When I want to get under the surface of things, I re-read the “proverbios” of the early 20th c. Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, and those of the later 20th c. Argentine poet, Antonio Porchia.  Both men lived simply, loved deeply, and are cherished still as poets in their respective homelands. I don’t know if Porchia ever read Machado.  But in any case, their sensibilities were strikingly similar.  Their proverbs command my meditative attention.  They snap me out of my assumptions, lead me out of... Read more

An Army chaplain in Afghanistan discovers that it’s easier to talk about love of enemies from a distance than up close. Fortunately, God promises to stand in the void and finish all that we have not been able to do. Read more

This is the second in a series of excerpts from Bryan Berghoef’s new book, Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation, and God. Read the first post here. Continued from Chapter 4: A Story of Two Tables The question was posed: “Is it more important to do the right things, or believe the right things?” Nearly everyone at our table—an atheist, an agnostic, a spiritual-but-not-religious-type with Buddhist leanings, and several folks of varying Christian affiliation—felt that at the end of the day, it... Read more

Whenever I’m presented with an invitation to “awaken,” I typically cancel all plans and take it. This past weekend, I packed my retreat clothes and headed an hour and half northwest of Denver to attend the first-ever Wake-Up Festival in the mystical, mist-shrouded mountains of Estes Park. My journey was blessed beyond belief: a magnificent elk greeted me as I pulled into the YMCA of the Rockies grounds, only to be followed by a similarly stellar constellation of human spiritual... Read more

This is no news for those who know me well: I’m a desert person. In the classic movie, “Lawrence of Arabia”, a British officer asks Lawrence, filthy after weeks riding on camels in Saudi Arabia, why he loved the desert so much. “Because it’s clean,” he answered. That makes sense to me. Wandering in the desert cleanses my soul of hubris. It puts me in my puny place in the cosmos. It’s bigger than I am, bigger than we are.... Read more

I have something in common with Republican vice presidential nominee Congressman Paul Ryan: We were both friends with the late Congressman Jack Kemp. Today, some Republicans are comparing Paul Ryan to Kemp. That is a slur on Kemp. As a recent, extensive portrait of Ryan in the New York Times notes, such comparisons are far from accurate: Over the years, Mr. Ryan’s emphasis shifted. Mr. Kemp was not nearly as concerned with cutting government programs as Mr. Ryan is today.... Read more

One man strides boldly forward.  His weapons are at the ready.  He’s on a mission to make things right.  He swings open the door.  His eyes glint with the fiery certainty of his convictions.  His guns blaze.  People die.  Others scream and cower.  They had it coming.  The lone gunman blows the smoke off the ends of his guns and walks away. It’s the myth of countless Westerns of yesterday, the myth of the formulaic action-hero movies of today.  It’s... Read more

Strange as it may seem, I believe that one bold new movie, a new interfaith festival and a soon to be published book by a young gay atheist point the way to a better future. Read more

“Contemplative Pedagogy” – a high-falutin’ term, no?  In low-falutin’ language, it’s about using meditation to help people learn. I just spent a week learning about it (contemplatively) at a conference at Smith College in Massachusetts, held by the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.  The main speaker was Arthur Zajonc (pronounced Zi-ence), formerly professor of physics at Amherst College.  He’s the co-author with Parker Palmer of the recent book, The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal.  I found it an... Read more