Darrell Glenn aka Ca

Catholic husband, father & grandfather. Part-time teacher at Hart ISD. With my wife Kim, we steward The Glenn—our 60-yr homestead guided by Laudato Si’. ✝️

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

Bishop Barron, thank you for your willingness to serve on the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission.

May I ask a question that has been on my mind?

You have often argued that our culture's pursuit of "safe spaces" and emotional safety can foster self-centeredness rather than Christian courage. You have reminded us that the Christian life is centered on the Crucified Christ and the witness of the saints, who accepted suffering and risk rather than demanding protection from offense. You have also criticized the retreat into ideological echo chambers, encouraged robust dialogue over censorship, and warned that an excessive concern for psychological safety can weaken both faith and resilience.

How, then, do you understand your work on a Religious Liberty Commission in light of those convictions? How do you distinguish defending authentic religious liberty from creating a kind of religious "safe space" for Christians?

Is the Commission's purpose to protect the freedom to proclaim and live the Gospel—even when that proclamation brings opposition—or is it to shield Christians from the very discomfort, criticism, and sacrifice that the Gospel itself seems to promise?

I would genuinely appreciate hearing how you reconcile these two themes in your teaching, because it seems to me that Christian liberty has always been ordered toward faithful witness, not toward personal security.

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

“The Father who dwells in me is doing his works…
believe because of the works themselves…
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do…”

I relished the absurdity of it:
That the infinite God chose to become, quite literally, involved.
Not as a distant architect,
but as a laborer.
Saint Athanasius stood almost alone in insisting that this scandal was the truth.
That God did not merely resemble us—
He became one of us.
Fully.
Completely.
Messily.
For if God only appeared to act,
then the works are illusions.
But if God truly entered our condition,
then every shovel of dirt, every act of care, every hidden labor
can become a participation in divine work.
The modern temptation is to spiritualize everything
until nothing remains.
But Christianity does the opposite:
It incarnates everything
until even mud becomes meaningful.
And so the paradox stands:
To be spiritually clean,
I must be willing to become physically—and spiritually—dirty.
https://t.co/BD4JzvM4hb

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I sought a God who stayed above,
untouched by dust and strain—
yet found Him kneeling in the earth,
amid the sweat and pain.
Not distant hands that shaped from far,
but hands that bore the scar—
that mended what I could not fix,
and met me where I are.
So let me take the lower path,
where hidden labors prove—
that every work done in His name
is #works He does in love.
https://t.co/BD4JzvMC6J

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

Jesus said to him,
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No #one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is no saint more quietly devoted to the mystery of one than Saint Joseph.
He did not preach to crowds.
He did not write encyclicals.
He did not gather followers.
He cared for one Child.
He loved one spouse.
He performed one task at a time.
And in doing so, he held the entire mystery of salvation in his workshop.
I smile at this divine irony:
The man entrusted with the Savior of the world
spent most of his life doing ordinary work
for an audience of three.
And yet, that was enough.
For in the Kingdom of God, greatness is not measured by how many we reach—
but by how faithfully we attend to the one before us.
Joseph did not need a platform.
He had a Person.
And perhaps that is the secret:
If I learn to love the one Christ places before me,
I will have loved the whole world properly.

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

Not many paths, nor many ways,
nor truths that shift like sand—
but One who stands before my soul
and takes me by the hand.
Not many lives to choose between,
nor doors to wander through—
but One who is the very Life
that makes all things made new.
So let me leave the countless claims
that call me to the throng—
and meet the One who meets me still,
and makes the many #one .
https://t.co/9aiH4MwEd2

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
no slave is greater than his master
nor any #messenger greater than the one who sent him.”

There is a peculiar dignity in being a messenger:
One is both important and unimportant at the same time.
Pope Pius V understood this well.
He held one of the highest offices in the Church—
and yet he lived as though he were still a simple friar.
He reformed, he clarified, he strengthened the Church—
not by inventing a new message,
but by faithfully delivering the one he had received.
I delight in this paradox:
The greatest authority is the one who knows he is under authority.
The truest messenger does not dilute the message
nor decorate it excessively—
he carries it intact.
And here lies the great relief:
If I am only the messenger,
then I am freed from the burden of originality
and entrusted with the joy of fidelity.
For the message is not mine to improve—
only mine to deliver.
https://t.co/3gk9dyWRtD

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I climbed the height @AmarilloDiocese with trembling hand,
and feared the open air—
for being sent is never safe,
nor simple, nor quite fair.
Yet once I loosed my cautious grip
and trusted what was given,
I found the fall was not a fall
but something nearer heaven.
So let me bear what’s not my own,
nor claim what I don’t see—
for joy is found not in the word,
but in the One who sends me.
https://t.co/3gk9dyWRtD

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I spoke too soon @AmarilloDiocese , and I spoke too sure,
and claimed what I had known—
yet found my words were mostly mine,
and very little Thine.
But You, who heard before You spoke,
and listened into light,
have shown me truth is not declared
but given to the sight.
So let me learn the quieter art
of hearing what is #told —
for words that rise from borrowed truth
are better far than bold.
https://t.co/5BPSagDqWU

