beliefs

Finding my Way Forward

August 25, 2011

I am moved to tears as I read Ram Dass’ words, in Paths to God, about his devotion to his guru.  There is something compelling and yet frightening about that kind of deep love and surrender. I had a similar kind of devotional love for my youth pastor and his wife when I was 12, [...]

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A Distinction Between Pain and Suffering

August 11, 2011

Pain and suffering. We have all experienced them.  Many make no distinction between the two­–to have pain is to suffer.  I do make a distinction between pain and suffering, though it took decades for me to find that distinction. This is how I see it:  Pain is pure and simple.  It burns clear and hot.  [...]

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Cultivating New Eyes

May 11, 2011

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”  Marcel Proust This photo fascinates me.  When I snapped the shutter, I only saw the feather.  It was when I downloaded the photo that I discovered the damselfly.  This has happened to me several times before. How much in [...]

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Life is Grace

January 5, 2011

“Listen to your life.  See it for the fathomless mystery it is.  In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness:  touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”  [...]

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Eying the New Year

December 30, 2010

“The practice is simply being with things as they actually are.  We notice how ingrained our habits are:  to want things to be a certain way, to grasp, or to cling.  In that very moment, we remember that we are bigger than that.  That is a very powerful, humbling, and satisfying practice.”  Jon Kabat-Zinn Like [...]

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Chasing the Buck

December 16, 2010

I saw him in the backyard.  I ran for my camera but he was gone when I returned.  I bolted from the house and ran into the horse pasture.  Beyond the fence and in the woods I caught sight of him.  He saw me, too.  I knew that to chase him would send him running [...]

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Willing Sacrifice

October 14, 2010

When I visit with Daddy, I have to connect my computer directly to his computer in order to have access to the Internet.  It’s a pain.  It’s uncomfortable sitting in his office on the too-high chair that causes strain on my neck.  I told him that I wish he’d get wireless.  He asked, “Why?  What [...]

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Limited Perspective

October 12, 2010

I had to drive to Daddy’s unexpectedly this morning.  His hemoglobin has bottomed out from the chemo so he is getting a blood transfusion.  He should feel much better in a couple of days. On my drive over, I saw the most brilliant sunrise.  I wanted to stop to photograph it but I needed to [...]

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Columbus Day Musings

October 11, 2010

Columbus Day.  How is it that the USA can celebrate Christopher Columbus—a man who started a wave of genocide and slavery?  How is it that a nation can be blind to the atrocities committed?  Yet, I see blindness all around me, and most disturbingly, in me.  It is hard to recognize my own blindness but [...]

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Stretch Beyond Ourselves

October 8, 2010

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the lack of constructive dialogue in this country.  I am grieved that folks don’t seem to be able to talk to one another anymore. The rigidity, superiority, and posturing I see on all sides concerns me.  The lack of respect, compassion, and kindness startle me.  What are we [...]

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