Cutting Through the Nostalgia To be honest, I have never been a huge fan of the Christmas holidays. As a kid growing up with ADHD, it was never a pleasant time. Usually there was a lot of chaos and in the 80’s, ADHD was still not as understood as it is today. By the time we got to my second set of grandparents’ house, my meds were wearing off and I was tired, overstimulated and in serious need for a... Read more
Contemplation and mindfulness offer a deeper relationship with the divine. I have been doing a lot of reading lately as I am getting ready to teach my next class here in a few months. One of the many themes I come back to often in my life are the two years I spent considering the monastic life and priesthood in the Catholic church. Even though I would eventually meet a pretty red head who would feed me tacos and... Read more
For the fourth in my series on Advent, I would like to discuss the practice of being a loving person. It would seem pretty straight forward, just love your neighbor as you would love yourself, that’s what Jesus tells us to do. But what if you don’t even love yourself? Or you were raised in a Christian tradition where you were told you were worth something with a condition. This condition could be certain acts, prayers, beliefs or maybe you... Read more
Mathew 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers because they are the children of God.” The first century Palestine during the time Jesus was here was a time of political strife and economic hardship. According to Riches https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/world-of-jesus/political-economic-social-and-cultural-context-of-firstcentury-palestinian-judaism/78E9FC5FF52226BA04868426D9EDF481 (1990): Palestine at the turn of the era was under Roman control. It was not, however, all controlled in the same manner. Herod the Great, a loyal and politically crafty client king, had just died (4 B.C.). His kingdom, after much deliberation by... Read more
The Scary Lightning Strike Anxiety is a condition that affects all of us from time to time. Anxiety is a healthy response to stress and has an evolutionary purpose to keep us aware of our surroundings. My wife and I had an interesting outdoor outing last weekend. We went out for what was supposed to be a simple bike ride. Then it rained. Then it thundered. Then a lightning strike occurred right on top of us. I kind of... Read more
Preparation is a theme during Advent and Christmastime The image above is of the field behind my house. I bought this field a couple of years ago after about eighteen months of legal discussions. I am slowly converting back to a wild space with native plants and trees. There is a lot of talk these days about the newfound importance of recreating natural and wild spaces. Seeing this field is a reminder of our need to rest, to prepare.... Read more
The world is an ugly place right now. Wars, politics, climate change, it is all bad, or so the illusion goes. Hope is the basic ingredient of optimism and hope is a spiritual energy. In the beatitudes, Jesus casts the hope of God’s love over marginalized people. In a time where we celebrate the 1%’rs, a lot of us are struggling with a lot right now and we can gain comfort in Jesus’ optimism. Big H Hope and Little... Read more
Spiritual Practice of You – The Practice of Lament The Drunkard’s Lament ~ BrontëBlog by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND Christians around the world, many will be spending the next four weeks in the Christian church celebrating the season of Advent, looking forward to annual celebration of the birth of Jesus. For many, this is a time of joy, hope and celebration of family and friends. For others, however, this is a time of sadness, despair,... Read more
Rounding out this series on gratitude, I would like to finish with my roots, Christianity. Thanksgiving through Christmas are my favorite time to preach because of the time I could spend teaching about gratitude. I feel that our churches need to spend more time talking about the need to offer love and gratitude rather than the focus on giving gifts and consuming food and experiences. I am reminded of Thomas Merton’s 4th and Walnut mystical experience: (from Conjectures... Read more
The following is a discussion I am leading on November 20th at Erie County Community College around the practice of Joy Finding the Joy in the Every Day A Presentation for EC3 Lunch and Learn Rob Giannamore, MDiv, MS, LPC The late Calypso poet Jimmy Buffett writes in his song “Barefoot Children” that “the wrinkles only go where the smiles have been”. Today, I want to talk about a topic that... Read more
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