Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Traditionally, Quakers and Protestants have not talked about formation.  I learned that this language is used to describe the process of training Catholic priests and religious---like monks and nuns.  A couple assumptions are behind the idea of soul formation.  In the first place, it is assumed that humans have a soul.  Or, as I like to put it, humans are souls.  Secondly, it is assumed souls can be formed.  I like the image of formation.  It is easy to think of a potter who throws some clay on the wheel and with deft hands begins to form some object---like a cup or pot.  The analogy works well when I think about souls being formed.     As Quakers and non-Catholics became more versed in spirituality, clearly some of the language from Catholicism crept into our language.  I know in my own case, much of my graduate education came within a liturgical context, i.e. a course taken at a Jesuit institution, or at least my classroom had a significant number of Catholic students.  And quite a f

David Brooks, New York Times writer, has recently penned an essay on loyalty that I find very instructive.  I would like to share some of his thoughts and make some comments along the way.  Brooks’ title initially captured my attention: “Your Loyalties Are Your Life.”  In the essay Brooks reflects on two nineteenth century philosophers.  The better known of the two is William James.  James was a high-class Bostonian who had all the wherewithal to be an impressive public figure.  The other philosopher, Josiah Royce, clearly is much less known.  I have read a little of Royce’s works, but claim to be not too well-informed.     Brooks’ characterization of Royce, the first major philosopher to come from the west, is an interesting one.  Brooks tells us, “He grew up in squalor, was stocky, lonely and probably knew more about despair and the brooding shadows that can come in life.”  I like his further picture of Royce.  Brooks calls him “tender-hearted” and “spiritual.”  Of course this got m

The English alphabet contains 26 letters.  Virtually all English words are made up of some combination of these letters. Most of the time when we are speaking or, even, reading, we give no thought to this.  But if we slow down to think about it, human language---English or any other language---is fascinating.  It is amazing to think that we now operate with a set number of letters.  And that a vast array of words is made of various combinations of letters. At least one English word comes from a single letter. When I self-identify, I use a single letter, “I,” and we all know I mean “me.”  In Greek it takes three letters, “ego,” and in German it takes three, “ich.”  At the other end, we know there are some English words that require many letters.  There was one long word most of us kids learned that I think may have been 28 letters, but I never bothered to check! I have been thinking about three letter words.  I have no idea how many three- letter words there are in the English langu

I come from the generation of Americans who never thought much about the phenomenon of midwifery.  I am not even sure when I first learned of the term or knew exactly what it meant.  In its original meaning, it probably designated those folks who were willing and able to assist women in the birth of a child.  No doubt, virtually all of the midwifes were women.  They were a kind of sage---a woman wise because of her knowledge and experience.  It does not mean that men couldn’t have been a midwife, but it would be rare.  Today, of course, that is changing.      I learned much of what I know from my two daughters.  They used midwives in their labor, delivery and time after the new baby arrived.  Midwives don’t necessarily replace the physician, but they are assistants in the process.  In most cases, the midwife knows enough to help the birthing mother manage the birth.  The doctor is there in an emergency.  Today’s midwife typically has gone through some extensive training.  But there is

People like to blame the media for sensationalizing the problems, especially the violence, of our times.  There may be some truth to that, but I think that can be overdone.  There is a sneaky assumption that sometimes goes with this sensationalism.  The assumption---false in my mind---is that publicizing the violence in the way media does it only incites more of the same.  Sometimes this is called copycat violence.  It is easy to think of the high school mayhem that was the Columbine story in Colorado.  If we publicize in a sensational fashion, then other copycats will do the same.  And so the logic goes with other arenas of violence. Certainly violence is not new to our age.  I grant that we may know more about the ravages of violence than ever in history.  Our media is so technologically sophisticated that we know more and we know more quickly things that happen in our back yard and in the back yards of places half way around the world.  That we know more is uncontested.  The inter

I am fascinated by titles.  Book titles and titles for articles play a significant role.  They are revelations of what the reader might find if they were to read the book or article.  Sometimes I find titles are quite accurate.  They deliver what they promised.  Other times, I feel like titles are misleading.  They could be a kind of marketing---luring the reader to buy the book, but inside the book I find disappointing material.  Coming up with titles for my own books and articles is not easy.  Perhaps that is why I appreciate titles so much.     Recently, I saw a title that linked the eco crisis to an ego crisis.  I thought that was brilliant!  Immediately, I was drawn to read the text.  I assumed, correctly, that the phrase, eco crisis, referred to what more normally is discussed as the global warming problem.  I know there have been many debates about the reality of the climate challenge ahead of us this century.  I admit that I am persuaded by the scientists who point to the evi

