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Oratio Divina: An Opportunity To Breathe
In this contemplative oratio divina, Robert Van Valkenburgh reflects on the divine gift of breath as the very essence of life from God, a miraculous and sustaining force often taken for granted. Acknowledging the temporal nature of our existence, he emphasizes gratitude for each breath as an opportunity to live fully. This reflection invites…
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Scriptio: Parallel Parking And The Wai Kru Ram Muay
Through an unexpected turn of events, my daughter and I ended up at a Muay Thai Wai Kru seminar today. Muay Thai is a form of pugilistic fighting originating in Thailand wherein participants use punches, kicks, knees, elbows, clinching, and trips to defeat one another. Wai Kru, more officially Wai Kru Ram Muay or ‘war dance saluting…
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Scriptio: I Assume It Was Grace
Thirty days before my nineteenth birthday, I entered rehab. Looking back, I still don’t know how I found the courage to go. At first, I was willing because I had nowhere else to turn. I had no home to speak of. I was barely getting by, working at McDonald’s, making enough money to eat…
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Scriptio: Far From Innocence
When my wife and I were dating, we would talk on the phone for hours every night about everything and nothing. She would whisper from beneath the blankets in her makeshift room in the basement of her cousin’s home, trying to be quiet so that she didn’t wake up her niece and aunt with…