Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Recently I had the occasion to return to some readings that I did long ago.  Because of an article I am writing, I needed to go back to my Quaker roots for some ideas and Quaker way of putting those ideas.  I returned to one of my favorite Quakers of last century, Douglas Steere.  I knew Douglas as an acquaintance, but not well enough to call a friend.  He was a long-time professor of philosophy at Haverford College in the Philadelphia area.  In some ways Douglas Steere became a role model for me.  He was one of those seasoned veterans who come along early in one’s career.  Douglas was an academic---a good academic.  But he also was a man of the Spirit and a man of the world.  Douglas was involved in the ecumenical movement long before most of us knew what the word meant.  He read Catholic literature, much of which today we would talk about as the Catholic spiritual literature.  He chose to spend a month in a European monastery an...

Yesterday a friend died.  People die every day is an easy sentence to write.  But I don’t have a friend die every day.  She was a very good person.  She had many friends, so I am just one of the many.  And while we all saw this coming, when the actual death happens, it still hits you.  The dominant feeling among all her friends is sadness.  It is not the sadness of a life squandered in some crazy way.  It is not even sadness that she died a little too young, although it feels like she did.  She was not a saint.  Because she was human, she was not perfect.  While I appreciated the many things she did for me, there were times when I really did not want anything from her, even though she would have been happy to help.  I know for a fact there are not too many people in my life who wanted the best for me than she did.  And I was not alone.  Somehow she cared about a big bunch of people.  And her care was predictabl...

I recently helped a friend decide it was ok to enter hospice care.  My parents both died in hospice care---one of them in my living room.  I have had a great deal to do with hospice care over the years and very much appreciate the tenderness and grace extended to the dying person and the family.  Indeed, it is a graceful way to die.  I am sure it will be the same thing for my friend.  The process always takes time---sometimes a little time and sometimes more time than we thought it would.      But hospice is not really about death.  That is a given.  Hospice does not try to duck death; it embraces it as our ultimate outcome.  Hospice is about getting to death as painlessly and graciously as possible.  And hospice helps us see death finally as a friend.  We embrace this friend and acknowledge our desire and willingness to move on.  To die is to be fully human.  It is spiritual at its core.   ...

In my spiritual journey I have learned many things, as would be expected.  Indeed, it would be sad if we were to be on a journey for a period of time and learn nothing.  That sounds more like stagnation than a journey.  One important thing I have learned is to balance working with the new---staying connected to the relevant things happening in our world---with the traditional---things like spiritual disciplines to keep me grounded.     A good bit of what I read comes from the spirituality in my contemporary world.  I do not fall for the illusion that anything new has to be better than the older ways of being spiritual.  But I am not so naïve as to think that most of whatever is new will have no staying power in our world.  For example, there is so much research coming out of our scientific community, we would be idiotic to ignore that.  Neuroscientists are discovering so much about how our brains work, how humans develop and how they l...

Recently I was at a gathering for worship and the congregation sang an opening hymn which I found moving.  It was soft and melodic.  I don’t always follow the words when the tune speaks deeply to me, but this time I sang along and let the words speak to me, too.  The music we used that morning did not indicate the source of the hymn.  I knew I wanted to write about it, but also knew I needed to give credit.  And so a little research yielded results.     The hymn is entitled, “We Are on Holy Ground.”  It is from an album published in 2009 with the title, “A Changed Heart,” by David Haas.  I did not know Haas, but a little more research unearthed some interesting information.  He was born in 1957 and writes contemporary Christian music, mostly for the Catholic liturgical communities.  He has studied both theology and music, which is revealed in the song I liked.  I have decided he is someone I hope to meet some day!  ...

Occasionally ideas simply pop into my head.  They come as gifts of the universe or God or some Giver of gifts.  When I write this, I have to laugh.  I laugh because it is true for me.  At the same time, I realize how the truth of this could tempt me to want to manipulate it.  I am tempted to think, why not have money pop into my hands instead of ideas popping into my mind!  I could immediately spend the money.  Ideas come, but they seldom have any value until I work with them, fashion them and put them into a larger whole. This is what I am doing with this inspirational piece.  The phrase, “power of partnerships,” came into my mind.  It would have been the easiest thing in the world to ignore it.  On the surface, the phrase sounds true enough, but there is nothing special about it.  There is nothing that inherently attracted me to the phrase.  But I have learned to receive this kind of gift---even if I do not know what it mig...

