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Mark Lepper

@thelepper.bsky.social
656 followers 543 following 947 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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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
But I said that maybe be was listening or maybe he wasn't, but what was probably more important to the driver was making as much money as he could in a certain amount of time.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
If he drives slower for this guy, he might miss out on a ride or two and thus his income would be less or he'd have to drive longer, which would mean his time is less valuable. I said that he's saying the guy wasn't listening (which seems judgy to me (I didn't say that part to him))
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
It's a good thing to wonder but I think it's a bad example. I said it seemed to me that there was indeed a judgment on whose time is more valuable. He expects the driver to operate on his timetable, whereas the driver might be trying to get in as many rides as he can in a certain amount of time.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
He responded that he "appreciates my candor" but he wasn't making a judgment on whose time is more valuable, it was about listening, because he told the driver he wasn't in a hurry and his driving suggested otherwise. The experience made him think if he's ever done the same thing.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I commented that there was a substantial difference between his postion and a rideshare driver who depended on that for his income, and more rides equalled more money even if the CEO wasn't in a hurry. I struggled with posting it (I'm an enneagram 9) but I did. And now I have some anxiety about it 🤣
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I was on LinkedIn, and saw a CEO/executive type was using his experience with a rideshare driver who he thought drove too fast and haphazardly, even after he told the driver he wasn't in a hurry, as an example of not listening to clients' needs, and wondering when he had done the same.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Your AI designed posters and fliers look like crap and make me actively not want to support your event.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Had my initial meeting/interview with the volunteer coordinator at the hospice house this morning. My first shift/orientation is next week. It was good to figure out how to get in and to see the space. Looking forward to my first shift and seeing how this takes shape.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I was brushing my teeth, getting ready for bed, and I looked in the bathroom mirror and thought I looked sickly. I'm hoping it's just this retreat center bathroom's fluorescent light and I don't actually have the black death.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
So, a week from today I go in to interview with the volunteer coordinator at a hospice house. I'm excited to see what my volunteer time might look like, and also to get a closer look at hospice and, more specifically, a hospice house.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Saying you're "neutral" in matters of violence and oppression does nothing to stop the violence and oppression. Even though you can tell yourself you're not adding to the oppression, you aren't trying to make it stop, and thus you are on the side of the oppressor and that is not neutral. It's evil.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
To be fair, she kind of rode that line between endearing and weird the entire time, so it was totally in character for her.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
At the end of the Centering Prayer formation, one of the other participants, a 70-something-year-old woman who'd been in my small group, came up to me, hugged me, kissed my chest, and said she loved my heart. It was kind of on the line between endearing and weird.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I am participating in a Centering Prayer Presenter Formation this week. By Friday, I will hopefully be a Presenter-In-Training. I will have to work with a mentor and lead a few introductory workshops and then, hopefully, become a commissioned presenter. I know I'm a geek, but I'm kind of excited. 🙏🏼
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Disney should never have been allowed to acquire The Muppets. They obviously lack the creativity and spirit to give The Muppets the platform they need to spread joy and love and humor in the world.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I want to start a restaurant where we serve different kinds of homemade soups (and bread). I think the name would be "Souper Friends" because it has the words "soup" and "friends" in it, which are two things I love, and it sounds like "Super Friends," which was a cartoon I loved growing up.
An image from the 1980's cartoon Super Friends, which starred heroes from DC Comics. In this image, standing in a line striking poses, are Batman, Robin, Gleek the blue monkey-alien, Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Superman. Above them is the title "Super Friends"
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
You're not wrong.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I got a TB test today (part of the process of becoming a hospice volunteer) I have no reason to believe that I have TB, but I've been googling what bad results of the test could look like. I have to go in a day or two to get the results read. So I figure I'll be mildly obsessing about it until then.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
REM&M'S
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I don't believe in hell, but surely there has to be some kind of retribution in the afterlife for people who "reply all" to an email and then share awkward personal information on an email that should have just been a "reply."
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Guys are dumb.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I have never had any sort of paranormal experience before, that I know of. But I legitimately think that my current apartment is haunted by a ghost cat. I have had a lot of experiences where I think I see my cat or feel him walking on my bed at night and then he is nowhere in sight.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Sorry yesterday was difficult. Hopefully today is better.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Have you ever been discerning something and then you noticed it popping up in your life more than usual? Sometimes in ways that seem too "on the nose" to be a coincidence? How do you tell the difference between nudges from the Spirit and confirmation bias?
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
My parents recently moved to Massachusetts to be closer to my older brother and his family as they age. She texted me today to tell me it was 67 degrees with a nice rain. Here in Kansas, where I live, it felt like 102 degrees and was dry as a bone. I told her that text felt aggressive.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I know I'm in the minority, but I really wish we'd stop calling foods "crack" that we think are delicious. Crack is an addictive & harmful drug that destroys lives & has been used to devastate Black communities. It's not the same as not being able to control yourself around snack foods.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm pretty sure it was somehow Donald Trump's fault.
