A Beacon of Light

“I wish I could play Little League now. I’d be way better than before.”~ Mitch Hedberg The word “visualization” is defined as “a technique involving focusing on positive mental images in order to achieve a particular goal.” The practice of visualization has been used in a variety of disciplines through the years. In my childhood, I…

Although I was educated in Jesuit institutions (St. Ignatius College Prep, Santa Clara University, and the University of San Francisco), when leading a group in prayer, either as a classroom teacher, pastoral minister, or presenter at workshops for adults, I liked to begin with the traditional introduction practiced by the Christian Brothers: “Let us remember… that…

“It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross.”~ St. Ignatius of Loyola Growing up in an Irish Catholic family, I heard many of the same pearls of wisdom being shared in households of faith across the globe. One of my mother’s favorite sayings, which she would…

“Bearers of gratitude make the world a better place.” ~ Pope Francis I try not to get too religious in my blog posts, but today is a special day — Holy Thursday. On this day each year, the Church enters into the most sacred three-day period of the liturgical calendar: the Triduum. It can be a bit confusing,…

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” ~ A. A. Milne I know neither where Joe was going, nor where he was coming from. What I do know is that something unexpected occurred. Joe was involved in a traffic accident which left him on life support at Valley Medical Center in…

“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”  ~ Abraham Hicks In recent years, much has been written about the importance of developing the right mindset In our personal and professional lives. While the jargon may be new, the concepts of developing a positive attitude and living with…

Those who know me are well aware of the amazing young student from St. Victor School in San José who illustrated our book Cherries in the Summer. In the spring of 2021, while I was serving as a long-term substitute teacher at her school, I became aware of Vivian’s battle with depression. She had missed…

“Maybe that’s the best part of going away for a vacation — coming home again.”  ~ Madeleine L’Engle A week in the Bahamas. My time there was restful, a bit stressful, memorable, enjoyable, and essential. To wake up each morning and see the spectacular colors of the waters of Nassau Harbor from my hotel window was invigorating.…

“Perhaps some detours aren’t detours at all.Perhaps they are actually the path.”Katherine Wolf When I walked out of my sixth period class at St. Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara on the last day of school in 2015, I thought it would be my last day in the classroom as a teacher. Little did I know…

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson In August 1975, as I was preparing to leave the Bahamas and return home after teaching for a year at St. Augustine’s College in Nassau, one of the goodbyes to my Bahamian friends included this brief, but unforgettable verbal exchange: “I’m hoping to come back to…