What determines who is normal and who is not? How do we as a society determine that this person or that person deviates from “the norm”? And how does this inevitable “deviation” from the norm end up having value assigned to it by society? For example, if a person is highly coordinated and can run… [Read more…]
November 16, 2011
As I stood graveside watching and listening to shovels of dirt being thown over the urn, the urn containing the ashes of my brother in law and friend, I came to a point, understanding the finality of this act, where I was compelled to look up into the skies. I could no longer look down.… [Read more…]
October 21, 2011
May the stars carry your sadness away, May the flowers fill your heart with beauty, May hope forever wipe away your tears, And, above all, may silence make you strong. (Chief Dan George) Death is a natural part of the human experience (none of us gets out of this thing alive). So also, hurt is… [Read more…]
October 16, 2011
Over and over I ask myself, what does it mean to live in peace? I know there is no other thoughtful and heartful way of living. And yet… what does this really mean? Nationally, what do I believe about peace? Do I really believe that we can solve our problems with the violence of war?… [Read more…]
October 14, 2011
I went for my daily one-hour meditative walk today… it was raining. Oh well. I really wanted to walk. I really needed to walk today. Then I started noticing my countanence. I was habitually resisting the rain. My eyes were squinting, tightening up my cheeks, my nose muscles, my forehead. When I tried to relax,… [Read more…]
September 30, 2011
I discovered a new song. New to me, at least. I sit here listening to its message, listening from a place of depth, from my heart; the song plays over and over… as I allow it to overwhelm me to tears… I realize how often we miss the whole point of life and living. Love is… [Read more…]
September 15, 2011
Our nation was established on the absolute belief in the equality of all people. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights,… [Read more…]
September 5, 2011
I stand in wonder and awe of trees. If only I could live out the many life lessons that trees are speaking to me. Am I listening? 1. Trees are… trees Trees stand tall with limbs reaching to the Light. They are what they are. They are what they were created to be. Nothing more…… [Read more…]
August 20, 2011
”Appear As You Are, Be As You Appear” -JaLaL-UD-Din Rumi- Who am I? Am I who I say I am? Am I who they say I am? Am I who I think I am? Each of us have an inner life and an outer life. Visible and invisible. To what extent do they match? To… [Read more…]
August 17, 2011
“Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who spent the years 1942-45 in four different Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. By the end of the war his pregnant wife, his parents and his brother had been murdered; among his immediate family, only he and his sister survived. After the war he published Man’s Search for Meaning,… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
“The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it has overturned the order of the soul.” ~ Leonard Cohen How often do we touch the soul of another person? How often do we allow our soul to emerge from behind our façade? Why do we spend so much of our time in hiding… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
“There is a wondrous open-mindedness about children and an insatiable desire to learn from life. An open attitude is like an open door–a welcoming disposition toward the fellow travelers who knock on our door during the middle of a day, the middle of the week, or the middle of a lifetime. some are dirtballs, grungy,… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
Ever lie awake at night wondering “what if?” What if I lose my job? What if she leaves me? What if I lose my home? What if, what if, what if? A friend seemed to have this in mind as a prayer was offered for a great impending loss. My response sort of surprised me,… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
Today, Thursday, May 1, is National Day of Prayer. Do you ever really think about prayer? When I do, it seems a rather selfish ritual that focuses on getting my needs and wants met. Or it is a ritual to appease our god? But when Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Be joyful always; pray… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
What is the direction of our striving? What do we spend ourselves on? We arise in the morning and toil until we are weary to the bone. Then we fall in bed, hoping for sleep, so we can do it again the next day. If we are lucky, our endless striving brings us upward, advancing… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love.” ~ Washington Irving Tears are in my genes. Life with its toughness, its roughness, has taught me this, over and over. Tears are a part of who I am,… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
“Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.” No matter how much adversity and pain we are going through, there is always someone that has experienced much much worse. These people can bring us new ways of seeing; new perspectives on life, meaning, pain, and joy. From… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
Have you ever stood beside someone whose pain is greater than you can phathom? Have you ever felt that awkwardness of not knowing what to do? That helplessness? What is our tendency? To DO SOMETHING! Anything! Maybe then we’ll feel better, because we DID SOMETHING. Hmmm. But it isn’t about me doing something so I’ll… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
Pro 8:1 Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice? Pro 8:2 On the top of high places by the way, Where the paths meet, she stands. Pro 8:3 Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entry doors, she cries aloud: Pro 8:10 Receive my instruction rather than silver; Knowledge… [Read more…]
November 19, 2008
The Way of the Brokenhearted… Leads to the Way of the Open Heart. “God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays OPEN.” Hazrat Inayat Kahn (Sufi Master) “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34:18) Life is full of surprises. Some are positive but many others do not seem so positive.… [Read more…]
November 20, 2008
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust). “Little round planet In a big universe Sometimes it looks blessed Sometimes it looks cursed Depends on what you look at obviously But even more it depends on the way that you see” (Bruce Cockburn, Child of… [Read more…]
November 20, 2008
For now we see through a glass darkly (1 Corithians 13:12) Clearly seeing unbiased reality is sort of like being omniscient. None of us are any more capable of this wisdom than we are of absolute purity or righteousness; although it is something that we can and must strive toward; a life-long venture. As observers… [Read more…]
November 21, 2008
For the past 10 years, I’ve been living life at an altitude and speed much too unsafe for a simple man such as me. Sometimes a severe mercy brings us down, down to the ground, the ground of our being. As I hit the ground (in sooo many ways) over the past year, I’ve begun… [Read more…]
November 21, 2008
Western thought compartmentalizes and separates light from dark, happiness from sadness, dancing from mourning, good from bad; when in reality, life’s gifts come wrapped in each of these. When we too quickly disregard or throw away things wrapped in what we judge to be “the bad” or “the dark”, we miss that nugget of wisdom… [Read more…]
November 22, 2008
“Dream dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.” Dreams give life. They help us look within, They help us look outside ourselves, They take what is deep in the soul And create a future That draws us to itself. In systems theory, this energy that “draws” us is called… [Read more…]
November 23, 2008
Living with open hands, heart, and mind requires that we: ~ Live consciously, mindfully, and intentionally. ~ Bring full attention, presence, consciousness, and awareness to each moment; to every thought, to every action, and to each and every interaction. ~ Come to the realization that every time we encounter another human being, they (and we)… [Read more…]
December 7, 2008
In the Spirit of Ubuntu umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu: a person is a person through other persons I am . . . because we are ”What every single human being longs for, at the deepest level, is to be seen for who they are.” (Sarita Chawla) “The Quaker teacher Douglas Steele was fond of saying that… [Read more…]
December 15, 2008
The following is a conversation between Mack and God (Papa) in the New York Times Bestseller, “The Shack” by Wm. Paul Young. There are many things that jolted me as I read this book but this conversation probably impacted me the most. If we are created in the image of God, then some very basic… [Read more…]
December 28, 2008
Grace sees beauty in everything . . . Grace sees goodness in everything . . . What once was hurt What once was friction What left a mark No longer stings Because grace makes beauty Out of ugly things Grace makes beauty out of ugly things. ~ Bono ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Embedded in all of creation, interwoven… [Read more…]
January 23, 2009
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. When doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed; though… [Read more…]
January 31, 2009
I’m a man! I’m a strong, independent, American man!!! At least that’s what I’ve been told I’m supposed to be…. But what is inside this man? When I look into the murky, dark waters of my subconscious, what is there? Anything? America has created this hollow male syndrome. What you see is what you get… [Read more…]
January 31, 2009
Behind every incidental grace (most of which we still don’t see), is the hand of God, orchestrating a love relationship between Him and His people that is the source of the actions reflected by those special couples I observe here on earth.
