People Taking Care of Us When I talk with someone my standard way of taking my leave is encouraging them to “Take care.” Our entire lives are constructed around how we practice taking care. In the beginning we find ways to practice allowing for other people to take care of us. We do not even realize how we need the care of other people and how they take care of us. As we grow and develop, our practices of how... Read more
Choosing Our Spiritual Life Costumes Our attention right now may be focused on choosing our costumes for next week. We may be hosting a party or giving out treats and we want to look just right. Some of us have spent months discerning what costumes we will wear and how we want to look. We may have invested time and effort into designing and constructing our costumes, making sure they are exactly right. Many of us are not only choosing... Read more
Is There Hope in the Stillness? There are days which seem full of hope and joy as soon as we open our eyes in the morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing. We are confident everything is going to work out well and find hope in the stillness of the morning. On other days we can barely get our eyes open. It feels like all of life is conspiring to drain the hope from us. The stillness we... Read more
Exploring Fascination I know people who appear to have been discouraged from exploring fascination. Some people seem to spend their time on mundane, practical concerns. They think about making enough money, buying the right things, providing for the future. Their focus is on finding and experiencing more security, not on being fascinated or exploring. Exploring fascination can feel a little dangerous, as if what fascinates us were seducing us, drawing us in. Our word “fascination,” in fact, comes from a... Read more
Seeking Forgiveness I have known a lot of people who found themselves seeking forgiveness. Some of us feel trapped in our need to find forgiveness. Others are less desperate, more comfortable with our situation. We know we are seeking forgiveness but realize we are in good company. It may be we make a stupid mistake and offend someone or break their trust, a single event. Maybe we have a pattern of behavior, a habit we repeat over and over again.... Read more
Are We Listening Well? Some people feel spiritual life is like a long series of meetings which never end. We sit and endure presentations even though we do not understand what difference they make for us. There never seems to be time for questions. As soon as we can we grab some coffee and get on with the rest of our day. Many of us experience spiritual life as something we have to do, not something we get to do.... Read more
Complaining as a Spiritual Practice Some of our practices are one we choose intentionally while others seem to choose us. We may want a deeper understanding of stillness, so we decide to practice listening to sacred stillness. There may be traditional spiritual practices which spark our curiosity and we set out to follow them. Someone may tell us we need to strengthen our generosity or hospitality. We find a way to intentionally practice our way into deeper understanding. Other practices... Read more
Quieting the Critics Inside Us When we listen to sacred stillness there are many voices we need to quiet before we can pay attention. Some of those voices come from the world around us and some come from inside us. We may hear voices which remind us of all the things we need to do or everything we might enjoy. Some of us hear voices of regrets from the past or fears about the future. We may hear voices about... Read more
Transforming Pain Into Healing We live in a world filled with pain and suffering. Some of us try to turn away so we will not see the trauma all around us. If we can keep our attention focused on work or politics or social media or ourselves we might avoid it. Wave after wave of pain and suffering crash like a tsunami and wreak havoc in our carefully ordered lives. Our pain may be sparked by disasters, natural and policy,... Read more
Heading Toward Home I grew up in a place where the month of October meant it was time for Homecoming. Homecoming was a weeklong experience. Each day of the week celebrated something unique and specific. Homecoming culminated on Friday with a parade and a football game and a dance. People who had gone away to school or jobs made their way back to town to help celebrate Homecoming. It has been quite a few years since I have returned to... Read more
Strategic Monk
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In