Category Archives: Spirit

A Year in Review, Part Two

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Bob Ritzema

Recently, I posted some thoughts about the past year. Life changed quite a bit during 2023, with a move from Michigan to Wisconsin, going from living alone to living in a communal setting, and from living in a different state … Continue reading →

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The Divine Office

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Bob Ritzema

In my last post, I talked about worship being the center of life. I quoted Eugene Peterson: “In worship God gathers his people to himself as center: ‘The Lord reigns’ (Ps. 93:1). Worship is a meeting at the center so … Continue reading →

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Finding the Center

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Bob Ritzema

I recently blogged about having moved into a community in Milwaukee, describing the community I’m living in. This is a big life change for me, so it’s prompting reflection and necessitating adjustment. I wanted to describe a bit more what … Continue reading →

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Forgetting and Identity

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I recently re-read Falling Upward, Richard Rohr’s book describing the differences between spirituality in the first and second half of life. Some of the things that I hadn’t paid much attention to when I first read the book six years … Continue reading →

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Traffic Jams And My Reason For Hope

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I’ve written on my other blog about Tish Harrison Warren’s book Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life. She’s interested in how we can find the sacred in the mundane events of daily life. I wrote there about … Continue reading →

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Playing Pool While Old

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

“Ya got trouble folks,” sang Professor Harold Hill, the con man in The Music Man, “Right here in River City Trouble with a capital ‘T’ And that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for pool!” Professor Hill convinces the town … Continue reading →

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The Christian Communist

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I’ve been writing recently about stuff–our tendency to acquire too many things, our difficulty letting go, our need to simplify as we get older. Recently I ran across a quote on possessions and spirituality by Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk. … Continue reading →

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Save the World? Don’t Look at Me!

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Bob Ritzema

Earlier this year I read Assimilate or Go Home: Notes From a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith (San Francisco: Harper One, 2016) by D.L. Mayfield. Mayfield is a young woman of faith who spent much of her early adulthood volunteering … Continue reading →

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Cold Comfort at the Church of the Dancing Girl

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Bob Ritzema

I have mixed feelings about attending unfamiliar churches. On the one hand, it’s interesting to see the worship practices of various faith communities and meaningful to join with them in the majestic, never-ending stream of praise that, if the book … Continue reading →

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The Seven Deadly Sins for Seniors: Lust

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Bob Ritzema

I’ve been writing about the seven deadly sins, using as my basis the book Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and their Remedies by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung. I’m especially interested in how these harmful habits manifest … Continue reading →

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