Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Teaching for a long time has many blessings, but one I really appreciate is a chance to re-read a book that has been significant.  Of course, there are many books that have made a difference in my life.  I have often wondered how I would answer the question that is posed: if I were stranded on an island and could have only one book, what would I choose?   I am sure I would surprise and disappoint some people when I confess I know that book would not be the Bible.  That does not mean the Bible is not important to me or that I have it memorized and don’t really need it.  I know the Bible has formed me in crucial ways.  As a Christian and Quaker, much of what I think is rooted in the Bible.  But it would not be my choice. There are a few books by Quakers I might choose.  I would seriously consider the one by Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion .  That is a simple, inspiring book that would serve me well on the deserted island.  I really like some of Gerald May’s books and would be h

I read quite a bit.  Sometimes my reading is very intentional, such as reading things for class the next day.  I expect it of students; so why not expect it of myself?  Other times I read things for no particular reason other than I am curious and am intrigued whether I might learn something.  It is like talking with someone---maybe even a stranger---with no real intention in mind except to be in conversation.     I have a few things I regularly read.  Many of us have newsletters or magazines from the colleges and universities we attended.  When one of mine arrives, I often turn to the class notes section to see if anyone I know is mentioned.  I am old enough to check out the obituaries!  There are other professional journals I read with regularity.  I think it is important for me to keep up with the latest issues in the field of study I chose.  I am not reading for some utilitarian purpose---looking for something I am sure I will use.  Sometimes I simply want to know for the sake of k

When I stay at my daughter’s house, I am aware there is a rather large map on the wall by my bed.  I like sleeping right next to the entire world!  Obviously, I am old enough to have looked at maps a thousand times.  I have traveled enough to know where most major countries and places in the world can be found.  I know if you look at a map and locate China or Australia, you realize why it takes so many hours in a plane to get to those places.  Maps give us a sense of place. I have liked maps since I was a kid.  Of course, I grew up in the pre-internet days, so maps were much more prevalent.  Nearly everyone I knew had a map or two in their cars.  I grew up in Indiana.  I knew all the big and little towns in the vicinity.  I was so provincial, I thought Indiana was a rather large place.  I guess it beats Rhode Island, but it is one of the smaller states.  And yet, there were so many places I could never locate until I checked the map.  Maps seemed necessary to know where you were at i

I was prompted by a recent article talking about the church to reflect on my understanding of what the church is and how does the church work in our contemporary world.  The article was specifically about the Roman Catholic Church.  Since there are over one billion Catholics in the world, this is a worthwhile thing to think about.  Quakers are so tiny---especially in the USA---we could almost be a decent size Catholic diocese!     I already know a few things that are referenced in the article.  I have read quite a bit of Christian history, so I know the fancy word for church is ecclesiology.  That is a compound Greek word made up of a noun and a preposition.  The noun (which is rooted in a verb) is the word, klesia, which means the “ones called.”  This is the word used in the New Testament to talk about the encounter Jesus had with various men and women.  For example, he approached a couple guys who were fishing and he invited them to “Follow me.”  This is a “calling” of the men to be

David Brooks, New York Times writer, continues to write thoughtfully and in ways that challenge me to take what I know and find new ways to apply it.  Recently he wrote about trauma.  You would not think an article entitled, “Fighting the Spiritual Void,” would be dealing with the phenomenon of trauma.  But the key is to see trauma, in part, as a spiritual issue.  Most of us are educated to think trauma is a physical and psychological problem.  We think about soldiers traumatized by war and victims abused by others.  Sometimes we use the word rather loosely when we talk about being “traumatized” by someone or something.     So reading Brooks’ article helped me see it in a new way and to appreciate how much I have to bring to the table.  He begins his thoughts in a way that resonates with many of us.  “Wherever I go I seem to meet people who are either dealing with trauma or helping others dealing with trauma.”  There does seem to be a lot of trauma these days.  Like so many other thing

As Americans, we enter the Thanksgiving season. Already people are wishing me a “happy Thanksgiving.” I am delighted with that greeting. And I would be delighted if someone next week wishes me a “happy Monday.” But I guess Mondays are supposed to be normal…not so happy, not so awful. I am not sure I do major holidays very well. I am not against them. They celebrate important events in national, religious, and often personal lives. Thanksgiving is an American deal. In Turkey it is just another weekday! As an American, I welcome it. And I hope it is happy. I am confident one of the reasons I am not sure about major holidays is the trickiness of expectations. For example, Thanksgiving is supposed to be “happy.” Christmas is supposed to be “merry” and, of course, we return to the “happy” theme for New Years. Clearly, for too many people there are too many lousy things going on to gear up to be “happy” and “merry.” Holiday expectations are tricky things. The truth is Thanksgiving lasts one

