My friend Tanya is one of the humans I admire most, in part because of her unflappable, generous, open-hearted disposition. She told me a few days ago that she is undone by this election cycle. One night she found her peaceful self shouting at the TV in anger, went to bed upset, and woke up … Continue reading →

I recently spent three days in silence, in the woods, reconnecting with my center. It’s been a hard Autumn…lots of tangible suffering around me, around all of us, really. There’s no need to recount the personal and collective sorrows of the last few months; the news alone suffices as a litany of suffering and woe. … Continue reading →

About 25 years ago, I thoughtlessly made a petty, judgmental comment about an acquaintance. What I didn’t know but quickly realized is that this lovely man, John, was two feet away from me and heard every word. I responded in the dysfunctional human way: defensive, embarrassed, regretful. He responded in the deeply human compassionate way: … Continue reading →

In the midst of the Ebola fearfulness filling the news in recent months, an odd thought has been floating through my brain: What if we were as aware of the contagion of love as we are of other forms of infection, and in the spirit of love casting out fear, expended maximum effort in creating … Continue reading →

I haven’t written a post on this blog in over 6 months, despite the fact that every week I hear stories worth repeating, stories from the social margins of amazing resilience, courage, desperation, despair, triumph, failure, shame, and transforming love… just about everything the human spirit can experience. And every week I think, “I should … Continue reading →

Recently, one of my younger brothers reminded me of the story he told about my mother at her funeral….I had forgotten, but it strikes me powerfully today, perhaps because it carries more freight for me now than it did 15 years ago. He recalled sitting in church one Sunday shortly after my father died….young, at … Continue reading →