White Tank Mountain Regional Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Went to the White Tank Mountain Park. The petroglyphs were magnificent.
No doubt in my mind that some of these have a special religious meaning,
especially considering how the mountail peak seems directly above some
of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tank_Mountain_Regional_Park

The Saguaro: Grand Symbol of the West

Saw many of these today in the White Tank Park.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/june/stories/saguaro.html

White Tank Mountain Regional Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First time time in park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tank_Mountain_Regional_Park

BBC NEWS | Europe | Lindbergh 'fathered two families'

I am in Phoenix, AZ for a 4 days. Just learned something that fascinates
me.

I have always taken A Gift from the Sea to the ocean when I go. I have
read it at least a dozen times. Imagine my surprise when I read the
following article. Evidently Reeve Lindbergh, Charles and Anne's younger
daughter writes about this in her new book Forward From Here. What a
story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3249472.stm

Fw: Thomas Merton in Rome, May 30 - June 8, 2008

Hello All!

As you know, this year's pilgrimage program "Thomas Merton in Rome"  has
been booked for several months.  Recently, someone cancelled due to
medical reasons, which means that one room is now available. Below is
information, including cost and how to book your space, for this year's
pilgrimage program to Rome.  Hope you can join us!

All good things,

Susan Cowan

Community Relations Director

Thomas Merton Society of Canada

www.merton.ca

604-669-2546, Ext. 2

--------------------

Book Today--One room now available! 

Rome . . . and Thomas Merton

The Vancouver Sun's feature writer Steve Whysall ranks Rome as the most
emotionally and intellectually exciting of any city he has visited. The
real pleasure of the city for him, he says, "...is the fascinating
synergy of the sacred and the profane." The ancient sites and the
history of Rome are enough to dazzle and amaze; the fact is today Rome
continues to be a smorgasbord and delight for anyone interested in
history, art, music, architecture and, of course, Thomas Merton.

Thomas Merton in Rome, May 30 - June 8, 2008

Ten-day pilgrimage program to Rome where we will explore Thomas Merton's
life and thought with Merton scholars Donald Grayston, Michael Higgins
and Judith Hardcastle. The program includes 10 nights accommodation,
daily breakfast and hospitality, 2 group dinners, charter bus trip to
the Trappist monastery Tre Fontane as well as a morning conference and
lunch with Dom Timothy Kelly, former Abbot of Gethsemani, 4 morning
sessions at St. Paul's Within the Walls (near our hotel),
and evening rooftop gatherings at the hotel. Cost: $2,495 CAN (based on
double occupancy); and $2,820 CAN (single).  For more information or to
reserve your space, please contact Judith Hardcastle @ 604-669-2546 or
judithhardcastle@telus.net. 

--------------------

ITMS Newsletter

-----Original Message-----
From: Pearson, Dr. Paul <pmpearson@bellarmine.edu>
Subject: ITMS Newsletter
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:57:52 -0500

Dear Friends,

The Spring 2008 ITMS Newsletter is now available on the ITMS web site -

http://www.merton.org/ITMS/newsletter15-1.htm – the Newsletter will
also be included in the Spring Seasonal, but it will be a number of
weeks before this is mailed.

The closing date for applications for Shannon Fellowships for 2008-2009,
March 15th, is rapidly approaching. Details about the Fellowships can be
found on the ITMS web site at: http://www.merton.org/ITMS/fellows.htm

Also on the ITMS web site is the call for papers for the 11th ITMS
Conference to be held at Nazareth College in Rochester in June 2009. The
closing date for submitting proposals is May 1st – full details can be
found at: http://www.merton.org/Rochester/Call.htm

New books by and about Thomas Merton continue to appear and details of
the latest publications can be found on the web at:

http://www.merton.org/books.htm recent highlights include:

An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Initiation Into the Monastic
Tradition, 3, edited by Patrick O'Connell.

Thomas Merton: Master of Attention by Robert Waldron,

Choosing to Love the World, compiled by Jonathan Montaldo.

If you are in the Louisville area Albert Raboteau will be speaking at
Bellarmine on Thursday 28th February at 7 pm. The title of his talk will
be "Thomas Merton and Racial Reconciliation." Earlier in the day he
will be interviewed on State of Affairs in a live broadcast from
Bellarmine. It is possible to list to the interview over the internet by
going to the State of Affairs website: http://www.wfpl.org/soa.htm

March 18th marks the 50th Anniversary of Thomas Merton's epiphany on
the corner of Fourth and Walnut. A celebration of this anniversary will
take place on Tuesday, March 18, 2008, at 5:30 p.m., at the Muhammad Ali
Center, One Muhammad Ali Plaza, 144 N. Sixth Street, Louisville, KY
40202. Members of the Louisville religious, civic and business
communities will participate by sharing their own experiences of
epiphany. The event is sponsored by the Thomas Merton Center of
Bellarmine University, the Louisville Bar Association, the Muhammad Ali
Center and Interfaith Paths to Peace. It will be followed by a brief
ceremony at the site of the epiphany (now Fourth and Muhammad Ali
Streets). Coinciding with the celebration is the opening at the Muhammad
Ali Center of the exhibit "A Hidden Wholeness: The Zen Photography of
Thomas Merton," which will run from March 18 until June 30.

In peace,

Paul.

##########################
Dr Paul M Pearson.
Director and Archivist,
Thomas Merton Center,
Bellarmine University,
2001 Newburg Road,
Louisville, KY. 40205.

Tel: 502 452 8177.
Cell: 502 693 1937.
Fax: 502 452 8452.

www.merton.org

Aging

Quote Journal

"Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength
is gone." (A prayer of David. Psalm 71:9

I realize more each day the process and forcefulness of aging. Strange
pains, memory lapses, names forgotten, uncertainty with oneself, the
mirror reflection of white and balding head. New facial lines. Losing
things. Everything becomes more difficult to do.

