Mark Lepper
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thelepper.bsky.social
Mark Lepper
@thelepper.bsky.social
600 followers 530 following 770 posts
MDiv. Hospitality Coordinator @ Benedictine Retreat Ctr. Friend of Dorothy Day. Spiritual Director. Centering Prayer practitioner. Benedictine Oblate. Dishwasher for the revolution. "If Henri Nouwen reincarnated as a Muppet." L'Arche for Life! He/Him/His.🏳️‍🌈
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thelepper.bsky.social
Blue background with yellow letters that say "Coocoo for cocoa Puffs" in the style of Mamdani's campaign signs
November 8, 2025 at 8:33 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
For 12 years I lived and worked with adults with developmental disabilities at L'Arche Heartland. This past weekend was their 37th anniversary party and I got to attend as a member of the board. I also got to visit with my friend Ray who I lived with for 5 years. More details in alt text!
Two white guys smiling for the camera. Ray, on the left, has short cropped blonde hair and is wearing a black sweatshirt. I am on the right in a gray cardigan and a blue and green gingham shirt and blue eyeglasses. I am bald. I am happy to be sitting with my friend Ray. Ray might be enjoying it but he would never let me know so it seems more like he's tolerating the experience. I was helping him drink orange juice at the time which is probably why he tolerated it as well as he did. Ray doesn't like large groups of people and prefers to sit and listen to his keyboards. So the fact that he let me sit by him (and walk with him) as long as he did (both that day at the party and all the days we lived together, too) has been a huge blessing in my life.
October 29, 2025 at 11:08 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
Ending a long and busy day today (started at 7:30am and ended at 7:30pm) with a beer on my back deck. It would be a perfect way to end the day if my view was any better than the drive thru at McDonalds. But I'll take what I can get.
A wooden deck in the foreground. The background has a well lit McDonalds with a line of cars in the drive thru.
October 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
One of the duties of my current role, which I wasn't expecting but just kind of came my way, is making charcuterie boards for retreat groups. I'm not an expert by any means, but I enjoy making them and guests seem to appreciate them. So, it's a win-win I guess.
A charcuterie board with a display of cheeses, olives, cherry tomatoes, summer sausage, strawberries, tangerines, grapes, dates, cucumbers, mushrooms, and snap peas.
September 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
Age yourself with a film you saw in cinema as a kid.
The movie poster from the original Tron movie
September 30, 2025 at 7:54 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
Henri Nouwen
January 24, 1932 - September 21, 1996
Priest, pastor, scholar, professor, author, theologian, friend to people with developmental disabilities. I never met him but he has had a huge impact on my life and spirituality & continues to be a spiritual friend & mentor to me thru his writings.
Henri is a tall man with wire-framed glasses, grayish hair with a receding hairline, in a dark sweater. He is standing behind his friend Adam, who is shorter with a full head of straight brown hair. He's wearing a blue, gray, and black plaid shirt. Henri's arms are wrapped around Adam's torso and he his helping Adam to stand for the picture. A black and white photo of Henri, probably in his 50's, in a striped polo shirt and long pants with his right foot on a skateboard. His left foot looks like hie's getting ready to push off and his arms are slight extended out from his body ready to propel himself forward. Henri is in a gray jacket, white shirt, and gray slacks. He's got a dark scarf around his neck and he's wearing a hat. Henri is in a classroom, standing in front of a chalkboard. He's got a white button up shirt, striped pants, slacks, and a dark belt. His arms are extended straight out on either side of him and he has a tremendous grin on his face.
September 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
I'm at a meeting at a women's monastery in Illinois and these are two things that I've seen here and, taken together, make me giggle inappropriately.
A green rectangular sign that says "Sisters Private Area" A book with the title "He Touched Me."
September 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
Here is the group of Benedictine retreat center & guesthouse staff I spent the past week with. Out of this group only about 6 of us weren't a monk or a nun. I was the only man that wasn't a monk. It was a wonderful group to spend time and network with.
A group of men and women standing in front of a lake posing for a group picture.
August 30, 2025 at 11:44 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
I took the first picture last night. We drove home from St Benedict Center today. I already miss my daily walks around their little lake and eating meals with my new friends. But I'm glad to be back home with beautiful skies like the second picture (taken tonight).