February 12, 2009
“When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.” Mary Oliver “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” All things are wearisome, more than one can say The eye never… [Read more…]
February 12, 2009
“Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Jesus) When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. Mary Oliver Awareness of what presents itself to me involves a double movement of… [Read more…]
February 19, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I would not sing you to sleep But I would press my lips to your ear And hope the terror in my heart stirs you.” (Poem: “Lullaby” by Reetika Vazirani) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This poem is disturbing. Most of us don’t like to be disturbed. So we avoid things that stir us. This poem haunts me… [Read more…]
March 8, 2009
I’m on a cruise in the Caribbean, paid for by my job. Can you believe it? I can’t. They call it a conference. And there is some good learning going on. But what amazes me is the extreme consumption that this whole cruise-thing is designed for. How much food, booze, merchandise, gambling, and entertainment can… [Read more…]
March 8, 2009
The tourism industry has created a lot of questions in my mind, especially in the last few days. Interestingly, I’ve been sent on a Caribbean cruise, er uh, conference by my employer. Extreme mass consumption is the name of this game. The countries we have stopped at are well known for their poverty. Yet, because… [Read more…]
March 8, 2009
Since my separation over two years ago and subsequent divorce, I’ve often felt quite homeless, a stranger in a strange land. My roots were cut off. What mattered to me was ripped away. As I sat and drank that beer alone in Georgetown, Cayman Islands, I realized that: Home is not where your stuff is.… [Read more…]
March 11, 2009
“I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it” – H. E. Fosdick “Each of us creates a picture of our world by connecting a dozen or so of the trillions of dots that would need to… [Read more…]
March 11, 2009
People wish to be settled. Only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them. ~ Emerson I believe our culture worships the god of comfort, or maybe a better word is comfortableness. How many people do you know that avoid pain or confrontation at all costs? The road most traveled in… [Read more…]
March 19, 2009
Celebrate Diversity? Absolutely, but that’s not enough… At the heart of all systems in creation is such vast diversity, that… “We need to depend on diversity” (Margaret J. Wheatley) All of life is made up of systems. And research shows that the more diverse a system is, the more sustainable it becomes. Diversity gives life.… [Read more…]
April 7, 2009
What follows sounds to me like some radical cult trying to pervert the American Way. Who are these people, really? And where did they go? “They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them. They do not covet what belongs to others. They show love to their neighbors. They do no do to… [Read more…]
April 23, 2009
Cancer (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body). (Wikipedia) . . . often resulting in death. A cancer has been uncovered .… [Read more…]
May 9, 2009
People are the solution to the problems that confront us.Technology is not the solution, although it can help. We are the solution — we as generous, open-hearted people who want to use our creativity and caring on behalf of other human beings and all life. Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only… [Read more…]
May 28, 2009
(Source of the River Cuervo, Cuenca Province, Spain) Living from one’s Source is an experience that is described across all cultures and religions in very different terms but at the heart of its description, the experience sounds very similar. It is a spiritual human experience that is life changing. “We are not human beings having… [Read more…]
January 30, 2009
There are not many movies scenes that really stick with me. But this one, a scene from City Slickers, has kept replaying through my mind every few months . . . for 25 years. The context is a group of friends from the city join a cattle drive, to get away, and to try to… [Read more…]
November 28, 2008
Check out these videos and tell me, how greedy have we become? Man trampled to death at Walmart, how evil have we become? Two men die in shooting at Toys ‘R’ Us, how crazy have we become? And we justify what we are doing. We can’t see how destructive we are to ourselves, to each… [Read more…]
October 31, 2008
When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut; when death comes like the measles-pox; when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity,… [Read more…]
October 31, 2008
You know how sometimes you hear a song or read a poem and you know it is written to you and for you . . . you just know it must be. And you wonder how someone can know you so well. As the singer sings, you become the only person in the room with… [Read more…]
October 24, 2008
“Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another’s flesh.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait, 1963. Dr. King seems… [Read more…]
October 21, 2008
We are so quick to label people. Stereotyping is another word for it. Actually, that’s the basis of prejudice and racism. We label so we can separate something out from the whole and understand it better; knowing more precisely what we are getting. It works great in a grocery store. We can see what it… [Read more…]
September 28, 2008
Press Photos/Delbridge Langdon Jr. GRAND RAPIDS — Standing over a teenage gunshot victim, Jill Johnson prayed the young man would survive a wound to his chest and hoped two suspects implicated would find salvation from their evil. She knew by looking at David Witherspoon, a 16-year-old Creston High School student, that at least one of… [Read more…]
September 27, 2008
