We sneeze, Some one says, God bless you. In the now distant past it was thought that the soul left the body when we sneezed. A quick blessing brought it safely back. I think we can extend this idea of blessing to more than sneezing. What if we blessed our relationships, our work and our […]
Choice
We are making choices all the time. Our choices influence not just what can happen today but also what may be possible tomorrow. To own that we are choosers is a big responsibility. Those who are fearful of making choices and so do not make them are nevertheless in a choosing process. Not making a […]
Little Ways
Mother Teresa told us that we can not do great things, but we can do little things with great love. In that spirit I hope the following little ways will be invitations to loving actions. Though we live in tremendous possibilities all the time, we may not believe the truth of that. Still one small, […]
Holding
A stronghold is a fortress. It is sometimes called a keep. Where do we involuntarily and unconsciouly hole up to try to be in control and be safe? Such “keeps” are secret and often hard to open and release. They tend to be deep inside us. Holding is so varied, but when it softens we […]
Full of Beans
It’s a long journey from seed to fruit and there is much in it to rejoice about. There is another part to the growth cycle. It is the journey from re-seeding, to release and dormancy. It, too, is a sacred journey, but is not considered or celebrated enough in our culture. Now that there are […]
The Gift Of Obstacles
I’ve always been in awe of hurdlers, the way they fly over the barriers placed in their way. They soar, legs stretched to the max, a kind of low flying while hardly losing any momentum. They don’t even stumble when they hit the ground and continue. Ah, to be so adept at managing obstacles! I […]
Kindness
Kindness is the sweetest friend to our souls. In a world that is so challenging and fraught with uncertainty kindness to ourselves and to others brings us sanctuary. It is the invisible home that makes visible sacred and shows us how to live more effectively and with more dignity. Being kind is perhaps the most […]
Beauty
I think we first encounter beauty is the luminous moments of our childhood. Maybe it lay in our mother’s smile, in the way sunlight fell on our bed, or in the smell of new-mown grass. Those moments can inform our whole life. What do you remember as beautiful from back then? For me it was […]
Love
Of course, it is impossible to write about love without sounding trite. There are so many kinds of love— erotic, platonic, filial, devotional, practical—stiff words that can’t come close to describing the heart’s movement towards another be it, partner, child, parent or pet or areas of experience such as music, poetry, painting, gardening, etc. In […]
Nevertheless
Sometimes I think of the word, nevertheless, as an accordion word. Just thinking it whenever we are stuck opens another little space for something else. I wonder if both compassion and creativity aren’t part of that word? No matter how we may define the world or how it impinges on us, we can nevertheless imagine […]