Stories and Gratitude
A businessman walks the airport concourse, on his way to baggage claim. His flight is late in arriving, and his mood is melancholy. This is the end of a long business trip; his energy spent and his emotions raw. If…
Let us taste this life
“I hate people. I hate life. I hate the world.” Lucy is apoplectic. “I thought you had inner peace,” Charlie Brown says to her. “I do,” Lucy responds. “But I have a lot of outer obnoxiousness.” Speaking of life’s…
When did you stop dancing?
Do you have any relatives that make you wonder about the gene pool in your family tree? Well, Uncle George was exasperating and difficult. Looking after him was stressful, taxing and thankless. Driving to the funeral of Uncle George, the young man let loose with…
Let us taste this life
Early this morning I drove from Gardnerville, NV through the Carson Valley to the Reno Airport. The drive framed by the Sierra Nevada Mountains, including the snow laden peaks that cradle Lake Tahoe. There is no urgency and it is…
Savor simple pleasures
GK Chesterton tells the story of a teenage boy granted one wish by a genie. “Do you wish to be huge or tiny?” We are all swayed by the appeal of being big, strong and powerful. So, the boy chose…
Inviting life in
During a noon-hour rush on a steamy July day, two men were jockeying their way through the crowd on a New York City avenue. They practically shouted as they tried to hear one other above the din. One man, a native New…
A weight is lifted
I love the uplifting story Sue Monk Kidd tells about her grandfather. My grandfather was a lawyer, a judge, and a farmer. He was frequently busy and conquesting, but I remember also that he sometimes entered the golden moments of wu wei. He and I…
I want to live deliberately
A small art gallery near Lake Galway in Ireland holds an exhibition with local art. A poet of no small renown drops by to view it. As he finishes his perusing, a local farmer arrives. Once a year, the farmer…
Gratitude opens the heart
In 1819, a blind soldier named James Holman, was invalided out of the British Navy. His reaction? He promptly set out to "see" the world. He traveled alone, except for one brief stint with a deaf man. James spoke none of the languages he encountered, and moved about by public transit. When he…
No restrictor plate in our soul
Going through his five-year-old son's backpack, a father found a picture of a little boy standing under a rainbow crying. His first thought was, "Oh God, my son is having some serious problems." When he asked his son about the picture, the little boy told his father that he had been playing…