A picture of a road going off into the distance with the sun setting on the horizon. It's glowing orange and yellow behind white wispy clouds that are covering the sky. Dark trees line either side of the road. The sky is dark blue at the top and fades to light blue as it gets closer to the horizon. A line of light that is almost rose gold is on the horizon. The clouds are a dark grey because of the light. Buildings of downtown are on the bottom of the picture.
August 29, 2025 at 1:50 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
A group of us walked across the street from St Benedict Center to see Christ the King Priory. We weren't expecting to go inside, but the Prior, Father Anastasius, opened the door and welcomed us in and let us see their chapel, which is beautiful. I'm glad we ventured over there this evening!
A dimly lit chapel. The monk's seats are in a semi circle facing the altar. Above the altar hangs a crucifix. A close up of the crucifix after Father Anastasius turned on the lights. The ceiling is wood beams.
August 28, 2025 at 1:27 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Today is our last full day at St Benedict Center. I certainly will miss the morning views like this one.
A view of a small lake. On the left is part of the retreat center. There are trees on the other side. The clouds are white and whispy and reflected in the still water. There's a rosy tinge to the sky on the horizon.
August 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
I'm still at St Benedict Center in Schuyler, Nebraska for a conference of Benedictine retreat center staff. Lots of lovely people here who do great work. We had supper with the Brothers of Christ the King Priory this evening & they were all very nice. One more full day tomorrow and then we go home.
A wooden sign that has the word "labyrinth" etched into it with an arrow pointing to the left. There is green grass on the ground, some green trees in the background, and you can see the edge of a paved path on the righthand side of the screen.
August 27, 2025 at 1:43 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
I'm in Schuyler, Nebraska at St Benedict's Center for a conference this week. I got to spend some time today enjoying the grounds (and feeding the koi fish).
A gray statue of St Benedict with his arms raised above his head. He's standing on a stone square with St Benedict etched into it. There are trees/bushes visible on either side of the stone square and the sky is a vibrant blue behind him. Several many koi fish swimming in the water. They are mostly orange but some have white and others are all black. This wasn't when I was feeding them, so there isn't quite as many as showed up to snarf some Cheerios I shared with them later on.
August 25, 2025 at 1:21 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
These are the clouds that were over Sophia Spirituality Center, where I work, when I looked at it from across the property when I came out of the monastery today. I love fun and interesting cloud shapes. What do they make you think of?
A square building with tall, narrow rectangular windows as seen from across a large, grassy area. There's a grotto for Mary in front of it, as well as a circular mulched area with some bushes and benches and a cement cross halfway between the building and the viewer. There are several trees interspersed. Everything is a rich green color because we've gotten a lot of rain lately. In the sky, above the building, there are four small clouds of equal size and similar shape in a straight line basically parallel to the roof of the building. They are in a thin strip of sky that is whiter than the rest of the sky. The sky below is a deep, sky blue. The sky above is a grayer hue.
August 11, 2025 at 12:22 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Happy National Cat Day from this cat that I saw lounging on top of my car this evening.
A gray tabby cat lounging on the back of my gray Chevy HHR. He's being real nonchalant and casual.
August 9, 2025 at 2:27 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Here is a photo collage my phone made for me of selfies from the time I had a black eye. I feel like that's kind of a weird thing for a phone to do.
A grid of nine photos in 3 rows of three. All of them are selfies of a bald white man with a black eye in varying stages of progression. The top row is from when it was fresh and not very big or dark. The middle row is when it spread out and got a nice dark purple. The bottom row is when it started to turn sort of greenish and yellow. In the picture in the bottom right corner you can't really see it but the blood had started to move from the black eye and was settling along my chin/jaw. That was a weird thing I didn't expect to happen. In the bottom left photo I'm with my cat Meatloaf. He doesn't seem bothered by the black eye unlike my housemate at the time, Alex, who told me I needed to put makeup on it so he didn't have to look at it anymore. Alex has Down Syndrome and has always been honest with me in our friendship. The black eye was given to me by our other housemate George. I don't hold it against him. He is still one of my favorite people. I think Alex, on the other hand, might still be holding a bit of a grudge against George because of it.
