I used to be more easily triggered by things, more reactive, and generally more anxious and frustrated. Things have been shifting for me though. I’m now more unflappable, more intentionally active on my own terms, and generally more calm and reasonably content. One of the practices that has helped is to name, own, and state my feelings. Another practice is centering prayer which has me setting aside time regularly to just “sit and be” with God in silence. It’s quality... Read more
Five days before Christmas, the City of Rochester, NY bulldozed all the belongings of residents in a homeless village and put their few earthly possessions in a giant dumpster. Take that Christmas. Bah-humbug. Homeless displaced again as City destroys tent city (in photos) Submitted by T. Forsyth on Sat, 2014-12-20 19:55 Today, December 20, 2014, the City of Rochester, NY destroyed Sanctuary Village. This was the last stop for people with no place to go. Tents, sleeping bags, tarps, and,... Read more
I’m Spiritual *and* Religious. I realize that saying this may be swimming against a current, but for me, they each inform and complement the other. Here’s an analogy. I enjoy playing my trumpet by myself and practice it as I have time. This is like my spirituality. It’s a personal way for me to express myself and to commune with God. And yet I also enjoy playing my trumpet with others in bands and orchestras. This is like religion (which... Read more
things weren’t right in ferguson. i mean israel! i said things weren’t right in israel! …new york. instead of God’s chosen people blissfully basking in the warm sun of freedom, they couldn’t breathe because the air was thick with the heavy jack-boots of imperial oppression. instead of the hebrews building projects of their own design, her craftsmen and laborers were laboring under the thumbs of Roman task-masters who had them constructing temples to their pantheon of gods and housing for... Read more
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Jesus, via John of Patmos, Revelation 3:20 According to John’s famous vision, Laodicea was the only one of the 7 Churches that he didn’t commend for anything and Jesus’s challenge to the Church at Laodicea was for them to wake up from their arrogant spiritual complacency. I... Read more
men common men. diverse men. young bucks. mature bulls. aged sages. men in their heads men in their bodies men with wounds men with strengths men with coping patterns that no longer serve men who are wise men who are fools every man – both. men who’ve cheated men who’ve raped men who’ve abused men who’ve been abused men who gather to seek the medicine of men talking sticks… honest dicks men sighing men moaning men singing men dancing men... Read more
Ouch. It cuts like a knife. And wow does it hurt. I write this blog at a cruising altitude of 31,000 feet above sea level – somewhere above the snow-covered fields of Nebraska. I caught a plane with my little boy this morning to visit my family back in Minnesota. I’ve been sick as a dog for the past few days—it was all I could do to get us to the airport. Today’s venture involved the usual comedy of errors,... Read more
La luna è bella! The moon is beautiful! Look how it shines! See how it glows! So alive! So powerful and strong! but little do they know… i appear to have my mojo working i seem to have it all going on it looks like everything is more than well with me and that i’m living la dolce vita i dance the night away with all sorts of heavenly bodies i revolve with the best of them many tell... Read more
Our Creator God does indeed create. Mercy and how! But She is not the only one who makes the decisions about what will be created. If that were the case, blind obedience... would be our only mission we would merely be puppets who could only do things when God pulls our strings. Dig this. As children of God who've been called to groove, let's groove on the metaphor of "Jazz Music." In jazz there is an imperative for listening to, and respecting... Read more
The story is told of a woman who lived in a nation that bordered another nation. The other nation had checkpoints at the border. Every day, she rode her motor-scooter to one of border crossings to get to the other side. And every day she’d return through the same border crossing The guard at that station took his job seriously and he diligently inspected all of the many canvass bags she carried with her on her scooter. He could... Read more
The Holy Kiss
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