The Honorable Unworkable
Part of the spiritual life we’re all familiar with: Honorable aspiration, unworkable execution.
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Action
Pampered by Aristotle and Curious George
To a child of my heart, I’m about to pass along a gift given me by the universe nearly a quarter century ago: my cameo ring with the bust of Aristotle. As you may anticipate, it comes with a story.
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Married to Action
Erupting from new depth, the volcanic sound of my heart’s desolation. Seismic enough to raise eyebrows on other planets I shouldn’t be surprised. My dogs sure looked at me funny. Ten months since Dear’s suicide, I got why some people are pulled to follow their beloved in death.
Beyond Behavior and Beliefs
When I was a kid in St. Mike’s grammar school Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union. This was the 1950’s. Mr. Stalin, we were told, was an evil man. His evil was the reason we practiced hiding under our desks to protect ourselves in the altogether possible event that he would rain
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Climbing Hunger Mountain Barefoot
A hot candidate for the Metaphor Hall of Fame? The topic at the AA meeting was “One day at a time.” Perhaps the most familiar of the AA slogans. Very helpful when you’re first getting sober and your life’s a train wreck and not drinking seems the equivalent of mud wrestling King Kong. Over time
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Meeting The Person I Want To Be
The inspiring “March for Our Lives” protest, instigated by the nation’s high school students, prompts this reflection, beginning with a beautiful story about Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As a nine year-old child in South Africa, he was walking down a sidewalk with his mother. At that time, the nation’s apartheid customs, if not laws, dictated that
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Between Me and God
A young woman my wife and I adore––and have known for some 30 years––came to call with her two year-old daughter. The four of us had not been together since soon after her daughter’s birth. On the day before their surprise visit, I happened upon an anecdote that set me wondering what it would feel
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Despair Helps Us Remember
It sounds funny, but among the keys to true happiness is despair. By despair I mean experiencing deeply the pain of choices we make that are harmful to ourselves and others. Choices of belief. Choices of rationalization. Choices of denial. Choices of judgment. Any choice of us and them. When we touch the core disharmony
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