Sometimes I’m surprised at how much I am like my parents. I suspect that as we age most people come to this realization. Yet, in the moments when I have insight about these similarities, I’m truly surprised. Some of the similarities I’ve realized are small things. When I sneeze loudly… Read More »Spiritual Practice: A Prized Inheritance
Belief in a deity: it’s a debate that’s often framed in predictable ways. Either a person believes in God or is an atheist. Or a person believes in the Christian God or a Muslim God or a Hindu God.. Or perhaps one has made money, power, or prestige a deity.… Read More »What God do You Believe In?
To retreat. The online dictionary first definition of “retreat” is in military terms: to withdraw from an enemy force as a result of superior power. While I’m not aware of “an enemy force” let alone “superior power,” I am going to withdraw from my day to day life for about… Read More »Retreat
We are living in a time of political discord. This is true in many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and throughout the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. To say that there are large segments of people in many countries who are dissatisfied with their political… Read More »Prophetic Faith: The Spirit of Social Justice Today
Stories have a certain kind of potency to them. Stories convey life lessons that often make rote learning seem shallow. Long after they are told, stories can continue to inspire the hearer who in turn can draw multiple layers of meaning while ruminating on the parable. This is the case… Read More »The Gift that is Present
Finding information on meditation and techniques is quite easy today. Classes are taught at Buddist sanghas, Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, yoga studios, health clubs, gyms…just about any place where people can gather. In metropolitan areas, there are often large outdoor meditation sittings where people of various traditions gather. From the… Read More »The Uniqueness of Christian Contemplative Prayer
It’s a classic song from my high school days. I’m surprised how often I find the song playing as background music in my mind. It was in 1972 that singer-song writer Bill Withers released this soulful tune: “Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow …”… Read More »Sometimes We All Have Pain
Faith. It’s trust and confidence in someone or something. It’s a conviction about something that’s not based on objective evidence. While we usually think about faith in terms of religious beliefs or the existence of a deity, we actually have faith about a great number of things in life. For… Read More »Faith: Moving Beyond Dogma
