Faith & Life Inspirational Message

Over the months and years that I have been with people, I came to realize that there are some predictable times for spiritual growth and development.   One of those times or “places” is in the cracks.   That is not a very fancy way of describing periods of our lives, but it does the trick for me. A crack in life is not a crisis.   That is much more than a crack!   A crisis may begin as a crack, but it moves way beyond the “crack phase” when it becomes a crisis.   It is easy to conjure up an image of a crack.   Anyone who has painted a wall, looked at a sidewalk, or examined the very hard ground during a drought knows what a crack looks like.   A crack is a bit of brokenness in the midst of what’s normal or routine.   Often it is not very serious, but it is a harbinger of what might come.   It is sufficient to say, “pay attention.” The image of the margin is both similar and dissimilar to the crack.   It is similar in the sense th...

Once again, I have an opportunity to do a presentation on my old monk friend, Thomas Merton.   In some circles I have become known as “the guy who knows Merton.”   That is only partly true.   I have read quite a bit of Merton’s works and have included him in some of what I teach.   For many years I have been attracted to Merton because I find that he was a guy who seriously quested for meaning and purpose in life and found it in God.   And for much of his early life, that discovery of God was certainly not expected.             It didn’t matter to me that Merton turned out not only to discover God in his life, but that discovery took him to the hills of Kentucky and joining the fairly strict monastery at Gethsemani.   As a Quaker I knew almost nothing about Catholicism and absolutely nothing about monastics and monasteries.   In fact, I likely would have told you I had no interest in any of ...

I am enjoying a rather slow read through Krista Tippett’s relatively new book, Becoming Wise .   I have followed her “On Being” radio interviews and read her blog for some time.   Through these media she has focused on the “big questions of meaning.”   In many ways that is what I have focused on in my teaching of undergraduates through these years.   In effect Tippett has interviewed wise people from many different faith traditions and from no particular faith tradition.   The book is wrapped around these interviews.             One of the things you always get from Tippett’s work is a series of very insightful quotations.   As I read along in the book, these quotations keep tumbling off the page.   In fact one could read the book only for these nuggets of wisdom.   I would like to focus on one such quotation that caught my attention and upon which I would like to reflect more. In a chap...

The last couple days several people have been especially kind to me.  I am aware why they have done it, although in my mind, there was no real reason for it.  But then, I am also too aware that I, doubtlessly like many of you, am geared for the “giver mode,” instead of the “receiver mode.”  The real human truth is that we naturally were meant to function in both modes.  For whatever reasons, many of us have lived our lives being shaped for one rather than both.  This is not bad, but it is sad.  This kind of situation potentially is a place to be inspired for some spiritual growth.  The good news is that it requires at least one other person to help this growth. The “givers” in life tend to be those folks who are active and alert to others.  They have to be active; otherwise, even if they saw an opportunity to give, they would not bother.   But not all active people are alert.  Selfish folks often are quite active! But the only thi...

The title of this inspirational reflection is not a word I particularly like or use very often.   Basically, I like words and I understand the word, citizenship.   Not particularly liking the word does not make me anti-American.   In fact, I am very cognizant and appreciative of what it means to be an American.   I think anyone who lives abroad, as I have on multiple occasions, comes to appreciate this country and what it does for us.               I gladly participate in all the things expected of being an American.   I always vote, always pay taxes, support school levies in order to help the young ones in the way I feel like I was privileged.   I support fire and police levies and more money for the library.   In this age of the internet, I don’t go to libraries like I used to, but I watch my grandkids make immense use of the library.   They love to go there, to find age-appropriate...

When I write the title for this little meditation, part of me wants to become cynical and say, “yeah, sure!  It is easier to think about those times the rascals and the bad guys seemed to prosper…and sometimes at the expense of the good guys.  Most recently, one thinks of Bernie Madoff who literally “made off” with some fifty billion dollars of other folks’ money.  When you see the words, Ponzi scheme, grab your wallet! My cynicism is tempered, however, when my mind drifts back to a book my friend wrote: Why Good Things Happen to Good People (2007).  The book begins engagingly with these words, “If I could take one word with me into eternity, it would be ‘give.’”  My friend is not some kind of quack.  He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, has taught at Case-Western---even in the medical school there---and has since moved on to a sweet spot at an eastern university. Essentially, the book is a primer in learning how to give---to give yourself....

Unless you are a spiritual genius, you probably would have no idea this title of this inspirational piece references Dorothy Day.   Some may not even know Dorothy Day---who she is or why she might be important.   I have known about Dorothy Day since my graduate schools days.   She is someone I wished I had met, but I content myself with having known someone who knew her.   So allow me to spend a little time using her to make some spiritual points.             Dorothy Day was born just before the twentieth century began.   During her teenage and twenties, she lived a rather bohemian life.   There would have been little reason to guess that in our own time, many folks would be lobbying the Pope to make her a saint.   I laugh, because for some of my friends, she is already considered a saint.   They have decided not to wait for the Catholic Church to act officially.     ...