The Guest House by Rumi This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein Happy Earth Day! You and I live somewhere. Faithful presence invites us to discover a way of living in harmony with all of life… people, animals, ourselves, and the earth. The acceleration
Thanks be to God, an American police officer was held accountable for murdering an African American man… George Floyd. The officer was found guilty of all three charges. May this nation not turn back from the much overdue reform of
…every human being – without distinction of sex, age, race, skin color, language, religion, political view, or national or social origin – possesses an inalienable and untouchable dignity. Dr. Hans Küng Sadden to learn of the death of the great
Where I’m From By George Ella Lyon I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm whose
Last week during my school’s Wednesday Holy Communion & prayer time a student shared some beautiful words at the Table. It appears these words were first used at Mt Hollywood Church in Los Angeles, California on Palm Sunday, 2020. If anyone
Start Close In by David Whyte Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take. Start with the ground you know, the pale ground
Blessed Maundy Thursday… …God’s invitation to, “wash up before dinner!” Imagine a God who doesn’t demand your worship, mindless obedience, or tithes but actually serves you out of love, simply because that’s who God is… Imagine a God, so located
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us. Fred Rogers Growing up in Canada when I did, I watched and loved the Mr. Dressup show. I’ve come to learn that Mr. Dressup was
The Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC) is working with local churches and organizations to stand against Asian American & Pacific Islanders (AAPI) hate and to mourn the loss of the 8 precious image bearers who were massacred. Marches are already
I am so grateful to be fully vaccinated from COVID-19. I was actually surprised at how hope-inducing the experience was. The teams of medical professionals and volunteers delivering the vaccine had an air of the elves in Santa’s woodshop and
At Thomas Merton’s Grave by Spencer Reece We can never be with loss too long. Behind the warped door that sticks, the wood thrush calls to the monks, pausing upon the stone crucifix, singing: “I am marvelous alone!” Thrash, thrash
Quantum theory also tells us that the world is not simply objective; somehow it’s something more subtle than that. In some sense it is veiled from us, but it has a structure that we can understand. John Polkinghorne I’m grieving
Declaring The Sanctity Of Life & The Dignity Of All We come together as senior religious leaders, academics, and lay leaders from around the world to affirm the sanctity of life and dignity of all. We affirm that all human
A documentary looking at the life of Abraham Joshua Heschel was released at the end of last month… I can’t wait to see it. I’ve been rereading Heschel’s The Sabbath in preparation for a spring course I’ll be teaching at
“The Spirit teaches us how to participate with God in the restoration of all things; maybe the more common term for this would be mission…[I]t’s a mission which connects our unique desires to the work of the Spirit to keep
“I’m not a foodie; I’m an eatie. I don’t have anything against foodies. I just don’t have the time or the interest to do that much research.” Jim Gaffigan Stand-up comedy can be – among other things – prophetic. I
52 years ago today Ben & Rosella and my older sister Michelle (my younger brother – Dallas – wasn’t yet on the scene) welcomed me into the world. It was the same year humans first stepped on the moon; the
Dulce et Decorum Est By Wilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men
March is Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month is an annual declared month set aside to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. What we now know as the month long observation in the USA, began
Last fall Seattle’s legendary drive-in burger joint announced their intent to open a new restaurant location on the Eastside. Granted, I may be way too excited about this announcement, but yesterday I heard the news that Dick’s Drive-In will be
I love the opening scenes of the 1995 “Smoke” by film makers Wayne Wang and Paul Auster. Among others, the movie features Harvey Keitel, William Hurt, Stockard Channing, Harold Perrineau Jr., and very young Forest Whitaker. The story begins as a local business owner is
Today The Parliament of the World’s Religions is joining organizers and community leaders in Chicago as part of the City’s Together We Heal initiative by hosting a series of virtual programs to foster conversation and share tools on healing and
I’ve been reading, rereading, and listening to others’ reading many of Meister Eckhart’s works over the past year. I have come to sense that reading – especially out loud – is itself a great hermeneutical act. I love hearing other
Today is Ash Wednesday; the first day of Lent. My school’s Scared Space, Office of Students & Alumni, and my Life Together class sent out Lenten observation kits to any current students, staff or faculty who wanted one. Today’s chapel
My love of jazz began when I was in junior high. My older sister often let me hang out with her and her high school friends… one of her many generosities. One of her friends played trumpet in a jazz
GOD WOULD KNEEL DOWN by St. Francis of Assisi I think God might be a little prejudiced. For once He asked me to join Him on a walk through this world,and we gazed into every heart on this earth, and
“This is the story and song our ancestors bequeathed to us, and it comes at a time in our country when the very things they struggled and died for — faith and freedom, justice and equality, democracy and grace —
I’m getting ready to teach a new class: “Spirituality & Sabbath.” I’m having a blast reading, mediating, praying, sketching, and thinking in preparation. As you may know, I’ve spent the better part of my adult life opening to faithful presence