A teenager was gunned down yesterday in my neighborhood, senselessly. Stuggling to make sense of things, struggling to find comfort, we are left helpless except for prayer and each other.Time heals visible pain, but invisible pain is carried throughout life. It becomes a part of who we are. Below are a number of thoughts and… [Read more…]
September 5, 2008
Education has taught me to think, to analyze, to make sense of things. I was wonderfully made with a thinking mind that was meant to be used. I was raised in a religion that was unthinking, conservative, fundamentalist. Don’t think, don’t question, don’t doubt, just believe. As my mind awakened under the tutelage of such… [Read more…]
September 5, 2008
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated, Adown Titanic glooms… [Read more…]
June 22, 2008
Seeking truth and finding it are two very different things. Seeking truth is about the journey, the anticipation, the exploration . . . But what if we started to actually “see” it??? Would we look? Or would we turn away? Would we fear the demands it might place on us? Would we resist what we… [Read more…]
May 1, 2008
I am Your Servant (Video) Larry Norman, the world renowned father of Christian Rock and Roll, uncompromising in his faith and in his love for God and people, passed away on February 24, 2008. His simple faith and love inspired me. His honesty and authenticity put me to shame. Check out some of his songs… [Read more…]
April 9, 2008
src=\”http://ronirvine.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/1207807745-hr-134.jpg\” Western thought compartmentalizes and separates light from dark, happiness from sadness, dancing from mourning, good from bad; when in reality, life\’s gifts come wrapped in each of these. When we too quickly disregard or throw away things wrapped in what we judge to be \”the bad\” or \”the dark\”, we miss that nugget… [Read more…]
April 4, 2008
40 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. Was this the death of a dream? Check out MLK’s speech, “I have a dream”: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1732754907698549493 Or is the dream still alive? Check out the impact of his life on the students of this diverse Bronx school: http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/yestheycan The measure of a hero is the… [Read more…]
March 27, 2008
“Several years ago in one of our leadership workshops, a Jamaican man from the World Bank named Fred told a story that moved people very deeply. A few years earlier he had been diagnosed with a terminal disease. After consulting a number of doctors, who all confirmed the diagnosis, he went through what everyone does… [Read more…]
March 20, 2008
On cultural assumptions, and the life of Christ The religious thinking of the day, prior to Jesus’ coming was that the Messiah, King of the Jews, would come and immediately reign on earth over an earthly kingdom. People were looking for pomp and circumstance, a display of power, and victory over enemies. Isn’t that the… [Read more…]
March 7, 2008
I just volunteered at our church for the Interfaith Hospitality Network, a local organization that coordinates churches to house homeless families for a week at a time. That’s the sort of thing that puts me in my place. If is weren’t for friends and family, I could be there. But what spirits. One guy did… [Read more…]
February 5, 2008
Hope can see the greatest potential of a child . . . fulfilled. Hope is the first ray of sunlight at the beginning of a new day. Hope is your smile . . . in my eyes. Hope is that dream of equality voiced by Martin Luther King Jr. Hope is real . . .… [Read more…]
January 26, 2008
The All American Motto we believe so deeply that it is even imprinted on our money. But do we ever stop and think what we mean by “God” or “god”? Our god, our master, is defined by our actions. Our actions and reactions are a reflections of what is in our hearts. So, who (what)… [Read more…]
January 24, 2008
Pity the Nation Pity the nation whose people are sheep and whose shepherds mislead them. Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced, and whose bigots haunt the airwaves. Pity the nation that raises not its voice except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the… [Read more…]
December 5, 2007
src=\”http://ronirvine.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/1196915393-sc-111.jpg\” Listening Is an Act of Love: National Oral History Project StoryCorps Records Ordinary People Telling Their Remarkable Stories to Each Other What an amazing project!!! I was riveted by the interview. Give a listen. Author Dave Isay: \”I think that listening to that story, you know, it’s kind of part of the premise… [Read more…]
November 24, 2007
“You don’t have to buy something, to give something.” (Reverend Billy) What Would Jesus Buy? Posted on Nov 20, 2007 By Amy Goodman “Black Friday” is the name retailers have given to the day after Thanksgiving in their attempt to make Christmas synonymous with shopping. On Black Friday, Americans are expected to flock to the… [Read more…]
September 27, 2007
The Privilege and the Responsibility of ”Place” I must never forget that I am the only person on this earth that occupies the place I am in. This place is mine alone. And I am here for a unique purpose. This is my privilege . . . right here . . . right… [Read more…]
September 17, 2007
There is no greater human power on earth than imagination. From it has come inventions, great leaders, all societal changes, and, of course, not least, our own realities. 1. Use your heart to find your purpose and path in life 2. Use your imagination to design a vision for your future 3. Use that vision… [Read more…]
August 31, 2007
How often each day do we need to be right? It gives us a sense of identity . . . confidence . . . superiority. In order to be right, someone has to be made wrong. Who me? I don’t stoop to such things . . . My opinions are never “right”, better than others.… [Read more…]
April 23, 2007
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust) “Little round planet In a big universe Sometimes it looks blessed Sometimes it looks cursed Depends on what you look at obviously But even more it depends on the way that you see” (Bruce Cockburn, Child of… [Read more…]
