Monthly Archives: August 2013

Salt and Light

The act of pruning requires cutting back (and off) the old to make room for new growth. As it relates to an understanding of faith, this process allows one to develop an interior life and cultivate the mind. Growing requires a desire to reach fresh understandings on old topics, and discover wisdom through study, reflection, and […]

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” MLK Jr.

I didn’t post earlier in the week because I wasn’t quite ready to write about peace. After the marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt, I felt like I couldn’t “authentically” comment on peace since I was struggling to find it within myself. I didn’t feel “at peace.” I felt overcome — sorrowful and tormented that […]

What the Deaf Can Hear and the Blind Can See

As a series of words, the “fruits of the spirit” – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, etc. are ones that we hear, and use, so frequently, that they sometimes become placeholders in prayer and conversation, and we tend to forget the depth and meaning contained within them (or at least I do). As an […]

Freedom through Reflection

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal […]

“Life in all its Fullness”

“I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart – WHERE?” After having children, I began to experience overwhelming waves of gratitude — gratitude for my life, gratitude for my children, gratitude for my marriage, and then slowly, gratitude in general (sunshine, literature, music, etc.), became the constant prayer on my lips. Through this […]

The Clear Bead

There is a old poem by the mystic Rumi that says, “The clear bead at the center changes everything,” emphasizing that our paths are connected, in ways that are unseen. Historically, we have come to a place where dividing lines have been drawn, based on ignorance and distraction. It takes work to figure out the […]

I am . . .

committed to hard topics. I search for understanding and meaning in the writings of all times and all places, and the space within which to share it with others. My particular path is unique to my background and interests, but my general vision is grounded in the universality of the human experience, which we all […]