Reintroduced to wonder
When Thomas Merton “left public life” to join the Trappists, he wrote, “I am not physically tired, just filled with a deep, vague, undefined sense of spiritual distress, as if I had a deep wound running inside me and it…
The light within me
Waiting is not one of my spiritual gifts. I wish it were easier to wait.And Christmas is the season of Advent, which means, literally, "to wait." Wait implies that we are paying attention, (one would assume), to something. Something specific. Let’s just…
Invitation; front row center
One day a very wealthy man took his son on a world-hopping trip visiting "underprivileged" countries, with the firm purpose of showing his son how “poor people” live. On their return from the trip, the father asked, "How was the…
A treasure inside
A beggar sits on a box, just outside the gates of a city. The beggar cannot work and subsists on the charity of passersby. On this day, the beggar receives no handouts. Finally, one person stops, but to the disquiet…
Red cardigan sweaters
Newborn babies dressed in red cardigan sweaters and sneakers. The news photograph on my screen makes me smile big. And I can tell you this; whatever is weighing me down can wait. This keeps my hope alive.Photos can be cathartic.…
What makes you come alive?
“I wish I read your Sabbath Moment before my meeting,” my friend, a hospice chaplain, tells me. “I was just with my hospice supervisor. Her question to me, ‘What are your long term goals?’” “I wanted to laugh out loud,” she…
Keeps my hope alive
For Rugby fans, Saturday was magical. For non-fans, Saturday was magical. And heartwarming.South Africa wins their third World Cup. The enduring image? 28-year-old Siya Kolisi, the Springboks’ first black captain, lifts the trophy.In my TV room, I smile big, and…
Savor This Life
We are wired to savor. To live awake and attentive, present in the moment… “being spontaneously surprised by the goodness and beauty of living.”What is not a surprise is that savoring is also good medicine for our blue moods.But I forget…
See with my heart
I try not to cry on airplanes. It’s not kosher. And, it looks eccentric.But when I watch movies or read books that tug at my heart, I cry. I used to be self-conscious about it. But not so much anymore.…
The gift of wholeness
Oliver Sacks lived bigger than life. Passionate, eccentric and engaged. As a doctor, (renowned neurologist), he treated patients who suffered, well, from just about everything (including unusual neurological disorders, and you may remember him from the movie, Awakenings).On this, he…