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

Amid the noise @AmarilloDiocese of daily things,
I strained to hear it clear—
a #voice not loud, yet strangely near,
that waited for my ear.
Not in the storm, nor in the rush,
nor in the shouted claim—
but in the work, the word, the prayer,
it quietly became.
So let me keep the simple rule,
though poorly I may start—
for those who stay within His sound
will learn to know His heart.
https://t.co/esmuQtc7HK

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I thought @AmarilloDiocese to lead by strength and plan,
by fence and careful art—
yet found the flock would only stay
when I had given heart.
For wandering feet and restless will
are not by force confined—
but drawn again by voice once known
and love that does not bind.
So let me learn the Shepherd’s way,
though strange it first may seem—
to lose myself that I might keep
the flock He calls His own.
https://t.co/guWnaymWUm

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I raised my voice @AmarilloDiocese against the strange,
and named it false or wrong—
yet found my certainty was thin,
my argument not strong.
I #quarreled with what I could not see,
and nearly turned away—
until a quieter truth remained,
and chose with me to stay.
So let me lose the need to win,
and keep the grace I’ve met—
for better still to dwell in Him
than prove what I forget.
https://t.co/xI2luVEhCc

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

“I am the living bread that came #down from heaven…”

I feared the fall, the downward road,
the loss of height and claim—
yet found the deeper path was lit
by One who downward came.
He entered earth, and bread, and flesh,
and waters dark and wide—
and there, where I had feared to go,
He waited at my side.
So let me follow, not above,
but where His steps are found—
for grace does not begin on high,
but rises from the ground.
https://t.co/qxqqeqE5nI

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I spoke of #me @AmarilloDiocese in careful terms,
and built my little throne—
a kingdom small, yet fiercely kept,
and proudly called my own.
But then a voice beyond my walls
spoke softly, wild, and free:
“Come out from all you think you are,
and come instead to Me.”
And there I found, not loss, but life—
not less, but more to be—
for I am only fully me
when I am found in Thee.
https://t.co/aNcQLiXtWU

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I asked for signs @AmarilloDiocese, for bread, for proof,
for something I could see—
yet missed the quiet, living truth
who stood in front of me.
I counted works and weighed my worth,
and built my careful claim—
until a voice beyond my sums
called me not by deed, but name.
So let me lose the lesser questions
that bind my restless thought—
and find my rest not in the “ #what ,”
but in the One I sought.
https://t.co/ztNgceH59o

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I labored long @AmarilloDiocese for daily bread,
and called the effort mine—
yet starved upon a fuller feast
I failed to recognize.
I built my days with careful hands,
each hour neatly planned—
until a voice unmade it all:
“Believe, and understand.”
So let me #work the truer work
no ledger can contain—
to trust the One who gives the bread
that ends all hunger’s strain.
https://t.co/F8G8bnDw4j

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I walked the road @AmarilloDiocese I chose myself,
through memory and grace—
and found, within familiar #miles ,
a long-forgotten face.
Yet still He walks the harder road
I hesitate to tread—
not waiting at the journey’s end,
but speaking as I’m led.
O let me know Him, mile by mile,
not only where I roam—
but in the breaking of the bread,
that turns all roads to home.
https://t.co/mMejE0NAgD

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

I walked the shore @AmarilloDiocese and named the boat,
and watched #them face the sea—
content to let their courage stand
at a safer place than me.
But wind and wave do not divide
as neatly as I’d planned—
for Christ came walking on the deep,
not waiting on the sand.
So break the word that keeps me safe,
and call me where You went—
for “them” dissolves where You draw near,
and fear becomes assent.
https://t.co/yXdjbRZ1pf

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

The #grass beneath my restless feet
was green before I knew—
a quiet feast of sun and rain,
a gift I never grew.
I asked for more with empty thanks,
and named it faithful prayer—
yet missed the miracle at hand
that waited, patient, there.
O let me sit before I seek,
and thank before I plead—
for God has laid the living field
before I name my need.
https://t.co/j3XBG9tirv

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

And then, as if to deepen the challenge,
I am reminded of another event:
A Prayer Vigil for Peace
at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Holy Father himself
calling the Church to pray
for a world in turmoil.
And again, I find myself thinking:
“What difference does my presence make?”
Which is, perhaps,
the purest expression
of #unbelief .
Not a denial of God—
but a diminishment of His action.
A quiet conviction
that the supernatural
does not quite reach
into the practical.
And I realize—
with some discomfort—
that I stand much closer to the apostles
than I would prefer.
For they, too,
heard the news.
They, too,
had witnesses.
And still—
they hesitated.
https://t.co/TrIyMW2bpw

[Darrell Glenn aka Ca @viewoftheglenn]

The greatest miracle
is not that men doubt the supernatural—
but that they find the natural
so entirely sufficient.
We pride ourselves on being reasonable,
practical,
understanding.
And yet, in doing so,
we shrink the world
to the size of our expectations.
The apostles were not rebuked
for asking questions.
They were rebuked
for refusing wonder.
For treating the Resurrection
as though it were subject
to ordinary probabilities.
And here lies the paradox:
Faith is not opposed to reason—
but to reduction.
It refuses to believe
that what is visible
is all that is real.
So when I say,
“I understand,”
I must ask myself:
Do I understand too quickly?
Do I explain away
what should instead
leave me astonished?
For the Resurrection
is not meant to fit
neatly into my reasoning—
it is meant to break it open.
https://t.co/TrIyMW2bpw