Faith & Life Inspirational Message

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...

Every time I read or hear Richard Rohr, I connect with something he says.   I appreciate his witness and his words.   Rohr is a Franciscan priest who founded and headed up the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM a few years ago.   I am sure part of why I like what Rohr is doing is the fact that he is basically the same age I am.   Although he grew up in a rather pious Catholic home in Kansas and I in a less than pious Quaker home in Indiana, we nevertheless have a good bit in common.                I still use a couple of his books in classes I teach, so periodically I have a chance to reread some of my favorite lines.   However, it is also true that rereading a book always seems to lift up something you know you read the first time, but somehow it did not catch your attention in that first read.   That just happened to me when I turned to a chapter in his book, Everythin...

Sometimes I wonder if I would make it as a monk!   Actually I don’t really wonder, because I am fairly sure I would blow it.   There is so much about being a monk that I find attractive.   But I fear that I idealize what being a monk means.   And that is funny, since I have been to any number of monasteries and convents and actually know quite a few monks and nuns.                If I am honest, what really attracts me is not being a monk, but it is the way of life that monks and nuns undertake.   That attraction is deepened by the fact that a group of them undertake that life together in community.   And they do that life together with such intentionality.   I am sure that intentionality is a big piece of the attraction for me and it is probably why I know I would blow it!   That is because intentionality has to be married to discipline to be effective.     ...

I started reading the article because it was about Sister Helen Prejean, the nun who wrote the book, Dead Man Walking , which was turned into a movie.   I met and spent a little time with this marvelous woman once when she was in my city doing some speaking.   Of course, she is famous for her long-time work trying to get rid of the death penalty.   I happen to agree with her.   But whatever one’s position is on this issue, the story of this woman---this nun---is remarkable.   She is old, spunky and spiritual.   I hope some day the same can be said for me! The interviewer and author of the article, Moni Basu, opens the story about the 75 year-old nun by talking about the harrowing ride she had on the way to the Louisiana State Prison.   “She could rival NASCAR’s Danica Patrick on the gas pedal,” she writes.   She enters the maximum-security prison, the nation’s largest with 6,000 inmates.   She is there to visit a man on death row, Manu...

I am sure one of the personal benefits I get by writing a daily inspirational piece is the benefit of paying attention.   That is not to suggest that folks who don’t do this kind of discipline don’t pay attention.   However, I know I pay more attention because of the discipline.   Paying attention builds on my assumption that ordinary, daily life provides much content for spiritual experience and reflection.   In fact, that links to a functional definition of spiritual that I have: experiencing the Presence in the ongoing present of our lives. This means there are lessons, challenges and assurances all over the place.   I get ideas in very predictable arenas, like the daily lectionary I use from the Benedictine monastic tradition.   The lectionary simply guides me through some daily spiritual readings.   It gives me a focus and framework for taking a bit of time to reflect, to pray and to wait.   I call it “waiting time,” rather than “wastin...

It hit me as I was reading the first journals handed in by students in a course I am teaching.   Although I generally don’t think about it this way, I realized in a way I am forcing students to engage spiritual issues.   “Forcing” is a heavy word.   It makes me a little uneasy when I see myself as being “forceful.”   After all, I try to make my classes as full of choice and voluntary as I can.      I am forcing the students just because they are taking the class.   I suppose if one is going to be forced, this is about the most benign way force can happen.   I certainly am not coercing any of them to take the class.   But if they sign on for the class, then they are going to have to engage in some spiritual exploration and spiritual work.   The hope is that engagement will lead to spiritual growth and development.   I do not map out what the spiritual growth and development has to be.   In fact, different people will de...

Sometimes I wonder if people give up on religion because they cannot figure out how to do it day by day?   This seems probable to me because I am not sure most of us common people are quite sure how to define religion.   By saying that, I do not mean those of us who went to church or to synagogue are complete idiots when it comes to religion and what it means.      When you know something, it is always difficult to remember when you did not know anything.   Now that I have a Ph.D. in religion, it likely is impossible to remember accurately those Indiana farm days when I did not know beans about religion.   But let me guess nevertheless! I suspect that most Christians, at least, would define religion along the lines of doctrine.   For example, I would assume if you ask the person on the street to define religion, he or she would begin by saying something about believing in God.   Doctrine has to do with believing.   If one is a Chri...

I am part of a group that meets weekly.   It is a great group of fairly diverse people.   The folks have a variety of jobs.   Both genders are represented.   The age range is significant.   Some are retired and others are newer into their careers.   Not everyone has the same religious background.   We have Christians and Jews and some who probably are not institutionally affiliated.   But the greatest thing about the group is how well they get along.   I like being part of a community.   Usually, I can tell if a group is a community or if they are just a collection of individuals.   They may even be working to some common end, but a collection of individuals will not automatically become a community.   I am pretty sure I cannot give you an academic definition of community.   But I do know there are some key aspects. Community requires commitment from the various members.   Typically, the community members have v...

I love what I do.   I have been privileged to be involved in spirituality for many years now.   I have done it through teaching and a variety of what I like to call ministry venues.   I like the Latin basis of our word, ministry.   Literally, it means to “serve.”   I am content to think that I have spent a great deal of my life serving.                I am convinced that is one of the aspects of the Christian journey.   Everyone who walks this path has an obligation to serve.   But I also am sure that it is not a Christian thing.   I know Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others encourage the same walk of faith.   I suspect part of the reason service is a given in these major religious traditions is the fact that they all are grounded in love.   Love inevitably issues forth in service.   Love will put us all at the feet of others.   Sometimes we literally wi...

There is an old saying that says something like, “You have to play the hand dealt you.”   Obviously this uses a figure of speech drawn from the world of playing cards.   It could be poker or some other card game.   In card games there typically is only one winner.   The winner is normally determined by some element of skill and luck.   The skill part is obvious.   If you know the rules of poker and if you have years of experience, you are more likely to win than a novice at the game.   On the other hand, if the novice is really lucky in the cards dealt, he or she will be very hard to beat---regardless of skill.             An Ace is an Ace regardless of skill.   Two Aces beat one Ace every time!   I have not played cards for years, perhaps even decades.   When I was small, I remember my parents playing cards.   And during my growing up years, I played some cards.   That ...