August 7, 2025 at 3:58 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
I went outside to sit on my deck and enjoy the cooler evening temperature & was greeted by this little furball watching me from the top of my stairs. I went to get them some food but they were gone when I came back out. I left a little bowl of food at the top of the stairs for them if they return.
A white and gray stray cat watching me. She is one stop down from the deck so you can see the top of her back and her face from the nose up. She is staring at me warily. There's a MacDonald's drive though behind her but that isn't really important to this story.
July 31, 2025 at 1:07 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Here's a few more pics from my spiritual director formation program graduation. I know you were all dying to see them. I'm so much holier and wiser now.
A line of people walking two by two by two down the center aisle of a Catholic church. Here I am sharing my own personal definition of spiritual direction with the assembled peoples. I'm a bald white guy with glasses wearing a gray and white gingham checkered shirt. There's a large fern in front of the lectern where I am speaking. There's a candle to my left and you can kind of see my friend Heather sitting behind the candle. Here I am sharing some good things about Nick, one of the instructors in the program. My class took turns at the reception thanking the staff and sharing what we appreciated about them. Nick is looking up at me from the table and you can see the back of his head. My classmate Glenda's brother in law is at the table in the foreground and I think he's watching something on his iPad.
July 27, 2025 at 3:28 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Well, I went ahead and graduated from my spiritual director formation program and so now I'm an officially certified spiritual director. Some people think I'm good enough at listening to people's story and accompanying them on their journey to deserve a piece of paper that says so. Yay! 😇
A bald man in a long sleeved white and gray gingham button up shirt and gray pants facing another man in a short sleeved blue shirt. The bald man is being anointed with oil by the other man. Behind them are several women sitting in chairs and directly behind and do the left of the main doing the anointing is a woman with long brown hair in a light blue shirt holding the dish of oil. On the wall in the background is a beige and red marble crucifix.
July 13, 2025 at 12:30 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." Williams Shakespeare. Written in a yellowish font in a solid dark background.
July 3, 2025 at 7:24 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
So I spent a good portion of the last two days bingeing "Big Boys" on Hulu. It was a really good show, focusing on sexuality and mental health with humor and heart. And, even though I can't really say with any certainty what it is, it has really made me want a "cheeky Nando's."
A blue background with the words "Big Boys" in big, yellow letters and a red outline on the left. On the right is a group shot of the main cast. Dylan Llewellyn is on the right in the back, wearing a multicolored sweater and with really curly brown hair. He has his arms around Jon Pointing who is wearing a light blue polo shirt and dark blue jacket. They Re much larger than the rest of the cast who are in front of them.
June 16, 2025 at 2:34 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
I love all of these characters so that must mean I really love myself, right??

Take the fictional characters quiz and post the first four you know: openpsychometrics.org/tests/charac...
Hilda Spellman from the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Phil Dunphy from Modern Family Olaf from Frozen Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender
May 19, 2025 at 9:51 AM
thelepper.bsky.social
Today in "Other Duties as Assigned" I spent a large part of the morning planting flowers in the various planters around the retreat center. Here's a few:
A green square pot with plants in it. There is one with little white blooms, a geranium with red blooms, and another plant with dark purplish leaves. Another green square planter. This one has a geranium with pink blooms, another plant with similar colored blooms, and another plant with reddish purple leaves. There's also a basil plant in here but it's hard to tell. Yet another pot but this one is round. It has a pink geranium, two other plants (I think they're vincas) and a plant with yellowish green leaves.
May 13, 2025 at 3:00 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
This Pope gave me hope.

I didn't always agree with him. He often didn't go as far as I would have liked him to in the breadth & scope of his inclusivity. But he was gentle & kind & compassionate. He had a true servant's heart.

May his memory be a blessing and call us all to compassionate action.
April 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
thelepper.bsky.social
As a rule, I don't generally do anything with AI. But, out of curiosity, I asked it to help me create some jeopardy style questions about famous monastics. And this is what it came up with.
$400 This English mystic and author of The Cloud of Unknowing remains anonymous, but their work has profoundly influenced Christian contemplative prayer. Answer: Who is the Unknown Author of The Cloud of Unknowing?
April 10, 2025 at 6:56 PM