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Reposted by Mark Lepper
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 25/08/2026
Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines. When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is a charcuterie board I made for a group of Sisters. They had also been planning on ordering a small pizza to go along with it, for a small party their living group was having. When they saw the charcuterie board, they decided they didn't need anything else with it.
A charcuterie board with a rose made of salami in the center, surrounded by sliced pears, carrots, rolled deli meat, sliced cheese, dried mango, sliced peaches, celery, broccoli, cucumbers, grapes, olives, dates, peppers m, and some little bunnies I made out of those little Babybel cheeses.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My cat was being obnoxious when I first woke up this morning, so I pushed him away and spoke sternly to him. I immediately got a pretty bad cramp in my calf. I'm pretty sure he put some kind of hex on me.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Never say never.... Right?
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I thought I heard a ghost in one of our guesthouses yesterday. A few people have mentioned having experiences there, so when I heard the noise upstairs I got spooked and quickly left. Apparently, it was just the ceiling falling down because of a bad condensate pump. I kind of wish it was a ghost.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Whenever I hear or see the word "affogato," in my head I sing "Affogatos from Mexico!" to the tune of the avocados commercial.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This is a picture of my cousin Sarah, me, and my Uncle Mark in a chairlift at Geauga Lake, which was an amusement park in Ohio. This was around 1988. It was also on this trip with these two that I had an epic meltdown in Burger King because they ran out of the ALF puppet that I wanted.
A 12ish year old white girl with short brown hair, a 10ish year old white boy with short brown hair (and you can't see it but I'm wearing my ALF for President shirt), and a 37ish year old white man with long brown hair, dark sunglasses, and a brown moustache riding in a red chairlift.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I hope you love them.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The first CD I purchased was Chant by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos, back in the 90s when Gregorian chant was having a heyday for some reason. Maybe it was foreshadowing of what was to come in my life. My second was The Sign by Ace of Base.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Last night, I gave a presentation entitled "All I Really Need to Know About Spirituality I Learned From Walking the Labyrinth." It was a lot of fun and really well received. Today, we are making our own finger labyrinths.
A finger labyrinth made out of a circle piece of wood. The frame is dark brown. The background is blended green to blue to dark blue to purple, intended to look like trees and a night sky. The path border is made of orange yarn, and I added a few sparkly bits to look like stars.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This little guy was chilling on the back steps of my apartment this evening when I got home. It was so dark I'm surprised I even noticed them. We are pretty much best friends now.
A little frog perched on the metal rung of my back steps.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I've been taking classes @ St Johns School of Theology in Minnesota, working toward a certificate in Benedictine Spirituality, but I think I'm going to extend that into a Masters degree in Monastic Studies. Getting another degree was not on my radar, but I'm enjoying the classes, so why not?
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
What if you like Donkey Kong?
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
This morning, our local Episcopal congregation hosted a viewing of The Philadelphia Eleven at the local movie theater. It's a documentary about the ordination of the first eleven women in the Episcopal church. It was a great story of vocation, call, persistence, and determination.
A screen shot of a white background with "The Philadelphia Eleven" in a style that looks like it was cut from a newspaper headline. A white news reporter in a gray suit in front of a screen showing a scene from a worship service, with a green stripe at the top and "Episcopalians" written in white in the green. Two white women in white albs and red stoles presiding at communion.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I am having a hard time accepting that it is only 10:00am. I feel like I have been at work for six hours already, not that I have at least six more to go.
static.klipy.com
Boy Crying in Northwestern Jersey
Alt: A very sad and devastated young man in a purple Northwestern jersey reacting to an offensive foul against his team in the middle of a comeback attempt. It was upgraded to a flagrant foul and this young fan's reaction was caught on camera. But I think it adequately reflects my feelings about how much time I have left at work today.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
There are actually a lot of his movies that I like more than this one. I just really love this gif.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Today is Robin Williams' birthday. QTP with a favorite movie of his.
static.klipy.com
Patch Adams with Red Clown Nose
Alt: Robin Williams as Patch Adams with a red clown nose when he looked through the window at the kids in the hospital and waved at them.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
If you're the praying/good vibes type, I'd appreciate some sent my way. I did a thing and I'm excited about it and what it might entail. But I'm also pretty anxious about it and what it might entail. So, some prayers for wisdom, insight, discernment, all that good stuff would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I have never ridden one. I am afraid of heights. I do not think I would like it. I've ridden one roller coaster in my life and legitimately though I might die the entire time.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
In the 19 hours since I posted this, I have received the monthly newsletter from the organization and also a facebook post from a friend sharing an event happening in the city where this job is and telling me I should come to it. Could mean nothing. Could mean something. Just seems kinda strange...
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I just saw a posting for a job that would be pretty amazing and that I believe I am uniquely qualified for. But then the thought of transition and leave-taking and moving pops up and I start to get anxious and second guess myself.
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Live your life so that when you die, those who knew you and those who didn't wish for your memory be for a blessing.
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Mark Lepper @thelepper.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
So, lately I've been thinking a lot about the possibility of doing a CPE residency and pursuing some kind of chaplaincy. 2003 Mark, who was petrified of his summer CPE unit and just hoped to make it through alive, would crap his pants if he knew 2026 Mark was considering this.
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