The following website is neat, describing the writing of quotes for a
journal (that is why I wrote what is above.) It is a gracious point for
beginning a journal.

http://www.oncourseworkshop.com/Learning015.htm

New Century Notebook

Pamela Weatherill in Austalia has some neat comments on my "How to
Develop A Spiritual Journal." Check it out:

http://www.newcenturynotebook.blogspot.com/

Keeping a Spiritual Journal

From Jill Novak some good thoughts on journaling.

http://www.giftoffamilywriting.com/keeping_a_spiritual_journal.htm

Vancouver Merton Peace Conference-

On Friday evening and all day Saturday, March 7 & 8, 2008 you are
invited to attend a conference entitled "Disarming the Heart: Pathways
to Peace" at the Canadian Memorial Church and Centre for Peace (near
Burrard and 16th), Vancouver, B.C. The conference title has been drawn
from a book on nonviolence written by John Dear, who will be the
principal speaker at this conference. This will be an unusual
opportunity in this part of the world to see one of the most respected
and widely published members of the peace movement in the Americas.

John Dear, a Jesuit priest and the author of 25 books, is an activist in
the peace movement who has gone to jail more than 75 times as a result
of nonviolent protests aimed at securing peace in various parts of the
world. These include El Salvador, Northern Ireland, Guatemala,
Nicaragua, Haiti, the Middle East, the Philippines, and Iraq. In Iraq he
led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize winners to witness the terrible
effects on Iraqi children of the sanctions imposed on that country.

From 1998-2000 John Dear was executive direct or of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United
States. Currently, he is the coordinator of Pax Christi New Mexico, and
he lectures to tens of thousands of people each year across the U.S.
Among those who have shaped John Dear's involvement in the peace
movement are Thomas Merton and Daniel Berrigan about whom he has written
powerfully and memorably.

To register for the conference, contact the Thomas Merton Society of
Canada at 604-669-2546 or tmsc@telus.net. The Friday evening talk is at

7 p.m. (minimum donation $10). The Saturday talks, which will feature
John Dear and other significant speakers, are $50 for the whole day
(9-5) or $30 for the half day (includes lunch). Those troubled about the
present participation by Canada and the U.S. in war will want to be
there.

Ross Labrie

President

Thomas Merton Society of Canada

www.merton.ca

604-669-2546

Merton - Dark Dreary

"Last night it snowed again and there is a fairly thick blanket of snow
on the ground and on the trees. The sky looks like lead and seems to
promise more. It is about dark as my own mind. I see nothing, I
understand nothing. I am sorry for complaining and making a
disturbance. All I want is to please God and to do His will."

(THE SIGN OF JONAS, page 27 ... Merton wrote this on the first
Saturday
in Lent of 1947.)

What is all I want?

Via Wayne Burns

Tennessee Tornadoes

We spent most of last night watching the news, listening to the radio,
and time in the basement while the storm passed nearby. 21 homes were
destroyed and many others damaged in nearby Fairview where our daughter
lives, about 19 miles away. That was 8:51 pm. Another line of storms
came by at 1:51 am. It was 12 miles away. It was a scarey sleepless
night. Over two dozen persons died. It was a tough time.

Iditarod

From my friend Rodney who will be the first Tennessean in the Iditarod.
Sounds like fun, right?

Yesterday we ran about 43 miles. SGT Woodward went ahead on a
snowmobile and
took some really good photos. I hope to have them on the website before
the
weekend is over. It was a good, but difficult run. The further we
went
towards McCloud's Grade, the deeper the snow was. Nobody had been over
the
trail since our snow storm a couple of nights ago. The dogs dug in and
pulled through the deep snow. It was slow going, but good training for
both
the dogs and the musher.

Today the team and I headed out for a 28 mile run. On this run, there
is a
spot where there is a sharp left turn that then goes straight down
hill. By
the time the sled gets to the turn (with musher on board), the dogs are
in
high gear going down the hill. Usually the sled turns short, catches a
snowbank, and turns over on its right side. I have about gotten used to
this
inconvenience and expect it, however, I try to swing the sled out and
avoid
the snowbank. Today I was ready for it. The dogs turned and when the
sled
got to the turn, I was riding outside of the right runner. Great! I
made
the turn without hitting the snowbank and without turning over on the
right
side. Instead, the sled turned over on the left side. I hung on as I
was
dragged through the snow. (Now, everything I'm telling you happened in
about
2 seconds.) Suddenly I noticed we were sliding into some brush.
"Good," I
thought, "this will stop the sled." It did, but not just the brush. I
hit
head first right into a tree. The tree did not budge. I hurt from the
top
of my head to the bottom of my feet. I now have two big lumps on my
head.
One is on my forehead and the other right between my eyes. I just hope
my
eyes don't turn black. I have never had a headache quite like this
one. I
have been sucking on ibuprofen all evening. It also banged up my neck
so
that I can only turn my head to the left, and that only a few degrees.

As for the run itself, the dogs are really firming up as a team. I
moved the
dogs around to different positions and have been pairing them up
differently
to see how they run best. No matter where I run them, they do great.

A week from this coming Friday (February 15) I will run the UP 200 in
Marquette, Michigan. Then on February 20, we head to Alaska. In the
meantime, I'm getting something for this headache!

Mush on and Mush Strong!

Rodney

The Story Behind The Psalms - by Dr Jack Hyles

This website has really stimulated me while reading the Psalms. It is a
different perspective. I have been re-reading the Psalms with this as my
guide.

http://www.fbbc.com/messages/hyles_psalms.htm