“Only by exploring and sharing my autobiography can I witness my discoveries of the sacred. My story is not normative. I am under no illusions that I am a saint, a hero, or a model for anyone. I do not write in order to say: Here is the map for you to follow. I only share some of the twists and turns of my journey in order to encourage you to take your own story seriously. Examine the sacred text of your own experience, reconstruct the events and relationships that went into the creation of your being, re-collect memories, and form them into a narrative that makes your life a once-told tale.” (Sam Keen)
Living with Open Hands…
an expression of
an open heart,
an open mind,
and an open will.
Table of Contents
Preface: (overview of Living with Open Hands)
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
The Open Hand
Adrift in an Endless Sea
Journaling the Journey
The Space Between
Why I Write
SECTION ONE: A HEART BROKEN
Chapter 1: THROUGH THE FACADE
Who Am I?
Consume… Consume… Consume…
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
If I Loose my Grip… Will I Take Flight?
SECTION TWO: A HEART AWAKENING
Chapter 5: SEEING WITH THE HEART
Seeing
On 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 Contradictions
Living the Questions
The Sacred and the Profane
Chapter 8: FACING OUR GODS
In God We Trust
The god of comfort
The god of certainty
Opinionation
Words
Cultural Christianity
The Structural Inequality
Chapter 9: MEANING AND PURPOSE
The Search for Meaning
The Invitation
Consumer or Contributor — Leadership in an Age of Consumption
Community and Communion
Christmas — Unwrapping Meaning
What is Meaning?
Chapter 10: THE JOURNEY
Presence
Honoring the Soul
Through It
Exactly Where I Am Meant To Be
The Touch of Eternity
SECTION THREE: A HEART AFIRE
Chapter 11: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF COMPASSION
View from the Porch
On the Turning Away
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
The Power of Non-violence
Chapter 13: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF EQUALITY
The Necessity of Diversity
Being Right, Making Wrong
Finding My Place
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
Oppression, Power, & Privilege
Familiarity & Exclusion; Freedom & Oppression
Chapter 14: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF INTEGRITY
The Cost
The Search for Wisdom
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
Letting Go of Non-Essentials
Chapter 16: LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS OF COMMUNITY
Community — a Matter of Life and Death
Malignancy
Place
Finding My Place
Finding My Home
Redefining and Recreating Home
Crashing Through the Woods
Raising Kids Alone
Change
Soul Friends
Alone in the Crowd
Communities of Isolation — the biology of loneliness and community
SECTION FOUR: FOUNDATIONAL UNDERSTANDINGS
Chapter 17: GIFTS
A Gifts-Based Approach to Life
Chapter 18: THE POWER OF THE MARGINS
The Outliers and their Gifts
Think Different
The Misfits
The Power of Poetry
Listening for Unheard Voices
Chapter 19: DIALOGUE
Living in a Spirit of Dialogue
Chapter 20: COMFORT & CONDITIONING
The Bubble of Indifference
The Cocoon
Thoughts on Thought
Downloaded Thinking / Cultural Conditioning
Community and Comfort, Conformity and Certainty
The River
Penetrating Illusions
Integral Spirituality
Chapter 21: MY SOURCE
Presence — Living From the Source
Core Values
Guiding Principles
LIVING WITH OPEN HANDS: A CONCLUSION FOR NOW…
Sources and Resources
Works Cited (alphabetically)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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duongd
December 4, 2013
Hi Ron,
Thanks for helping me get moving with my blog. 🙂
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Ron Irvine
December 4, 2013
You are welcome
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Julie shale
October 3, 2014
Your work is absolutely amazing Ron I am so proud to be your friend you are a truly and inspirational gentleman thank you
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Ron Irvine
October 3, 2014
Thank you my dear friend.
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Jude
July 8, 2017
I am excited to read your book! Hoping to be notified via this post..
Thanks so much, Jude
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Ron Irvine
July 8, 2017
Yes. I will communicate that here. Thank you!
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