date of my solemn profession as a Franciscan Friar. The phrase reflects my personal theology of pain and suffering. I believe that my God does not wish pain and suffering on me. The pain I have experienced in life is from other sources. God, I have learned, is present to help me make the pain transform into life. I have just to ask. Suffering is the choice I make to live in the past, the past of pain. I have mourned losses in the past and felt pain but my way through that loss and hurt was through a trust in a loving God who gives me joy if I but ask. Who I am today is the direct result of resigned suffering. I surrender to the loss only to be caught up in the loving arms and tender care of my God. Easy to do? No. Does it take practice and patience? Yes. Do I still get stuck in the past and suffer? Yes. Can I do this by myself? No, I need help. Remembering, however, that there is a gift waiting for me on the other side pain, moves me to break from the chains of suffering, walk away from the enmeshment of ghosts, and walk free into the gift of joy.

I look forward to journeying with you. Please feel free to comment. I will read and respond to your comments to the best of my abilities given the limitations of time, distance and availability of internet connection.