The original muesli was created in Switzerland around 1900. A physician by the name of Maximilian Bircher-Benner came up with the dish as a remedy for his hospital patients. (In the United States, two brothers named Kellogg invented corn flakes at a sanitarium in Michigan and as that business took off a former patient, C.W. Post, began a rival company. There is a strange correlation between doctors, patients, hospitals and breakfast cereal.) If you grew up in Europe, especially Switzerland or Germany, muesli may have been a staple for breakfast or even lunch. In the United States I never heard of it until Kellogg’s began marketing Mueslix. Pictured above is a store brand box of Muesli from Kroger. I discovered that cereal a couple of years ago while working at Kroger, otherwise I wouldn’t know it exists. I can buy Muesli still but not Kellogg’s Mueslix… at least in the store. I have now learned that i can order Mueslix from Amazon.com or even Walmart.com. Our local Walmart doesn’t put it on the shelf but Kellogg’s makes it and I can order it from Walmart and get it with two-day shipping. Just like I can buy store brand bran flakes at Walmart and Food Lion but cannot find Kellogg’s or Post bran flakes anywhere. Those brand name cereals are also still produced but not carried by grocery stores, at least where I live. Your mileage may vary.
Continue readingLet’s Talk About Eternity
The Heritage Singers once said “Forever is a long, long time.” That’s the way many of us probably think about eternity; a very, very long time. A verse of Amazing Grace starts out “When we’ve been there 10,000 years…” The truth is that eternity takes place outside of time. It’s not made up all time but is rather the exact opposite of time.
Continue readingiMonk Radio Podcast #100
Happy Monday
Satur-deja Vu
If you dial 988 (in the United States) you will be connected to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The new 988 number replaces the previous 11 digit number. The old 1-800 number will continue to work but 988 is the same for calls, text and chat. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1 to connect to the Veterans’ Crisis Line. The new 3 digit number provides ease of access during times of crisis for vets and non-vets alike. Help is available for individuals in need or those who care about them.
Continue readingiMonk Radio Podcast #99
Michael self-identifies as i-Monk in the intro; When you hear Ravi Zacharias, keep in mind this podcast was new in 2008; Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People; Daniel Berrigan, The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power; poetry by Wendell Berry; longer discussion of Robert Capon. Here is a post featuring Capon quotes via Jesus Shaped Spirituality.
Happy Monday
Satur-deja Vu
Duck Tales – This is a family of ducks the child and I watched Wednesday morning on our walk. Click here for a short video (18 seconds) of the babies looking for their mother and then click here for video of them climbing out of the water. Yes it’s been hot lately but you can get in a good walk at 8 AM before the temps get out of hand. Friday morning and again this morning I’m taking advantage of that time slot to trim hedge bushes. No ducks but we did have a random chicken a couple of years ago at the church. She just walked around the front yard and ran into the bushes if anyone got close.
Continue readingiMonk Radio Podcast #98
Cold open, no intro, for sabbatical post #2; Saint Joseph Monastery in Whitesville, KY; old friends and friendship; finally Dissonant Discipleship by David Augsburg.
Below is a picture Michael took on his trip and used as the “cover art” for this podcast episode. The full size image was part of the file and I wanted to share that with you as well.