April 23, 2007
I’m a man! I’m a strong, independent, American man!!! At least that’s what I’ve been told I’m supposed to be…. But what is inside this man? When I look into the murky, dark waters of my subconscious, what is there? Anything? America has created this hollow male syndrome. What you see is what you get… [Read more…]
April 4, 2007
I cried out to her: “When you cried I’d wipe away all of your tears When you’d scream I’d fight away all of your fears And I held your hand through all of these years But you still have All of me” (Evanescence song “My Immortal” from the album “Fallen”. Click here to listen.) Her… [Read more…]
March 15, 2007
Have you ever stood beside someone whose pain is greater than you can phathom? Have you ever felt that awkwardness of not knowing what to do? That helplessness? What is our tendency? To DO SOMETHING! Anything! Maybe then we’ll feel better, because we DID SOMETHING. Hmmm. But it isn’t about me doing something so I’ll… [Read more…]
March 15, 2007
An Ode to a “shattered heart and soul held together by habit and skin”* Although the greatest of the many passions of my heart is family . . . this winter (a winter of my soul) brings separation / divorce number 2. Do I grip my greatest passion too tightly????? Do I have some “letting… [Read more…]
March 11, 2007
Adrift in an endless sea, where is the light that was so bright when I was young? When I was young . . . Was life really so simple? so nice? or was I just naïve? a small town facade? When I was young . . . did life really make sense, or was my… [Read more…]
March 10, 2007
Sometimes a wind comes out of nowhere And knocks you off your feet And look, see my tears They fill the whole night sky The whole night sky Derailed and desperate How did I get here? Hanging from this high wire By the tatters of my faith Sometimes a wind comes out of nowhere And… [Read more…]
January 2, 2007
The god of comfort spoke to me again today saying, “be content with what you have, be comfortable, be safe, risk nothing, just sit on the couch.” The god of certainty speaks to me daily saying, “you’ve been taught what you need to know, you know the truth, just follow it, ’cause there is no… [Read more…]
November 26, 2006
“I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it” – H. E. Fosdick “Each of us creates a picture of our world by connecting a dozen or so of the trillions of dots that would need to… [Read more…]
November 6, 2006
It gushes from deep inside my heart and flows through all of the veins and arteries of my body. It throbs with the beat of my heart. The pain of depression permeates every part of my body. It starts in my heart, neverending, throbbing pain. It ends in my head. Will my head burst from… [Read more…]
October 13, 2006
What is this phenomenon that surprises me in the night? I’m sound asleep, going about the business of life . . . waking, working, caring, crashing into a sound sleep. It works for me. It is a generational pattern that works. It carries its own momentum. It keeps me going. I need these patterns to… [Read more…]
August 15, 2006
“Discussions about manhood in Western culture cannot avoid the figure of Jesus. He is the most frequently used mirror in which generations of Western men–philosophers from Augustine to Tillich, evangelists from Paul to Billy Graham, novelists from Renan to Kazantzakis–have seen their own faces reflected. Like the ink blots used in the psychological Rorschach test,… [Read more…]
July 7, 2006
On May 14, I wrote about the healthiness of depression. Facing . . . embracing the shadows of our lives is an essential step to seeing . . . knowing the “man in the mirror” (see April 15, “Who Am I?”). Western culture glorifies the light. Even in the darkest of night, man-made light is… [Read more…]
June 29, 2006
The Work of the Church vs. Church-work With what shall I come before the Lord And bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, With ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn… [Read more…]
June 18, 2006
“Thus it may be that, for a few moments, or hours, or even days, we can enter into the heart and head and body of another culture. We will always return to our own world, for that is where our roots lie. Nevertheless, on our reentry we may be changed in some subtle yet important… [Read more…]
May 13, 2006
The Healthiness of Depression Living with an open hand by definition requires that we let go. As we grow and mature in life, the one major task at hand is to let go. Let go of the old and accept the new. Let go of the familiar and welcome the strange. Let go of self-centeredness… [Read more…]
May 10, 2006
The Open Hand There are two distinct approaches to living life: Open hand living or Clenched fist living Our hands are an expression of our heart and mind, our inner self. As an artist expresses the inner self . . . As a warrior expresses the inner self . . . As a villan expresses… [Read more…]
May 10, 2006
How can we say we are a Christian nation . . . and yet the poor keep getting poorer and the rich keep getting richer? This is an outrage. How can we see ourselves as a model nation for the world . . . and yet not see that we are destroying the natural resources of… [Read more…]
April 26, 2006
Complacency Stagnation These are strong human tendencies Because these are the way of systems. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The universe is an intricate, endless web of systems. All of nature is an intricate, endless web of systems. The human body is an intricate, endless web of systems. And the human mind is an intricate, endless web of systems; intertwined with the… [Read more…]
April 22, 2006
"On the turning away From the pale and downtrodden And the words they say Which we won't understand 'Don't accept that what's happening Is just a case of others' suffering Or you'll find that you're joining in The turning away' "It's a sin that somehow Light is changing to shadow And casting it's shroud Over… [Read more…]
April 22, 2006