If someone knows me and knows that I am a Quaker, it might be assumed this is about me.  But it is not.  It actually is part of a headline in a book review I saw in a denominational magazine.  The title of that article in full is “Quaker teacher looks at the end of life.”  It is a review of my friend, Parker Palmer’s, most recent book, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old .  I have known Palmer for some decades now and everything he writes is worth taking seriously.  This will be a good read.     I was also interested in how the reviewer, Dana Greene, would look at Parker’s work and how she would evaluate his work.  Let’s look at how she presents the material and offers her appreciation.  I appreciated the epigraph of the short book review.  It is a quotation from the Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard.  He says, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”  And so this book by Palmer does just what Kierkegaard suggests.  Palmer looks

When I was a kid on the Indiana farm, occasionally I would run into something that I had forgotten about and it was like discovering the thing anew!  It was as if something that had been lost was found.  Sometimes, I laughed because I realized I had not missed the thing until I found it again.  And then I could not imagine not having it.  One of my favorite places of discovery was a corner of our barn where most of the stuff was the stuff my grandpa put there.      I have fond memories of days spent on that farm in the tow of my grandfather.  That was especially true when I was young---too young for the heavy work of the farm.  It never occurred to me not to be outside with him and my dad.  But I also did not wonder why they were lifting the eighty pounds bales of hay.  I was watching and that seemed appropriate.     No doubt, it was because my grandpa was beyond his prime in physical strength and I had not arrived to my prime that we were bound together at the margins of the acti

Some things in life are so simple, it is easy to overlook their importance.  Most of these simple things nearly everyone knows, but not everyone does them.  I am sure that is why when someone does a simple thing, it can seem so profound.  They are usually free of cost and make a situation better and, often, more pleasant.  Recently, I experienced one of these simple things.  In this case I happened to be on the doing end of the action.     I call this simple thing offering a listening ear.  Obviously, that is not a profound description.  Nearly everyone can hear.  Most of us don’t think this is special.  Unaware we pronounce hearing cannot be special if everyone does it.  At one level, this is true.  Except for the person who is deaf, hearing is no big deal.  We hear all sorts of things every day of our lives.  In fact, hearing is so present in life, we give it no thought.     However, spiritual sages through the ages know there is a difference between hearing and listening.  Liste

It is such a simple phrase: thank you.  Two small words can say so much.  In many cases they are a gift in return for a gift.  As I began to think about this simple phrase, thank you, I realized again how important it is.  Furthermore, I realize it is also a potential sacred experience.  That was more than I ever imagined.     I have been saying thank you for decades.  As I remember my youth, my parents and, especially my dad, were really insistent that I learn to say thank you.  I am not sure what was behind his burn for me to learn and practice this habit.  I wish I had asked him that question.  For some reason it was very important to him.  So I dutifully learned to say it.  I internalized the act of saying thanks and it became a habit.  In my mind I am pretty good at it.     I would like to look at the phrase and the action from a couple perspectives.  The first perspective knows that saying thank you is a social grace.  I know my dad would say that is how we respond to people

I pay much more attention to the theme of culture than I used to.  This signifies that I recognize how important culture is.  Of course, culture has always been important, but I did not recognize how important it is.  Culture is important for high performing teams.  And clearly, the reverse is also true.  Culture is important for low performing teams.     Culture is not inherently a spiritual issue.  But it can and does become involved in the spiritual dimension when that dimension is present.  There is a huge amount of scholarship about culture.  It is a concern in various departments on a college campus---sociology, business, history and so on.  But I am not interested in the scholarly, formal definitions of culture.  I prefer to use a simple definition.     Culture is how people think, feel, and act alone and when they are together.  Groups of all kinds have culture; it is impossible not to have a culture.  Teams, churches, businesses, sororities, etc. all have some kind of cult

I remind myself it is important to have some fun.  Too often religion and spirituality are too serious.  Everything is a matter of life and death.  I think this is especially true for those who are too doctrinally driven.  Those folks worry too much about what other folks believe and don’t believe.  They are too quick to make judgments and often are found to be judgmental---although they never think they are. And so in a spirit of fun, I ran across a wonderful little essay entitled, “A Pope Francis gargoyle now watches over Cologne cathedral.”  I have been to the cathedral in Cologne many times.  I lived a year in Germany and we were only a couple hours from that wonderful German city on the Rhine River.  In fact, I loved taking the train to Cologne.  As you near the heart of the city center, you can see the Gothic cathedral dominating the landscape.  Gothic cathedrals are always impressive to me.  Their towering spires literally inspire me.  They evoke a sense of transcendence---a s

I appreciate how stories are good teachers---sometimes, the best teachers.  Stories usually are understandable and when they make a point, it is clear and memorable.  I thought about this as I was recently reading a piece by Richard Rohr, one of my favorite writers on spirituality.  Rohr’s story comes from a time when he was spending a little time at the Abbey of Gethsemani, the Trapppist monastery where Thomas Merton lived.     Rohr talks about his encounter with a recluse.  As Rohr explains, a recluse is a “hermit’s hermit.”  A recluse is a monk who has been given permission to move outside the monastery itself.  Often in this stage the monk is called a hermit.  Toward the end of his life, Merton was given permission to become a hermit.     Merton built a small hermitage about a mile from the monastery at Gethsemani.  I have visited the hermitage and easily can imagine living there.  It is more than ample space for one person.  It was this hermitage which Rohr was visiting.  The

