Christians are sometimes suspicious of meditation because they think of it as Buddhist. But, meditation has long had a well established place in Christianity where it is called contemplation. This raises the question of the relationship between meditation and contemplation.…
Read MoreIn spite of the trivializing influence of romantic and sentimental views of love in Western culture, love is the strongest force in the universe. Only love can soften a hard heart. Only love can renew trust after it has been shattered. Only love can inspire acts of genuine self-sacrifice…
Read MoreThis is the first of two blogs I want to offer on love. Today we begin with the place of love in the universe (as astounding as that might sound!) and next month, we move from the cosmic to the personal when we will reflect on love in a human context.
Read MoreOne of the things that most of us who live some distance from the equator come to appreciate is the change of seasons. We may love one or two of them more than others, but we become used to the annual cycle of seasons…
Read MoreI want to talk with you today about how we can nurture awakenings. But let's start with what an awakening is. I would describe it as an expansion of awareness that expresses itself through increased presence. The awareness that you will experience as you begin to awaken will be less clouded by thinking than anything you have previously known...
Read MoreAwakening is an important spiritual metaphor, but it only becomes meaningful if we understand the state of spiritual sleep. And to really understand that, we need to be willing to acknowledge and engage the parts of us that resist awakening, even while other parts may desire it….
Read MoreInterest in meditation has introduced many in the West to an extremely valuable spiritual practice – mindfulness. However, there is a closely related, but less well known, practice that I think is at least as important. I call it heartfulness.
Read MoreSocrates famously declared that the unexamined life was not worth living. Asked to sum up the wisdom of Ancient Greece, he replied, “Know yourself.” This affirmation of the importance of knowing oneself was unchallenged by the church Fathers and Mothers, although from the earliest days of church history, knowing of self and God began to be linked.
Read MoreThere is no question that the enforced isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a nightmare for many people. Think of the abused women and children who have been trapped in their homes with their abusers and have no possibility of escape. Or of those separated from loved ones who are in hospitals and other care facilities that are closed to all visitors.
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