View from the Porch “Where you stand depends on where you sit.” I love the porch. From the porch, I can watch the neighbors squabble, converse, marry, divorce, have kids, yell at the kids. From the porch, I can watch the derelict stumble down the street, again. But this time he winds up becoming a… [Read more…]
April 20, 2006
People wish to be settled. Only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them. ~ Emerson I believe our culture worships the god of comfort, or maybe a better word is comfortableness. How many people do you know that avoid pain or confrontation at all costs? The road most traveled in… [Read more…]
April 19, 2006
Following is a haunting poem. Since I heard it on NPR, I have been unable to stop thinking about it. I don’t know the author or the title, but shall I call it “Real Love”? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I won’t sing you to sleep But I will press my lips to your ear And hope that my… [Read more…]
April 17, 2006
“WHO AM I?” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They also tell me I would talk to my warders freely and friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command. Who… [Read more…]
April 16, 2006
WELCOMING LIFE When it comes to living . . . I think I have more questions than answers . . . More doubt than faith. But the answers, Though few, They are true. And my faith, Though smaller than a mustard seed . . . It will grow . . . It will grow. For… [Read more…]
April 15, 2006
EMMANUEL—GOD AMONG US A LIFE OF PARADOX AND CONTRADICTION TO NATURAL HUMAN THOUGHT “Our King cometh,” they cried. Riding the royal chariot, Dressed in kingly robes. Armies leaping at His command Full of power and fame. “Our Savior cometh,” they dreamed. Riding tall on a white horse. Bringing destruction to our enemies. Eyes so full… [Read more…]
April 15, 2006
Consume . . . consume . . . consume . . . “We are, as it seems, considering not only how a city, but also a luxurious city, comes into being… Let’s look at a feverish city…This healthy one isn’t adequate any more, but must already be gorged with a bulky mass of things.” ~… [Read more…]
April 15, 2006
Mass Consumption The American MO (Mode of Operation) The American Dream Capitalism at its best So tightly we grip the things that we possess. Why? Because they define who we are. Hmmm. Defined by a sign, a symbol, things, possessions, riches . . . But who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who… [Read more…]
June 4, 2009
“There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didn’t have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didn’t have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. That’s it.” (Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, p. 7) “Living a long life, the conventional wisdom at the… [Read more…]
June 19, 2009
No longer immune What has happened to the barrier? What has happened to the cushion? What has happened to the front, the façade, the mask I used to don so quickly, so conveniently, so comfortably? I used to answer the question, “how are you?” with “fine” . . . and really mean it. But now… [Read more…]
July 22, 2009
(Tribute to Buddy) Last night my dog Buddy passed away after become tremendously ill over the weekend. He was only 5 years old and had been very healthy so it was very unexpected. And it is not until after he is gone that I’ve realized how perfect the name my daughter Myka gave him truly… [Read more…]
August 4, 2009
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength”. (St. Francis de Sales) “‘Love doesn’t mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.’ Tenderness and gentleness characterize the life and work of Jean Vanier as well as L’Arche movement. Vanier observes that ‘community is… [Read more…]
August 10, 2009
We all find meaning in life in the same way: discovering the gifts we have to offer and contributing them to others; finding something we are good at and doing it. When we see that we have made a difference by what we do, then, and only then, do we find meaning in life. In… [Read more…]
August 16, 2009
The first step in change, for an individual, an organization, or a community is changing deeply held beliefs about change. Is it possible to change? Do I have the ability to change? Do I have the will to change? The questions about change have to change; From “When is change coming?” or “Where can I… [Read more…]
September 6, 2009
We build our lives around permanency. Retirement savings is assumed to be permanent security. Homes and families are built on the human construct of permanency. Careers, income, and possessions . . . all create a sense of permanency. I wonder why that is? We know that nothing is permanent. We trick ourselves into believing that stuff is permanent. But down deep we know it is not. We’ve seen it.
October 31, 2009
The essence of humanity is human connection: Clearing the clutter to SEE the invisible in a world of neon lights, glitz, and bling. Silencing the clamor to HEAR the quiet voices in a world so full of noise. Halting the frenzy to SEE, and HEAR . . . myself. This is the essence of being human: Ubuntu
November 30, 2009
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
December 3, 2009
“Something about your voice. Something about your eyes. I don’t feel so lost. I don’t have to hide.” (from the song “Eternity” by Lizz Wright). At a point of real turmoil in life, I’ve been struggling with redefining and recreating “home”. Somehow Lizz has hit upon something that resonates with me about “home”. Maybe it… [Read more…]
December 11, 2009
“Each of us creates a picture of our world by connecting a dozen or so of the trillions of dots that would need to be connected to make a ‘true’ portrait of the universe.” — Sam Keen People that have the answers may not be facing reality in their own lives. Having an answer allows… [Read more…]
December 28, 2009
The older I get, the less I seem to know anything for sure. When I was young, it was easy to cast judgment on others, their beliefs, their actions, their lifestyles. Youth is so full of certitude and opinions. The older I get, the more I realize how much I don’t know.