Every year our nation celebrates the memory and the hopes of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I think this is a good thing, although I know in some parts of our country, it is not a favored thing to do.  King was controversial in his lifetime and continues to be in some ways in the remembering of his life.  I am so old, I actually recall the April day in 1968 when King was shot in Memphis.  It was a sad day and raised fears that a different kind of civil war could break out.  While King’s amazing work stands for itself, it is also clear his vision is unfilled and there is work yet to be done.     To inspire us to commit to that vision and continue his work, I would share some thoughts and advice from the late civil rights leader.  Much of his thoughts and work focused on love.  This should not surprise us since he was a follower of Jesus, who instructed all his followers to love God and neighbor.  In fact, this is a nice summary of all Jesus taught.  The gospel is love embodied.  The highest c

Yesterday we celebrated the anniversary of the life and witness of Martin Luther King in Memphis, TN.  People my age can remember hearing about his death and cringing.  We knew that would probably take the civil, racial unrest to a new level.  In my own case as a Quaker pacifist, I respected and wanted to emulate the non-violence that characterized King’s approach.  His life and ministry were grounded in his Christian faith.  It was easy to be aware of the others at that time who were calling for violent, forceful engagement of the issues.      I never met MLK.  I did know some people---a couple of Quakers---who knew him.  I knew people who went to parts of the South to march for justice.  For many the civil rights movement was linked to the peace movement trying to end the strife in Vietnam.  It was a complex time, but the issues of justice were very clear.  To do nothing was to be aligned with the wrong side was how most of us thought.  I wanted to be on the side of justice and pea

I just read a fun and, sometimes to me, funny article.  I am sure it was not meant to be funny.  I call it funny in an appreciative sense, rather than a destructive joking sense.  The article was entitled, “Crystal Cathedral, home to the ‘Hour of Power,’ transforms into Catholic seat.”  Heather Adams writes the article, but I do not know her.  I can imagine many folks---especially my younger friends have no idea what the Crystal Cathedral is---or was.  I will use that church as a story of transformation, which is for me quite interesting and suggestive of all sorts of possibilities.     For anyone who is older, the Crystal Cathedral was well-known.  This would be particularly true for non-Catholics.  In many ways the Crystal Cathedral epitomized robust mid-twentieth century Christianity---especially evangelical Christianity.  And if you knew the Crystal Cathedral, you surely knew the name of the pastor of the Cathedral, Robert Schuller.  Schuller was born in Iowa in 1926.  His family w

There are sophisticated ways of putting it, but in simpler terms we are formed and influenced by those with whom we hang out.  Our friends form us into who we are.  I suspect that most people use the term, friendship, too loosely these days.  Some claim to have more than five hundred Facebook friends!  That’s ok; I don’t want to engage that issue. What I do want to suggest, however, is not all my friends---and perhaps, your friends, too---are living.  I have quite a few friends who are only friends to me because of their books that I read and cherish.  Some of these friends are very old.  Actually, some of them pre-date Jesus himself!  But they influence me and have formed me into the person I am today. That does not discount the formation I experienced at the hands of my parents and grandparents.  It does not belittle the incredible formation of early grade school teachers and professors in my graduate program.  I will always be grateful for the many friends I had along the way---

I have been re-reading a book which I like and use for a particular class.  Every time I re-read something, I realize how our situation in life affects the reading of the text.  We may know more the second time we read a book than we did the first time we read it.  Life may have dealt us some issues which we did not have when we read a book for the first time.  I might simply have different interests the second time around.  And it could be as simple as I was more awake when I read a particular page or even a whole chapter.      To this point, while reading again Richard Rohr’s book, Everything Belongs , I hit a couple sentences that I honestly don’t even remember seeing.  This time I not only saw the sentences; I was arrested by the content and wanted to reflect on them.  The context for these couple of sentences is Rohr’s ruminations about what he calls “dualistic thinking.”  This is a big issue for Rohr, but certainly not unique to him.     By dualistic thinking, Rohr means the kind

Yesterday I helped plan and celebrate a memorial service for a friend who died.  I did not know her too well, but well enough to know that her impact on people and institutions was significant.  In part this significant impact was the money she was able to give.  But money is not the whole story.  There are plenty of rich people who can give tons of money, but their legacy is nothing to celebrate.  Of course, money is necessary---even to non-profit organizations.  But money does not necessarily change lives.     I am old enough to know a thing or two about legacy.  I am not too sure younger folks have a sense for legacy---nor should they.  If they ask me about legacy, I usually respond fairly simply by saying legacy is what you leave behind.  This does not mean you have to be dead to leave a legacy.  But you do have to be done to have the legacy.  Obviously, people who die have their legacy.  It might be significant or insignificant.  Insignificant legacies do not make any impact, nor

If you were to ask students about me, I am confident one thing they would tell you is I like words.  And they would be correct.  I have been fascinated by words---probably since I began speaking.  Even though I have learned a few languages, I have never studied in an academic philosophical way the nature of language.  Maybe some day I will do that.  In the meantime, I continue my fascination with words and, by extension, with phrases and sentences.      Of course, part of the early fascination with words was the discovery that there were different languages.  Although I was pretty provincial, early on I was aware there were some people who spoke “a strange language.”  There was a stream of annual migrant workers who came through my part of Indiana in the middle of the summer.  They would pick tomatoes before moving on north to Michigan for the fruit season.  Sadly, I was isolated from these folks, but I was exposed enough to know they normally did not speak English.  And if they did,

