https://divinity.yale.edu/news/professor-lamin-sanneh-1942-2019

I came across this post from this esteemed religious scholar and professor because his book review about Bahira was cited by another scholar.  I look for intersections of faith and religion, the political and the spiritual.

The Sleep Classroom

My biggest task as of late is to get at least four (4) hours of sleep per day. 

This task is made much harder with the presence of smartphones. Smartphones are the deserved treat of the overworked?  But the reward for hard work is, well, more hard work.  In this case it is sleep.

Write a story about a lie (Fast Fiction prompts by Roberta Allen)

Interior Monologue of Robert Aralola

I told her I would call Human Resources.  I told her I would call the police.  I told her she should be ashamed of herself. I told her she should have some self-respect. 

I blotted out my name on the Christmas card.  (But not the book--because it is an antique, tattered as it is--and there are other men with a capital R.)

My words and actions do not betray me if she knows.  I love her.


Speculation by Ocean Cola

That is some Contradictory BullShit.  CBS Cares, ha! 

Emailed in!

In which I work at avocation and vocation...

An avocation is a hobby or any other activity taken up in addition to one's regular work. A vocation is one's principal occupation or a calling to a particular way of life or course of action.Mar 6, 2017

Love is a gift.  You can't make people like you.  You can earn respect, though.  You can also provide appropriate training.  Kicked off Lent with Ash Wednesday service at neighborhood parish.  I haven't seen much of my fifth grader lately before he wakes me from my pre-work nap.  On my way out the door, he wasn't impressed to be reminded that he was born on a Mardi Gras some years ago.  We will go through the Lent readings together.  #spiritualbirthday

#Soulmates by Facebook Reflection

One of my former students from the University of the Philippines penned this reflection on Facebook, after a not-so-recent heartbreak.  (Although I suspect he's still reeling from it???)


"People connect with someone special to them on three levels: physical, emotional, and mental-spiritual. One out of three is what most people get. Sometimes zero out of three is even possible, when the connection is purely on the level of mutual fantasy. Hit two out of three, and you're already lucky; you're with someone who is a good long-term prospect.

"Three out of three--someone who connects with your body, your heart and your mind--that is your soulmate.

"Of course, meeting your soulmate is no guarantee of #forever. Even soulmates can change their mind and leave."

Walter Scott's translation of "Ave Maria"

Anglican version: Ave Maria! Maiden mild!/ Listen to a maiden's prayers/ For Thou canst hear through from the wild/ Thou canst [save] amid despair/
Safe may we sleep beneath Thy care/ Though banished, outcast and reviled/ O Maiden, hear a maiden's prayer/ O Mother, hear a suppliant child/ Ave Maria! [perhaps refashioned into a purity prayer...and, can "save" be substituted with "pray" in respect to Mary's intercessory role?]