Faith & Life Inspirational Message

                 Regular readers know that I appreciate the writings of columnist David Brooks.   He is an insightful thinker who shares ideas and conclusions, which make me think about my own ideas and conclusions.   Near the Christmas season Brooks wrote a trenchant piece on faith.   That piqued my attention for two reasons: I consider myself a person of faith and I teach religion, which often deals with faith issues.   So I eagerly jumped into his article.             The title of Brooks’ offering was intriguing: “The Subtle Sensations of Faith.”   I think I got the direction of his essay when I read the following sentence in the initial paragraph.   “ You’d think faith would be a simple holding of belief, or a confidence in things unseen, but, in real life, faith is unpredictable and ever-changing.”   I am sure he is correct that many folks assume faith means what they believe.   In fact, if you ask Christians about faith, they usually will begin a catalogue of

                 To young ears, the St. Louis Jesuits might sound like some boring theological group---a conference perhaps.   But with old ears like mine, just perhaps you recall a group of guys who sang contemporary music that was used in church services, but also gain momentum in many non-church venues.   They were one of the favorite groups of mine because of the lyrics they wrote and the melodic way they sang this kind of music.   Many of us in the 60s and 70s would have called it folk music.   I have not thought about the St. Louis Jesuits for a long time.             And then I hit upon an article that headlined this group recently heading for their last concert after forty-five years.   I began reading the article by Jeannette Cooperman with relish.   The article opened with an interesting story.   Bob Dufford, priest, was awakened from a sound sleep to learn that on the morning of Bill Clinton’s first presidential inauguration, the groups’ song, “Be Not Afr

                 I loved going into the classroom to teach younger students some of what I know.   Unlike Chemistry or some of the other sciences, what I know is not the same thing as a fact in science.   Of course, there are facts in the study of religion, but those may not be the facts that people assume.   For example, I do not think God is a fact in the world and my life.   God is faith statement rather than a fact statement.   By that I mean, I know God by virtue of faith in an Entity or Being that is beyond me or any other particular individual.   Faith is more like trust than it is a fact.               That does not mean God is any less real for me.   But I cannot prove to someone that God exists or that God loves me and others.   That is my experience, but I recognize I can be mistaken.   This means I could not teach students the facts about God and expect them to sign on the divine bottom line.   Some may believe much like I do.   Others don’t believe it a

                 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 P

                 I might be a sucker for survey results and those kinds of overview of complex issues.   A recent report I have read offered the intriguing title, “How We Gather Digitally.”   The study by sociologists Robert Putnam and David Campbell looks at millennials, generally those younger folks up to their forties now.   I am aware of a number of studies that matches what all of us know: younger folks are not as interested in religions and churches as earlier generations.   Scholars and analysts have given a variety of answers why this is the case.   And so, I looked forward to what these two authors were going to say.             Figures vary from study to study, but generally two-thirds of Americans don’t actively participate in organized religious life.   On the other hand, a huge proportion of these disaffiliated folks still believe in God and have, what might called, still some religious view of the world and life.   This becomes a key focus of inquiry.

                 Recently I was writing a blog with a couple of my friends.   The blog had more to do with business than spirituality.   I am always amused by how much work I do within a business context, but then remember that business is nothing more than people.   In fact, I am in the “people business,” so any context is a possibility for my involvement.   The basic point of our work was not to be stupid.   That seems simple enough!             I was editing some of what my co-author had written.   Suddenly, I knew the perfect saying to edit into the text.   But in the moment, I could not cite the phrase.   I stopped by the college to ask a secretary, but she could not come up with the phrase.   She is quite a bit younger than I am, which made me wonder whether younger generations use the phrase?   We all know languages evolve, which means some terms and phrases drop out of daily usage and new things creep into daily language.               For some reason, the

                 It is fun to have a new book and open it to begin to read.   Even if I have some idea what might be in a book, I can never be sure until I begin to chase words across the page.   Regardless how fast anyone can read, no one can read a whole book at once.   It needs to be done page by page.   You can read it fast, but you cannot read it all simultaneously.          It is also fun to reread some old books.   It is one I have wanted to reread for some time.   And it is one I have used for classes read for classes.   I know the author as a personal friend.   That is usually a nice thing, but also potentially a misleading thing.   If I know the person, I am a sitting duck to be duped.   Too easily, I assume I know “exactly what he will say.”   That usually makes me read the text too carelessly.   I “read into” the words and sentences what I “think he would be saying” instead of what the guy really said.          So I sit, I open the book, and I read.  

                 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.  

                 There are a few people I very much like to read whatever they write.   And I would go some considerable distance to hear them speak.   One such person is David Brooks.   His columns appear in many newspapers around the country.   I have never heard him speak, but I have a friend who has heard him and was duly impressed.   Brooks strikes me as one who has a insightful mind, a keen spirit and one who still has a vision for our country and, indeed, for humanity as a whole.             Recently, I read one of his columns.   The focus was when to follow convention, that is, when should we go along with tradition or do whatever all the other folks are doing.   Alternatively, when should we consider going it alone?   When do we say no to the conventional and strike out on our own?   As usual, I was captivated by the analysis Brooks offered on this matter.   Let me pick out some of the key points, since I think they easily relate to our spiritual journeys.

            One of the stereotype differences between women and men concerns what they do if they are lost.   The stereotype says that women will ask for directions.   If she is lost, it stands to reason, she thinks, that you would simply ask.   Get directions and, then, be on your merry way.      Not so, think the men.   “I am lost, but I will find my way.”   Somehow simply asking does not occur to men.   And if it did occur to them, they would summarily dismiss the idea as pure folly.   “Why ask,” they say.   “I know I will find my way in just a moment.   I am sure if I turn here, I’ll know exactly where I am and then I will be merrily on my way.”   It is as if asking is genetically beneath the masculine dignity!          I don’t know whether this stereotyping is true.   No doubt, there are exceptions even if it seems generally true.   It does resonate with my experience enough to make me slightly edgy.   On the surface it hints at the stupidity of men…if not wo