Faith & Life Inspirational Message

I am not sure Quakers are always prepared to talk about the sacred.   But I do think Quakers are taught fairly well to be prepared to engage the sacred.   Let me explain and elaborate the difference.   I suspect in the process of explaining and elaborating, some of you who grew up in other traditions or, perhaps, no tradition at all will find some resonance in my own experience.             First of all, I define the sacred as the Presence of God or the Holy One.   Sacred simply means the place or space of the Divinity.   In the history of religions the sacred might be a place, like a cathedral, a grove in the forest or some other shrine.   The sacred can be the object of pilgrimages.   Sometimes the sacred has been the place of healing, as well as revelation.   The sacred is opposite of the profane---which literally means “outside the temple.”        ...

As I have often acknowledged, the foundation of a spiritual journey is anchored in some kind of discipline.   Too often discipline gets a bad rap, as if it is some kind of punishment.   For some folks hearing the word, discipline, conjures up running laps!   This is unfortunate.   Discipline is the dailiness of activity that leads to growth and development.   One of my disciplines is using the lectionary for some spiritual reading each day.                This discipline enables me to do a little reading that hopefully feeds my soul and nurtures my spirit.   It is not a guarantee.   But without a discipline I can virtually guarantee that we won’t get very far in the spiritual journey.   It is like training for the marathon.   It is stupid to think you can wake up one weekend, decide to go somewhere and run a marathon.   Twenty-six miles is too far to go on a lark!  ...

Sometimes I may not be fair to religion when I separate it from spirituality.   To me they are quite related, but are not the same.   I am certainly not against religion.   After all, I tell people I teach it!   However, I also find that I am more at home in the arena of spirituality---the spiritual.   This is not the place for an extended essay defining both and arguing why I think they are not the same.             Suffice it to say, religion for me (and most folks I know) is first and foremost in some doctrines.  For example, people are quick to tell me they do believe in God---or don’t believe in God.  Obviously for those who believe, there often is more they believe in, and it may well be the case that their beliefs inform their actions.  Spirituality for me is first and foremost experience.  I know this can sound wishy-washy.  But spirituality is about experience of the Ho...

Sometimes all it takes is one sentence.   Sometimes all it takes is one sentence to be sufficient focus for an entire inspirational reflection.   In fact, some sentences contain so much richness, it takes more than one meditative setting to begin to digest everything in a few words.   Some writers seem to be directly and intuitively connected to the Holy One.   The words that pour forth from their pen are, as if, immediate revelation.   It is almost like the Divine Being Itself has grabbed the pen.             One writer I find like this is Walker Percy.   I have not read as much of him as I wish, but when I do, I am spiritually floored.   For example, in his novel, The Second Coming , we find this single sentence, which is actually a question.   “Is it possible for people to miss their lives in the same way one misses a plane?”   This question arrests me.   It grabs me and won’t ...

I have always been fascinated with titles.   When you read that sentence, you probably think of book titles.   Certainly, most people would say that book titles are important.   I would not disagree.   But when you think about it further, there are many other kinds of titles.      Since I have paid off my old car, I have the title to that.   It shows that I now own it.   The bank owns the title to most of our houses.   So apparently, a great deal of property comes with titles to show ownership.   But not all ownership is individual.   Some things are owned corporately.   The college where I teach is a private school, so that means there is ownership.   But it is owned corporately.   The appointed trustees, in fact, oversee their ownership responsibilities.   But no single person owns the campus or the buildings.   The same idea pertains to national parks.   All Americans, in effect, own Yosemite...

One of the blessings of teaching is the chance to continue to read good books.  And often, it means the opportunity to re-read some of my favorite books.  In spite of our society’s penchant for the new and novel, I learned some time ago that there are classics that stand the test of time and continue to speak to humans in all walks of life.  Obviously there are classics in music, in architecture and in books. One of the classics I have had a chance to read again is Quest for God by the great 20 th century Jewish rabbi and theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel.  Heschel is one of the theological giants who came to this country as a result of the Nazi craziness of the 20 th century.  Heschel was born in Poland in 1907.  He was educated in Berlin, Germany.  When he was lecturing in 1938 in Frankfort, Germany, he was arrested by the Nazis and deported to Poland.  He was encouraged to leave before he would be killed.  So he fled to London and...

A friend of mine sent me an interesting article on improvisation.   I know what improvisation means, but I admit I never thought too much about it.   Probably like you, when I do think of improvisation, I think of nightclubs and television.   Those are the usual venues where actors of some sort entertain people by “winging it.”   That is probably the street definition of improvisation: the ability to wing it.   That is a decent beginning understanding of improvisation, as I begin to think about it more.   The article that I read gives this street definition a little more clarity and development.   Kip Kelly, the author of the article, begins his definition in this fashion.   “In essence, improv, short for improvisation, is performing without a script; it is spontaneous invention…that is often needed to create something entirely new and unique.   Improvisation is often thought of as ‘off the cuff’ activity, with little or no preparation or ...

If the first fundamental human question is “who am I,” surely the second question is “what should I do?”   In most cases these two questions are inextricably tied together.   What happens with one question affects the other one.   However, we can only talk about them one at a time, so this reflection piece gives focus to the question, what should I do?             The first thing to realize in this question is the focus goes on the verb.   In the other question, “who am I,” the focus was on the subject---on “who.”   But in this second question the focus clearly shines on the verb---“do.”   The implication is everyone should do something.   Not doing something is, in effect, doing something, i.e. doing nothing.   This tells me that human beings are essentially designed to be somebody and to do something.   The only questions are who am I as a somebody and what should I do, since I have ...

Hosting and being a guest are two sides of the same coin.   I was first clued in to this fact when I learned Latin.   The Latin word, hospes , gives us the English words, hospital, hospice and related words.   In its Latin form, it can be translated “host,’ “guest” or “stranger.”   That is why I can say that hosting and being a guest are two sides of the same coin.   The Latin coin is hospes .   Let’s look at each side of the coin.   Probably most of us learn about being a guest before we learn about hosting.   I have early childhood memories of going with my dad into the town in early mornings.   For a kid growing up on the farm, this was a big deal.   Since I was the oldest kid, there could be an entire day when I would see no one except my two parents.   That was not bad.   But it was more fun to go to town and see some of my dad’s friends.      Often we would stop at the local drugstore, which was reall...

I would have no idea how many times I have told people, “take care.”   And I am sure there are just as many people out there who have said the same thing to me: “take care.”   It is very much like the phrase, “how’s it going?”   Most of the time I hear someone ask me that question, I assume it is not a real question.   It is a figure of speech---something we likely are to say to someone we know as we pass him or her on the street or in the hallway.             I am not against this act of cordiality.   I just don’t assume it means much more than that---people being cordial to one another.   It is an extended form of “hi.”   It is not a negative thing and I am not complaining.   In fact, I know the two phrases can become quite meaningful with the right kind of eye contact or voice inflection.   If I actually stop, look someone in the eyes and ask, “how are you,” with the right kind of v...

Because I spend a great deal of time with people, I tend to be fairly aware of what is going on with them.   Sometimes they tell me and others what’s happening and other times I simply pay attention and they may “talk” with body language or other means.   I certainly don’t have any special gifts or skills in this.   I think I just pay more attention than many people.             One of the facets of being human that fascinates me is what people hope for.   It seems that humans tend to be creatures of hope.   I have no clue whether we are genetically wired that way or if our environment---especially our American culture---shapes us to be hopeful.   And I can imagine my own perception is warped by the kind of particular culture in which I live and spend most of my time.   For example, much of my time is spent in a university setting and that surely is a place of significant hopes.   Compare t...