Archive for November, 2012
Success … Redefined
The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. Dalai Lama Success is valued very highly in our culture. We ask ourselves the question often, “what exactly is success and what does it mean?” Often success is defined by worldly achievement (i.e. […]
Freed From Guilt and Shame
We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins. George Bernard Shaw, Man and and Superman It seems like so […]
A Stranger, Reaching Out
Often, we look for miracles to be big, dramatic events – occurrences that suddenly alter our lives in ways we never expect. Certainly, they can and do come that way. But those kinds of miracles are usually rare. Spectacular and breathtaking, yes. But definitely rare. More frequently, though, I (Michael) see miracles occurring every day, […]
Beyond the Thorns
Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses. Alphonse Karr Continuing our series on gratitude this week, we thought it would be appropriate to acknowledge how hard it is to be grateful sometimes. It seems that it’s a mark of the human condition to focus on the “thorns”—the […]
Home Lives In All of Us
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. Maya Angelou As we enter this holiday season, we know that for many people there is great anxiety and deeply conflicting feelings. Our culture sends the message that the holidays are so […]
Believing Us into Being
I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down. Abraham Lincoln As we’ve shared several times this year, Abraham Lincoln has been a very significant historical figure for us. We love to read books about his character and example, […]
The Returning Light
If we shall take the good we find, asking no questions, we shall have heaping measures. Ralph Waldo EmersonEvery year, as soon as Halloween is over, our (Michael’s) son Matthew waits for the lights. He’s been doing it for more than a dozen years. As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, as the […]
Finding Yourself by Losing Yourself
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. GandhiYou make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give. Winston ChurchillWe were deeply impressed by the stories of the thousands of elite, world-class runners, who after the cancellation of the New […]
Why do we have to die?
Why do we have to die? To make life important. ~unknown We attended a funeral together this morning; a funeral of someone connected to many of our friends and people we know. The service was in many ways a celebration, one that lifted up the legacy of this person’s life. The message most strongly conveyed […]
The Discipline of Being Fully Present
To be present is to listen and to identify with each other as mortal, fragile human beings who need to be heard and sustained by one another, not distracted or entertained. Henri Nouwen One of the disciplines that we both care very deeply about is the practice of being ‘fully’ present with our neighbors. […]