I find that to be a worthy challenge to be an optimist AND a realist. To learn to hold those two opposing but equally true things at once. We can grieve all that we’ve been through and also find the strength to deal with the ongoing reality. We can grieve those we’ve lost. We can lament, and fight and struggle with our pandemic fatigue while also finding hope in today, in the reality here and now as we seek to live each day to the fullest.
Category: Spiritual Life
One Step Enough For Me
And yet his words are a prayer not for supernatural problem solving, nor even to grasp the entirety and complexity of whatever befalls us, but simply for the guidance and support to simply take one more step forward on our pilgrimage of life.
More Than One Way to the Moon
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”
Wonderfully Made
There is nothing like turning to the Psalms to find eloquent, beautiful verse. Psalm 139 is one of my favorites and the line that always rises above the rest is where the Psalmist says: You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) Do you know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? Do you know the profound worth of your soul and that there is an astounding splendor in you? Our world is populated by people of every race, status, and age, all yearning to feel worth and value. Whether an orphaned, poverty-stricken child in Africa, a prostitute in Thailand, a military officer in Russia, or an executive on Wall Street – every soul searches for true significance. Often times, however, our search leads us to all the wrong places. We try to find our worth in economic status, acceptance by peers, or a sense of special accomplishment. Inevitably we discover that net worth does not produce self-worth. Acceptance by friends does not equate to well-being within. Comparing favorably with others does not produce peace with ourselves.
St. Augustine said, “Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.” Isn’t it incredible that of the 7.9 billion people in the world, not one of us is exactly like any other?! Some are tall. Some are short. Some are wide. Some are narrow. Some have thick hair. Some have thin hair. Some have light skin. Some have dark skin. Like snowflakes, all are unique and have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Unfortunately, there is a lot of money spent on changing what God has fearfully and wonderfully made. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2020 Americans spent 9 billion dollars on cosmetic surgery. American pop singer Lada Gaga says, “Baby, you were born this way.” Each and every one of us was born fearfully and wonderfully made. You carry within you something ineffable, something that Christianity names being made in the image of God, and which Buddhism names the potential Buddha-nature of all people and which is expressed in the Hindu greeting, Namaste–that which is divine in me honors what is divine in you. Know your profound worth and recognize the divine spark in each other.
Leaning Back in Our Seats
There are often a whole host of reasons that we narrate in order to convince ourselves and others that we are helpless to make a choice which is mindful of the needs of others.
Creating Community
Maybe your sense of belonging comes from your family, your friends, your faith community, the clubs or organizations in which you participate.
An Unhelpful Platitude
There is something holy and sacred in having the courage to ask the hard questions of God especially when those questions often have no answers
Be Bold
May we, like Küng be purposely bold in our thinking and faith and brave on our pilgrimage of life.
Slow to Speak
As I have been doing some preliminary reading and preparation for our upcoming Bible Study on the Book of Proverbs (which you can watch on Channel 1-2, 3:00pm, beginning on Wednesday, October 28th), one verse stood out to me, particularly when rendered in contemporary language: “You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much – so be sensible and watch what you say” (Prov. 10:19).
Uncommon Sense
‘Common-sense’ evokes images of down to earth, reasonable and practical people, but what of the unreasonable, impractical people, the ones accused of lacking common sense but who find uncommon yet transformative ways of doing things?
Living into the Promise
And then I thought of the staff I did not see, working behind the scenes, including those providing 24 hours-a-day service “behind closed doors” in our HCC and AL, truly serving on the front line. Again, a feeling of gratitude washed over me, and I realized I had begun repeating silently, like a mantra, “thank you for your service” for all of our over 400 employees.
Fresh, Life-Filled Air
Pondering the connections between breathing and the divine certainly helps us, in turn, to remember that breathing, that most natural and essential of impulses, is also an engagement with something beyond ourselves.
Check Your Ego at the Door
Although it was new to me, it turns out that “Check your ego at the door” is a common saying around gyms and in business as well.
Upcoming Spiritual Life Events
We hope the opportunities presented to you this Lenten season by the Spiritual Life Department give you at least some ways to provide nutrition for your soul.
An Unusual Kindness
Today there are still shipwrecks on Malta, occurring often as refugees risk a crossing of the Mediterranean in vessels woefully inadequate for that task.
Planting the Seeds of Peace
Finding consensus and compromise around a contentious issue, and then moving forward in agreement and harmony is both a skill and an art.
What Was So Wise About The Magi?
Last night my wife and I were preparing to pack away the Christmas decorations for another year, and once again we were completely baffled as to how we were supposed to fit a large sprawling tree into such a seemingly small box.
Look Back in Joy: The Power of Nostalgia
As we approach the New Year, much of what we see and hear on the media is looking back on what was the best of the year 2019 and what was the worst! I am sometimes uncertain as to whether looking back, dwelling in the past, is helpful or not, however, I was enlightened by an article written by Tim Adams suggesting that looking back improves the look of tomorrow. “Long considered a disorder, nostalgia is now recognised as a powerful tool in the battle against anxiety and depression. Is it healthy to dwell in the past? Up until about 15 years ago, most psychologists would have suggested probably not. The habit of living in memory rather than the present, of comparing how things once were with how things are now, was for several centuries thought at best a trait to avoid and at worst a root cause of depressive illness. Nostalgia was the soldiers’ malady – a state of mind that made life in the here and now a debilitating process of yearning for that which had been lost: rose-tinted peace, happiness, loved ones. It had been considered a psychological disorder ever since the term was coined by a 17th-century Swiss army physician who attributed the fragile mental and physical health of some troops to their longing to return home— nostos in Greek, and algos, the pain that attended thoughts of it.”
Since the turn of this century, however, rather than being a malady, researchers have found that memories can help us feel good about ourselves, make sense of our journey and root us to our history. Nostalgia is both a driver of empathy and social connectedness, and a potent internal antidote for loneliness and alienation—a fact which has led to the beginnings of nostalgia-based therapies for illnesses that include clinical depression and perhaps Alzheimer’s. Some of this research is historical. Researcher, Tim Wildschut, was intrigued by the strong anecdotal evidence of women in concentration camps during the Holocaust who “responded to starvation by waxing nostalgic about shared meals with their families and arguing about recipes and so on.” A concentration camp survivor said: “We used our memories to temporarily alter our perception of the state we were in. It was not a solution, but the temporary change in perception allowed you to persevere just a bit longer. And that could be crucial.” Nostalgia helps build resources like optimism or inspiration or creativity. In difficult situations, nostalgia grounds you and gives you a base on which to evaluate the present as a temporary state, and in doing so it perhaps builds resilience.
I had no idea that nostalgia held such power! As you look back upon this past year and reflect on memories of your life, I hope that those memories strengthen you to look forward to tomorrow with hope and joy. Happy New Year!