Living with Open Hands

an expression of

an open heart,

an open mind,

and an open will.

Contents

Cover (overview of Living with Open Hands)

The Open Hand

INTRODUCTION

Adrift in an Endless Sea

Journaling the Journey

The Space Between

SECTION ONE: A HEART BROKEN

Chapter 1: THROUGH THE FACADE

Who Am I?

Consume… Consume… Consume…

In God We Trust

Real Love

Outrage

More… There Must Be More

Living with clenched fists

The Essence of Life — Who? Why? What?

Chapter 2: INTO THE DARKNESS

The Healthiness of Depression

The Pain of Depression

Tears in the Night

Total Devastation

Devastation — Meaning in Suffering… in Pain?

A Dark Mystery

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

Chapter 3: A HEART BROKEN OPEN

No Longer Immune

The Unraveling

Tears of a Man

Ground of Being

What If?

The Way of the Brokenhearted

Open

Chapter 4: UNCLENCHING THE FISTS

Permanency

The Plunge

On Complacency

Death as an Ally

Buckets

Fighting the Rain

Gripping… Groping… Griping

SECTION TWO: A HEART AWAKENING

Chapter 5: SEEING WITH THE HEART

Seeing

Incidental Graces

Through Alien Eyes

Light and Dark

Can You Hear Me? Can You See Me?

Connect to Wonder

Seeing Beauty

Chapter 6: OUT OF THE SILENCE

The Shadows

With Open Hands

Silence — a Spiritual Discipline

Openness

The Waiting Room

Silence . . . a Powerful Force: If I Already Know . . .

Chapter 7: EMBRACING MYSTERY AND PARADOX

Through a Glass Darkly

Ocean Wind

Inconsolable Longing

Paradox — Living the Contractions

Living the Questions

The Sacred and the Profane

Chapter 8: FACING OUR GODS

The god of comfort

The god of certainty

Opinionation

Words

Cultural Christianity

The Stuctural Inequalities of Religion

Chapter 9: MEANING AND PURPOSE

The Search for Meaning

The Invitation

Consumer or Contributor — Leadership in an Age of Consumption

Letting Go of Non-Essentials

Community and Communion

Christmas — Unwrapping Meaning

What is Meaning?

Chapter 10: THE JOURNEY

Presence

Honoring the Soul

Through It

Presence — Living From the Source

Exactly Where I Am Meant To Be

The Touch of Eternity

SECTION THREE: A HEART AFIRE

Chapter 11: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF COMPASSION

The Pain of Others

Hope

Fragile

Soft

The Way of Compassion

Chapter 12: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF PEACE

Violence

Gentleness

The Way of Peace

Violence at the Heart of Things

Living in Peace

A Fearless Gentleness

Chapter 13: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF EQUALITY

The Necessity of Diversity

Being Right, Making Wrong

Finding My Place

Labeling

Crumbs From Your Table

Where You Stand . . . Depends On Where You Sit

Bullet Holes and Poverty

Absolute Equality

The Unseen Forces of Inequality

Boundary Spanning

Marginalized

Chapter 14: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF INTEGRITY

The Cost

The Search for Truth

Discerning Truth

Integrity

The Moth and the Flame

Chapter 15: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF SIMPLICITY

A True Friend

The Wonder of Babies

In Praise of Trees

Simplicity

Chapter 16: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF COMMUNITY

Community — a Matter of Life and Death

Malignancy

Place

Finding My Home

Redefining and Recreating Home

Crashing Through the Woods

Raising Kids Alone

Change

Soul Friends

Alone in the Crowd

Chapter 17: STANDING IN THE GAP — The Artists, The Poets, The Mystics, and The Prophets of the Age

The Misfits

The Power of Poetry

FINAL THOUGHTS

Thoughts on Thought

If I loose my grip… will I take flight…?

Being Human — a Profound Paradox

Two Words

The Power of the Human Spirit

Remembering What We Already Know

Living in a Spirit of Dialogue

Familiarity and Exclusion, Freedom and Oppression

homelessness

the cocoon