I know I regularly read things---like newspapers, magazines, etc.---not knowing what I might find, but fully confident that I will find something both interesting and useful.  Such was the case recently when I read a review of Christian Wiman’s new book, He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, The Faith of Art , published in 2018.  I had not even heard about the book.  But I do know something about Wiman.  I have read his earlier, most challenging and rewarding book, My Bright Abbyss; Meditation of a Modern Believer , published in 2013.     Wiman currently teaches literature and religion at Yale.  In My Bright Abyss Wiman shows himself to be an incredibly insightful, but careful, thinker.  To read the book was like sitting with a painter who was going to take quite a long time to paint an exquisite picture.  This is radically contrasted with the artists I have seen at parties and county fairs who could sketch out a portrait in about thirty seconds!  To read Wiman was like being presen

Not all words are created equal.  Some words don’t do too much in a sentence.  Other words are profound and some are even magical.  For example, if you tell someone you love them, that becomes a momentous declaration that can literally change their lives.  One word---love---can transform someone and have a lasting effect for fifty or more years.  It would be hard to overestimate how much has been written over the centuries about this word.     I think of another word.  I have often been intrigued by the word “enough.”  It certainly does not have the impact or fame of the word, love.  But it is an important word.  And it has spiritual connotations, which we will soon note.  The word, enough, has a wide range of references.  It pertains to many areas of our lives.     Oddly, when folks who have enough rarely think about the word.  In almost every category I fit into that group of folks.  When you are fortunate or, even, lucky, you don’t even have to think about it.  And too often, yo

The title of this inspirational piece might be a bit off putting or even misleading.  I will try to clarify as I go forward.  The title came to me as I was reading an insightful essay on love by Heidi Russell, whom I do not know personally.  Russell is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at the University of Loyola in Chicago.  The title of her essay is revealing: “Love leads to suffering, but we take the risk to love because we must.”     Her essay begins in this compelling fashion.  "God never promised us that we would not suffer."  For most of us, this sounds like bad news.  If you were like me, I always hoped somehow God could step in and make things better when all else failed.  A God who could not---or would not---do this is some kind of rinky God.  And this is where Heidi Russell also was, theologically speaking, at the beginning of the essay.  Her opening words came when Russell joined a friend at the bedside of a 27-year old woman and mother w

This past Sunday was Epiphany.  At least, if one is aware of the way the early church celebrated it and still is the way the Eastern Church (or Orthodox Churches) still do.  In the Roman Catholic tradition Epiphany has to fall on a Sunday, so it is always the Sunday closest to the sixth of January.  But for today’s meditative purposes, let’s stay with tradition.     As so often is the case, as a Quaker lad, I had never heard the term, “epiphany.”  Those were pre-Vatican II days and little Quaker boys and little Catholic boys did not sit around discussing theology!  In Indiana it was basketball, not theology, which was the usual norm of discussion.  Again as usual, it was only in my college days when God continued to bless me with friends from the liturgical traditions, Catholics, Episcopalians, Greek Orthodox, and so on, that my theological exposure began to happen.  I became ecumenical!  I learned this new word to describe this day.     Epiphany, as I later learned in Greek, was a tra

It is only recently I came to know about a Spanish Catholic priest, Pablo d’Ors.  I saw a reference to his 2012 book, Biography of Silence , which I have used as a title for these spiritual reflections.  The subtitle of his book is revealing: An Essay on Meditation .  As I began to read the book, I smiled.  I smile because a Quaker grows up with a great deal of silence.  In some sense silence is our medium of worship.  I know that does not sound exciting---and sometimes is can seem quite boring.  But the goal of silence is not silence.  The goal of silence is connection and engagement.  We seek to connect with the Holy One and engage the God who created and still is the creative presence in our lives.      I think this is what d’Ors is seeking, too.  I like how he begins his book.  He writes, “I began to sit in silence and stillness on my own account and at my own risk, without anyone to give me any basic notions of how to do so or to accompany me in the process.” (13)  That reminds me

I admit I appreciate the various holidays throughout the year when I take a break from writing these inspirational pieces.  Since I am still teaching, my breaks are the predictable holidays that come with university teaching.  The longest of these breaks is the Christmas-New Year’s period.  Sometimes that amounts to a couple weeks.      I enjoy a few days when I am not thinking about anything in particular.  Normally speaking, I don’t feel any stress each day to come up with something about which I can write.  In fact, one of the things I like about writing these things is how it asks for me to be a little more aware during my day.  Awareness is what makes me alert to issues that arise in life which beg to be reflected on and about which to think.      It is often surprising to me to come up with some things that I am sure otherwise I would give no attention.  It might be someone’s passing comment.  It might happen innocently in a grocery store or the coffee shop.  I find where people