I read a recent speech by Pope Francis with which I agreed.  It focused on an important issue, not only for folks identified as Christians, as well as other major religious traditions, but for all humans.  While the speech was primarily aimed at clergy and other religious leaders, I think it applies much more broadly.  It certainly has broader application within my own Quaker tradition than merely the folks in leadership roles.     The article opened with this sentence.  “For every Christian, but especially for those called to ministry, God's gift of life is a call to serve others, Pope Francis said at a memorial Mass for bishops and cardinals who have died in the past year.”  I like the fact that the Pope recognizes this is actually for all Christians---recognizing I would broaden it even further.  The real focus of the papal thinking is “God’s gift of life.”  Everyone one of us right now can be aware of and thankful for that gift.  It is challenging and reassuring to think about

In some recent reading I ran across a reference and quotation from one of my teachers in graduate school.  Just seeing his name made me smile.  Raimon Panikkar was an intriguing guy for an Indiana farm boy to encounter.  His class was an amazing experience, but he may have taught me even more by being himself.  Panikkar was born in 1918 in Barcelona, Spain.  His father was from India and was Hindu.  Panikkar’s mother was a Spanish Catholic from Catalonia.  Obviously, he was quickly into the interfaith movement!  And this he began teaching me, even when I did not have that language. He looked like his Indian father.  He was a small man with a graceful presence that calmed every room I saw him walk into.  He had a charming smile that would have disarmed any malcontent.  But it was his brilliance that I found arresting.  That is not to say he was strong and arrogant.  To the contrary, he was entirely humble and simple.  He had doctorate degrees in science and theology.  He was an ordain

It has been a while since I used the thinking of David Brooks, New York Times editorial writer, to focus some thoughts on spiritual development.  I continue to read Brooks because he is so well and so thoughtful.  Even if I were to disagree with him, I have to contend with a first-rate mind who has profoundly thought about an issue and carved out his own position.  And so it was, I was attracted to a recent opinion of his which appeared under the title, “Two Cheers for Feminism.”      It would be easy for people---particularly males---to dismiss this article because of the title.  But I have a wife, two girls and two granddaughters, plus a significant array of female colleagues and friends.  I cannot dismiss this kind of thinking because of a title.  So I dove into Brooks’ thinking.  And I was rewarded.  He begins by allowing that he disagrees a great deal with what he calls “academic feminism.”  We don’t need to get into that.  I am more interested in where he is really going.      Hi

I recently read an interesting article in one of my alum magazines that fascinated me.  The title of the article was enticing: “The Bits the Bible Left Out.”  Karen King, one of the world’s leading early Christianity scholars writes in a way that challenges and endears.  She has sometimes been controversial and this, no doubt, will continue that reputation.  I am not much interested in the “is she wrong or right” debate.  I wanted to read it to see what I might glean for my teaching and life.  I was rewarded.     King is fascinated by the difference between orthodoxy and heresy---right and wrong belief.  We all know these kinds of issues can generate heat, anger and sometimes even violence.  In Christian history heretics were condemned and too often killed.  The Church frequently has been the perpetrator of these actions.  I wish I could say those days are over; they are not.  Sometimes I wonder if indifference might actually end these kinds of debates?  But that day is a long way off.

I have been dealing with spiritual disciplines for a long time now.  In theory anyone who begins to live the spiritual life takes on some disciplines to grow in that life.  The spiritual life is like human life.  We begin as babies and grow into our potential.  As humans this is inevitable.  Once we are born, we need food to grow.  But if we are fed, our bodies begin to develop.  Babies inevitably learn to crawl and walk.  So it is with the spiritual life. As nearly as I can recall, I engaged some spiritual disciplines at a certain point in high school.  Although I meant well, I don’t think I was ready.  Doubtlessly, my commitment was weak.  I think I was more committed to girls and basketball!  My priorities were clear and spirituality was not at the top.  I don’t feel badly about that; I was young and full of life. At some point, life changes for all of us.  I got married and others were much better at basketball than I was.  I could play for fun, but certainly no one was going t

The title for today’s inspiration is a modification of an interesting article I have read.   I cannot honestly say I understand it all.   The title is “Untangling the Brain: From Neuron to Mind.”   The first line of the article gives you the context.   “Modern neuroscience rests on the assumption that our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors emerge from electrical and chemical communication between brain cells…”   This is really comprehensive.   Thoughts, feelings, behaviors are all caused by the electrical and chemical firing between my cells.             So, when I say, “I love you,” BANG, a bunch of cells electrically and chemically zealously fire, causing this feeling, which became a thought and is uttered with those three words.   What I mean to say, I should add, is “that my cells were set afire electrically chemically causing me to realize how deeply I am connected to you”             And yet when I use these thoughts from the article, I realize they just a