It is hard for me to imagine anyone seeing the three words that form the title of this reflection---peaceful, happy and strong---not wanting a share in all three.  Can you believe anyone would say, “Nah, I prefer war to peace.  I prefer conflict to peace!”  Can you imagine anyone saying, “I much rather prefer sadness and despair to happiness!”  And it is just as difficult to hear someone saying, “Heck, I’d much rather be weak and hurting than be strong.”  Anyone in his or her right mind wants to be peaceful, happy and strong.     The real question is not whether I prefer these attributes, but how do I get them?  Is there anything I or we can do to make them come true?  Or do we simply have to wait, sit back and hope to become peaceful, happy and strong?  The good news is, there are some things we can do to bring peace, happiness and strength to ourselves and to others.     I encountered these ideas recently when I...

Yesterday I focused on an article written by Catholic Sister Christine Schenk.  Her title mentioned the Brazilian Liberation Theologian Leonardo Boff, whom I had read some three decades ago.  Boff was influenced by the charismatic movement that played a significant role in the Brazilian Church---Catholic and Protestant alike.  Schenk sees how Boff’s position challenges the clerical, hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church.  Because Quakers have a very different kind of organizational structure than Catholics, I don’t want to enter the fray of Catholic ways of understanding the historical, visible church.    I am intrigued by some of Schenk’s points and how those points help me think about community, which has been an important theme of my understanding of how humans gather in groups to worship God and try to live out together and individually.  Part of my foundational assumptions about humans and God is the relationship is not just one-on-one....

I have known for a long time that one of the key spiritual issues for me is community.  This was likely part of the formative process of growing up in rural Indiana where the word, community, was not used very much, but the reality of it was all around me.  I did not have the language of community in those early days, but I was learning how important it was for me.  Part of my formative process was to learn to value and appreciate community.  I still do to this day.     My need for and love of community was true through my college and graduate school days.  And it has always been an issue throughout my working life.  A significant factor in community for me has been the various Quaker congregations that allowed me to call home.  They have been a variety of Quaker groups---some with pastors, some more traditional theologically and some more liberal.  But through it all, the gathering of people who cared, served and struggled together...

Sometimes it seems those of us who strive to live some kind of spiritual life, try too hard.  Saying such does not mean I believe the spiritual journey is so demanding that we need to see it as a herculean effort that only strong folks can manage to do.  Actually, I think the journey may be fairly simple.  Theology can become quite complex, but the spiritual walk itself is relatively simple.  I think that is probably true in all the major religious traditions.  I am convinced it is for Christianity.  I suspect it is also true for my Jewish friends, my Buddhist colleagues, etc.     There are some basic components to the journey.  Faith is surely a beginning point.  Somehow we need enough trust to begin the walk.  There has to be some commitment to develop along the way or we would not continue.  Commitment is formed through a process of discipline.  Surely any journey that lasts for some time is going to require a mo...

When I began teaching about contemplative spirituality, I was fortunate to find a book that has become key to the success of that venture.  The book, Essential Spirituality , by Roger Walsh helped me think about how I wanted to structure the class and, then, it offered a wealth of practice exercises to help students and me alike learn how to start to live contemplatively.  In that sense it is a very practical book.  Students routinely have told me that was one book they planned to keep.  Most of the time students unload books soon after a semester concludes!     I did not know about Walsh.  It turns out, he has an intriguing background.  He is Australian by birth and education, but now teaches at the University of California at Irvine.  He has a medical degree and a Ph.D.  Currently he is Professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy and Anthropology at Irvine.  I owe him a debt of gratitude for this helpful book.     The ...

When I find a phrase or sentence in a book that arrests my attention, I feel like I just found a diamond.  Of course, it is not materially valuable, but a great phrase or sentence adds value to my life and the way I understand life.  In fact, I wish I had started collecting these “diamonds” early in my life---maybe from college to today.  I wonder how many of these I would have in my treasury?     I am sure if I were to cull the various things I have written, I would have a minimal list of these phrases and sentences.  They would fill many pages in a notebook and would be a wonderful reservoir of inspiring thoughts.  Even though I don’t have that notebook, I still go in search of the phrase or sentence that stops me in my tracks and lets me exclaim, “Yes!”     I found one of these sentences recently when I was re-reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s little book, Going Home.  I have read this book more than once.  I have used it i...

