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About Mary Lee Wile

The Rev. Mary Lee Wile is a deacon in the Diocese of Maine. She is the author of the theological novel Ancient Rage, three program books: I will with God’s help, Christ’s Own Forever, This Bread & This Cup, and two children’s books: Star of Wonder and Season of Angels, both through Forward Movement. She has written for Forward Day by Day and Daily Devo. Having served for eight years as a pediatric hospice chaplain, Mary Lee now engages in prison ministry, offers spiritual direction, serves as Chaplain to the Maine Chapter of the Society of Companions of the Holy Cross, and tends grandchildren two days a week.

Holy contradictions: commemorating Thomas Merton

December 10, 2020 By Mary Lee Wile 3 Comments

Back when my middle-aged sons were little boys, another young mom from church handed me a copy of Thomas Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, […]

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Filed Under: Prayer, Saints Tagged With: cloud of witnesses, grandparenting, Merton, Prayer, retreat

Saint Simon and Saint Jude: Obscure Saints, Profound Wisdom

October 28, 2020 By Mary Lee Wile 2 Comments

I think we need a virtual army of intercessors, led by this patron saint of desperate causes, to help us through our own current “difficult time.”

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Filed Under: Prayer, Saints Tagged With: coronavirus, grandparenting, Prayer, St. Jude

Through a Glass, Darkly 

April 20, 2020 By Mary Lee Wile 6 Comments

I smile as the 4-year-old shows me Butterscotch, her much-loved bunny; Butterscotch proceeds to die two days later, and I cannot help or hold the child in her grief. 

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Filed Under: Easter Tagged With: coronavirus, Easter, grandchildren, grandparenting

Scratching in the Cat Box of My Mind

March 23, 2020 By Mary Lee Wile 14 Comments

Howard Thurman writes, “In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.”  

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Filed Under: Lent Tagged With: coronavirus, fear, grandchildren, grandparents, Howard Thurman, Prayer

Silence and Slow Time: honoring Richard Meux Benson and Charles Gore, monks and mystics

January 14, 2020 By Mary Lee Wile Leave a Comment

Students found the idea of a week in silence more alarming than a week detoxing from substance abuse, but as full time high school English teachers, my husband and I treasured the time in silence and prayer.

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Filed Under: Saints, Spiritual Practices Tagged With: empty nest, grandparents, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, parenting, retreat, silence, SSJE

Perception

November 4, 2019 By Mary Lee Wile Leave a Comment

“Grandma, where’s your mean picture?” asks my seven-year old grandson.“Mean” picture? Our house is full of family photos, paintings, icons – but I can’t think of any “mean” pictures.

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Filed Under: Discipleship Tagged With: evangelism, Good Shepherd, grandchildren, Jesus

The vast expanse of interstellar space

August 18, 2019 By Mary Lee Wile Leave a Comment

At the local library yesterday, my four-year-old granddaughter listened to stories about stars, and about how everything on earth – including the Earth itself — is made from the debris of exploding stars, known as supernovas.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: grandchildren, space, theology

Jesus with Gray Hair

May 12, 2019 By Mary Lee Wile 3 Comments

Jesus with gray hair? That’s not an image I’d ever imagined, not until my six-year-old granddaughter created one.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: coloring, death, grandchildren, grandparenting, Jesus

Epiphany, Inclusivity, and Restroom Wisdom

January 19, 2019 By Mary Lee Wile 1 Comment

Not long ago, as I waited to use the restroom at Friendly Toast in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I became intensely aware of the sign on the door

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Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: grandchildren, icons, inclusion, Prayer, strangers

Resurrection, With Wounds

August 31, 2018 By Mary Lee Wile 4 Comments

“Resurrection comes amid the deep loss that plunges us into darkness, when life hurts and makes no sense.” Br. Luke Ditewig, SSJE The day after […]

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: children, grandparenting, pain, resurrection, school

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