Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Regular readers of this inspirational reflection know that I have significant respect for what David Brooks writes.   His columns appear in the New York Times and sundry other venues.   Although I do not agree with all of Brooks’ political sensitivities, I find his thought to be trenchant and challenging.   Lately, he has been focusing more and more on the culture that we inhabit and the moral deficiencies that come with that culture.   I find this pursuit to be compelling.   So I look forward to new offerings as they come out.             Recently, his column carried the title, “The Moral Bucket.”   His opening line was inviting.   “ About once a month I run across a person who radiates an inner light.”   I resonated with this and wanted to affirm that I, too, occasionally meet that kind of person---the kind who radiates an inner light.   He continues, “These people can be in any walk...

It is with some trepidation that I use “spiritual direction” as the title for this inspirational reflection.  It is not that I am against spiritual direction.  In fact, I am very much for it!  I figure most of us would be better off with some spiritual direction.  I know I would.  So what’s my trepidation?  It comes from my Quaker heritage….more about that in a minute.             When you see the term, “spiritual direction,” you could take it in a couple ways.  One way to take the term is to see it literally.  We all know what the word, “direction,” means.  It means north, over there, up there, etc.  Direction points to some space or place.  Direction is someplace besides here.  When we ask for directions, we are asking how to get there.  In the old days we consulted maps.  Maps charted the course we could take to get to a desired place.  Now we use tec...

Even though I grew up on a farm in Indiana and spent a great deal of time outside, I would not say I am as attuned to nature as one might expect.   In some ways it is a little disappointing to realize this and admit it.   Of course when I was outside, I was surely aware of the weather.   If it is raining, you don’t need a very high IQ to know it is raining!   Awareness of the weather, however, does not mean you are generally aware of nature.             Every time I come back to Annie Dillard’s great book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek , I am reminded of my off-and-on relationship with nature.   I realize again how much I miss on a walk across campus.   I lament at how unconscious I apparently am so much of the time.   At one level, this is sad because it means I am capable of so much more.   At another level, it is funny.   It is funny because I sometimes think I am fairly aware and, th...

There are always cool things to learn if we are open to learning.  And some of the stuff I learn, I am not quite sure what I will do with it.  Just this weekend I read an interesting article in the local newspaper about spiders.  I am neutral on spiders.  They are interesting creatures.  I am not scared of them.  They don’t bother me, but before reading the article I was not particularly fascinated by them either. But now I am intrigued.  The title of the article is catchy: “Unraveling a spider’s secret miracle fiber.”  I think any time someone uses the word, “miracle,” intrigue is built into it.  And then you add the qualifier, “secret!”  Who can resist a “secret miracle?” The article gets to the point when it describes the silk woven by the spider.  We read that “Spider silk is nature’s miracle fiber.  It’s ultra-strong, versatile, durable, replenishable, even edible.  Spiders can churn out 100 yards a day.”  “W...