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Articles by Maddie LaForge
Saved by Beauty
Dorothy Day was known to quote Dostoevsky, "The world will be saved by beauty, and what is more beautiful than love." More akin to Dorothy's pragmatism than her mysticism, I more often resonate with her words, "Everyone wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes."This year has blessed (or cursed depending on the day) me with an abundance of non-pragmatic time. Away from more structured work, I tried out creating, crafting, traveling, learning new languages and cultures...
Loving Life Beyond the Honeymoon Phase
Each semester in my class we read a little from Ada María Isasi-Diaz and talk about fullness of life. This was the original understanding of the term, “Kingdom of God,” or as she prefers to call it familia de Dios. I ask students what it looks and feels like to live life to the fullest. In Denver, a lot of responses included snowboarding. In California, some said driving to the beach with their friends. Driving is a theme; after all, my students are seventeen.
The Quieting
It goes like this The patting down The quieting Tucks me in Safe and warm The noise, news, stories The work assuring me Yes, yes keep doing To make you safe Afford comfort Tuck in the corners Snug and tight The quieting puts me to sleep Without dreams Suddenly Traveling across seas Arrived island Of people present-living Her luscious hills and valleys Windswept palm trees Ocean crashes Still Beckoning Wake up Dear child, I hope for you It mustn’t happen this way Earth shouting Her brilliant...
The Food Mood Experiment: Data, Results, Concluding
I will not call the Food Mood Experiment (aka dry January) unsuccessful. I did drink alcohol a couple of times. Unsurprisingly, I ate more popcorn and ice cream than I intended this month. I learned recently that some Buddhist monks say that after we die, we will exist in the afterlife buried under a blanket of all the food we wasted. If that is so, I will suffocate under layers of popcorn and ice cream. Much is wasted both in the trash can and inside my belly. I did not fulfill all my promises.
Part II: Ask And You Shall Receive?
I recognize that I write from a place of tremendous privilege. Understanding detachment meant working through struggles to notice and feel joy, to believe the OK-ness of daily living, to trust desire, to be willing to hope. These are struggles of the privileged. I do not get everything I ask for. Things do not always go my way. My prayers are not always answered. And I am very fortunate to have inherited stable health, income, education, well-being.
On Detachment
I’ve been bopping around the Jesuit network for the past decade. “Detachment” is one of those words we throw around a lot. The basic premise is that “attachments” are those things that we hold onto a little too tightly. Being too involved with these attachments keeps us away from God. Stuck with my own plan, I don’t consider alternative options that might be more fulfilling. I am so involved in an unhealthy relationship that I cannot consider leaving.
How I Chose to Eat Lunch Today
Family, travel, and holiday goodness filled this past month. The visit felt full, fast-paced, fun, and very tiring. True to nature, I felt anxious leading up to the trip and returning to Taiwan. It is a little disorienting to move between extremes of solitude and social rhythms of life. This arrival feels new and familiar.
Q & A with Sr. Carolyn Brockland on how to rebuild after a natural disaster Original
Each new report of extreme weather begs the question, "Is this the new normal?" Across the world, we are learning what it means to adapt and adjust to climate change as well as what it means to heal our communities, including Earth herself. Ursuline Sr. Carolyn Marie Brockland comes from a community experienced with resilience and recovery. The Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula arrived in New Orleans in 1727.
Watching People Watch the Rain
In Colorado, I experienced the cycle of four seasons for the first time. I dismissed the beauty by grumbling about the snow, and I happily stuffed my parka into storage moving weekend. You read that right; we did indeed pack it up in a weekend. Vision: laying around tropical beaches, trekking through lush mountains. Reality: typhoon season. Taking shelter from the downpour Seasons have a way of marking time, even typhoon season.
Praying with Memory
Memory enriches prayer. Re-entering the scene, I find treasures in the daily I am given to plow. Given a gift, but all-too-often felt burden. So easy it is to forget the lightness. So easy to miss the riches seemingly hidden in this work of living. Uncovered, the gems are stunningly bright- I can't help but smile. How could I miss these pearls of great price? Stumbling around these first days in Taipei, I'm drawn to a memory from another sweaty and scenic location: Chalmette, Louisiana.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Solidarity Resources
Responding in Prayer, Reflection, and Solidarity Coronavirus has created a time of uncertainty, fear, isolation, and illness. But our faith teaches us that there is light in the darkness. As the Jesuit and broader Catholic network responds in unique ways with love, compassion, and new means of building community, ISN will compile them in this space. This page will continue to be updated as things unfold.
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