January 24, 2010
“Where you stand . . . depends on where you sit . . .” The viewpoints you are most likely to advance (your stance politically, your opinions) are decisively determined by the place you occupy economically, in your career, in your community, in your organization, in society. We must not ever presume to speak for… [Read more…]
February 9, 2010
Experiencing faith and spirituality is something that we attempt to wrap our minds around, but something that we cannot really understand. So we learn to “contain” it, define it, systematize it, so that we can understand it. We are afraid of experiencing things we cannot understand, like death. We fear death because it is the… [Read more…]
February 14, 2010
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” (Teilhard de Chardin) If this earthly experience is what life is all about then Why, in our quiet moments, are there these hunger pangs for more . . . ? Why, in our happiest moments, is there always… [Read more…]
February 28, 2010
I just had a discussion with a facebook friend (Thanks Lola) about the idea of “unraveling”. She posted this as her status and it really made me think: “I’m always fascinated by watching a thread unravel…especially when it’s happening in real life.” I felt the truth of that statement way down deep in my soul.… [Read more…]
March 14, 2010
There are few things on this earth that carry both such meaningfulness and such meaninglessness. Our words can be incendiary, a fire destroying all it its path; or they can be full of healing and a tree of life for the outcast and downtrodden. Any time we encounter another person, we go away changed, either… [Read more…]
March 23, 2010
In every culture and religion on earth, compassion is at the core of human society. Even in a culture that is established and maintained by war, compassion is seen in how a mother nurtures a child or how a father provides. Even in a religion that is established and maintained by judgement and prideful comparison,… [Read more…]
April 16, 2010
How can we hear . . . if we don’t listen? How can we listen . . . when there is so much noise . . . in our heads? . . . in our hearts? . . . in our lives? How can we hear . . . through the din and the clamor… [Read more…]
May 4, 2010
In all wisdom traditions and religions, there is a great commandment at the heart that bears a likeness to this: Love the Lord you God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And a second is unto it; love your neighbor as yourself. There seems to be a common belief throughout the world… [Read more…]
June 18, 2010
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2) In the face of death, the straw man burns. When I realize that “no one gets out of here alive”,… [Read more…]
July 3, 2010
Over the past months, the full meaning of peace is beginning to awaken and stir my soul. As a culture, we want peace in the sense of “personal peace and affluence” (as Francis Schaffer described the gods of our age). I see the gods of this age as comfort and certainty. Sometimes we confuse these… [Read more…]
July 11, 2010
I worshiped for an hour in silence this morning at Grand Rapids Friends Meeting (Quakers) at Aquinas College Browne Center. It was very cool to have about half of those that came be college age. It is refreshing to hear young adults speaking of the importance of silence in a world noisily clamoring for our… [Read more…]
July 17, 2010
“the soul is like a wild animal” “Just like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, savvy, resourceful and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. Many of us learn about these qualities in the darkest moments of our lives when the faculties we normally depend upon utterly fail us—the intellect is… [Read more…]
July 27, 2010
Writing for me has become a deeply transformational spiritual discipline. I started blogging four years ago. I felt like I was entering a wilderness of my own. I see my blogging as a way to map my spiritual journey. Little did I know what the future had in store . . . a deep and… [Read more…]
August 2, 2010
I’ve had the fortune, the pearl of great price, to have three kids AND raise them as their father . . . be a father to them. I raised my oldest son (he’s 24 now) alone when he was still in diapers. That was in the days when putting folding changing tables for babies in… [Read more…]
August 2, 2010
Ever lived in and among poverty? Ever experienced the noise of poverty daily? Ever buckled under the back breaking exhaustion of poverty? Ever felt the never ending grind of poverty? Ever fought the downward spiral as life comes apart at the seams and you fall uncontrollably to the ground? Ever hit so hard that you… [Read more…]
September 20, 2010
During this week of celebration of International Peace Day, my heart is heavy. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me” What human being on this earth doesn’t want this at some level of their existence? The concept is so simple. 1. Violence is NOT the way to peace. 2. There… [Read more…]
September 21, 2010