What is life all about?  That is the central question Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in the sixteenth century, wanted to address, according to Jesuit scholar David Fleming.  Fleming offers his own sense of what Ignatian spirituality brings to the table.  Fleming says, “Here is Ignatius’s answer: a vision of God for our hearts, not our minds.” (17)  Fleming tells us the answer to what life is all about is a vision.  It reminds me of the biblical passage, which tells us without vision a people perish.  That always seemed true to me.  And so it is I can agree with the sixteenth century Spanish saint.  Visions lead to life.     Visions typically are future tense.  While we might talk about visions we had in the past, they are just that.  They are relics of the past.  We may have accomplished that vision.  We may have fallen short.  It guided action for a while---maybe a long while.  A vision bor...

Once a year a special day rolls around for everyone.   Once a year folks can celebrate their birthday.   The only exception is those people who were born during Leap Year.   But even they get their day once every four years.   Some people can’t wait for their birthdays.   Usually kids fall into this category.   Others proclaim every year that it comes, “I can’t believe I am as old as I am.”   I have heard people in their 20s say this and, of course, older people readily claim it.   We are all born on a particular day.   Even if mom’s labor begins late at night and it actually takes two days to deliver you into this world, you only get one day to call your birthday.   Even if you popped out exactly as the midnight clock was striking, someone besides you would decide which day you were born.   And once we get our day, it never changes.   Some birthdays are fun---real celebrations.   Other birthdays have a sad tone. ...

Some books I have read and re-read.  Sometimes I will know the first time I am reading a book that I will come back to it.  Sometimes this happens because I use a book for a class.  The class goes well and I know part of the reason is the book was effective.  Either students really liked the book or it was a useful tool to do what I wanted to do in that particular class.  One such book for me is Kathleen Norris’ work, The Cloister Walk .  Originally published in 1996, the book seems as fresh with each new read as it did when I first worked my way through it.     While you can derive overall themes from the book, it reads much more like a journal, which in effect it is.  Norris spent several months on two different occasions at a Benedictine monastery in Minnesota.  Her book lifts up meditative reflections on her time and experience there.  Of course, Norris is not a nun.  She is not even Catholic, but what she learns from ...

I am not quite sure what caught my eye as I was trolling though my Twittter account.  Perhaps it was the title: “Growing People: A Vital Imperative for Organizations.  I did not know the author, Julia Daley.  Her short bio describes her as a leadership coach and mentor.  She is an educator and speaker.  I smiled because that could be my bio, too.  It is fairly general, but I decided to read the article and am glad I did.      I am interested in growing in my own way.  I want to grow spiritually, intellectually and emotionally.  And I have spent a great deal of my adult life helping other folks grow.  Sometimes it has been students and sometimes it has been members of a congregation I was serving.  I think I know quite a bit about what this means, so I was intrigued what the article might tell me that I didn’t already know.  I was pleasantly surprised.      The first paragraph posed an importan...

Whenever we have a rain, I check the sky for any sign of a rainbow.  Most of the time, I am disappointed.  I have never done any research to learn when are rainbows more likely.  I am sure there are predicting factors, but I don’t know what they are.  Obviously, rainbows are more likely in the summer.  When it is cold or even snowy, I don’t bother to look for rainbows.  I can guess rainbows are more likely when it has been hot and humid.      The most recent one I saw appeared very clearly in the eastern sky.  I am sure I have seen them in all directions, but this recent one appeared after a pop up heavy rain.  That meant the sun soon appeared in the western sky and illuminated the rain drops still falling to the east.  The rainbow was brilliant---radiant in its colors.  Every time I see a rainbow, I want to stop and appreciate the sight.  Since it is a natural phenomenon, I can’t say it is magical, but it seems ...

I have been reading some material about St Ignatius of Loyola for an upcoming presentation.  Ignatius was a sixteenth century Spaniard who was the founder of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits.  I have had a general acquaintance with Ignatius for quite a while, but never spent too much time in details.      I learned to appreciate the Jesuits during my graduate school days.  A Jesuit seminary shared a campus with an Episcopal seminary very near my own seminary.  I learned that was one of the benefits of attending graduate school where there was a cluster of first-rate theological schools.  They all greatly benefited my own ecumenical development.  When you come from such a provincial background as I did, you need exposure and engagement with those who are different than you.  The Boston area did that for me.     Ignatius was born in northern Spain in 1491.  During his young adult years, he fought i...