“It was John Kenneth Galbraith, the hyperliterate economic sage, who coined the phrase ‘conventional wisdom’. He did not consider it a compliment. ‘We associate truth with convenience’, he wrote, ‘with what most closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being or promises best to avoid awkward effort or unwelcome dislocation of life. We also find highly… [Read more…]
September 25, 2010
It is a waiting room of sacred listening. It is a waiting room of gathered silence. In the silence I sit and I turn my heart to the Light. As the Light bathes my soul, it is a time of tremendous healing. As divine Love overwhelms my soul, tears overwhelm my eyes. Oneness and openness… [Read more…]
October 25, 2010
What is the Source of Truth? From where does it come? Within? Or without? Are we an expression of something greater than ourselves? Are we a reflection of a higher power? Is all of creation an expression of the creativity of the Artist? Are we created in the image of the Creator? If so, then… [Read more…]
November 26, 2010
I’ve spent most of my life striving to be somewhere, something, someone, other than where and what I am. Then, during my first worship meeting with the Grand Rapids Friends, Scot said to me, “We are exactly where we are meant to be.” On the outside, I said, “Hmmm”. But on the inside, I said,… [Read more…]
November 28, 2010
Every person on this earth comes here with what I call birthright gifts. Using those gifts gives us purpose and meaning in life. This world suffers when even one person is denied the opportunity to use their gifts to make a difference. What are your birthright gifts? What is the nature and personality you came… [Read more…]
January 2, 2011
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!. Crunchy numbers A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2010. That’s about… [Read more…]
January 8, 2011
Change. What do we believe about change? The human race tends to hold deeply rooted assumptions about change; what is possible and what is not possible. The first step to learning and change is stepping back and identifying our assumptions. Not identifying what we say we believe, but identifying what we really believe. Our actions… [Read more…]
January 8, 2011
What are the “structures”, embedded beliefs, values, and assumptions that cause human inequality? As I step back and ponder this, it appears to me that much of them come from how we deal with differences, with diversity. This may be at the heart of inequality. If we embrace diversity, appreciating the various strengths and weaknesses,… [Read more…]
January 8, 2011
For many years, I’ve struggled with finding meaning in Christmas. A quick study of the history of the holiday shows a similar struggle around the world; among Christians (the Puritans banned Christmas in Boston in the 1600s) and governments (US Government didn’t recognize it until the late 1700s and it didn’t become a federal holiday… [Read more…]
March 4, 2011
Sometimes I feel like most of my life has been nothing but gripping… groping… griping… Gripping what is temporal. Groping for what is permanent. Griping about what I don’t have. Sort of like a dog chasing its tail, I have lived my life in repeating cycles. After a heartbreaking experience I spend myself with tears… [Read more…]
March 21, 2011
There are things that happen in this life that are much greater than just the here and now. There are things that have greater meaning; a sort of eternal significance. Sometimes it is events that happen just in time; exactly right, here and now. And you wonder… “how in the world did that happen like… [Read more…]
April 9, 2011
“Nothing Is So Strong As Gentleness, Nothing So Gentle As Real Strength.” (St. Francis De Sales) “Love doesn’t mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.” (Jean Vanier) There is something miraculous about babies. They embody such a clear expression of both our eternal natures and our… [Read more…]
April 22, 2011
I’ve struggled with the idea of soul mates for many years. I want to believe that there are such relationships and that each of us will experience this. But my experience has cut me off from living this out. I have caught glimpses throughout my life of such closeness. My parents are very close and… [Read more…]
May 6, 2011
“I am signaling you through the flames.” “Wake up, the world’s on fire!” (Lawrence Ferlinghetti) “For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.” (Mary Oliver) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POETRY BRINGS US TO OUR FEET Resulting… [Read more…]
May 23, 2011
For all of my life, I have been on a quest. A quest of sense-making, untangling the mess, insisting there are answers, and demanding that I know them… and that I know them for sure. I worshiped a god of certainty as a clone of my culture. I knew that I could know and depended… [Read more…]
July 3, 2011
As I worshipped this morning, for an hour in silence, I settled into my depth; where my sense of presence was as deep as it was wide; waiting… listening… As something began to emerge, I wrestled within between ego and inspired word. It this something that I want to say, or something that the group is being… [Read more…]
 | allie on soul friends |
 | Marcia on the unseen forces of ineq… |
 | الموقع الرسمي منتدى … on the work of the church |
 | Kay on beauty and blessing, wisdom an… |
 | Delaney Pucci on soft |
December 29, 2011
1