I recently wrote about dealing with the presence of darkness in these times and received some thoughtful follow-up requests to share more about what it means to accept the fact of darkness in the world and for practical advice on how to do this in daily life. So just how do we accept the presence of darkness? What does such acceptance mean? What do I do? First, I admit that darkness exists in this world. Accepting darkness is not to embrace it, not to hold it and not to approve it. It means only to acknowledge it is there, that darkness is a reality in our … [Read more...]
Coping With Darkness Without Conceding
We have now spent most of this year facing the physical, economic, emotional and psychological threats and consequences of the COVID pandemic, along with the parallel crises of social upheaval and protest against the inequities of racial injustice, and the ever heightened polarization of our divided nation as we watch the sacred tenets of our American experiment in democracy attacked and depreciated on a nearly daily basis. We are all exhausted. We are indeed navigating a very difficult time. I feel and hear and know the anxiety and the loss that so many of you experience. I want to … [Read more...]
Score: Darkness 2, Light 1,000,000
I am a Bostonian. We have had a tough week here. We suffered a violent act of darkness as two young men attacked us, killing 3, critically injuring and maiming scores of others, and attempting to shake our individual and communal senses of security and trust. They failed. Resoundingly. And so, even in the midst of this crisis, we have had a great week here. Everything that is the best in us, in humanity, is on full display: love, compassion, fearlessness in the face of danger, generosity, strength, selflessness, kindness, commitment to community, protection of others, clarity, … [Read more...]
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For
As we arrive at this time of endings and new beginnings, I have been in deep contemplation, seeking to understand what is going on in the world around us, and wondering about our human station, as we mourn twenty young children, and six of their teachers, from Newtown, Connecticut. Blessings upon them, their parents, their teachers, families and friends, and all of us. They have served well, reminding us in unbearable sacrifice of themselves, of the truth and what matters, and moving us to take action now and do what we need to do, to be our best selves, in the fullness of the best that is … [Read more...]
The Light Shines Through Many Windows
I got to thinking recently about belief systems after listening to a radio interview with writer and director Kenneth Lonergan (about his film Margaret, now out in an extended DVD version). What caught my attention was his description of himself as a “committed atheist,” and more particularly his explanation of why. In his view, all religions are creations, stories, myths, that are constructed as a way of trying to understand something that is not comprehensible. In other words, we create belief systems to help us wrap our minds around things we can not understand. Things like why are we … [Read more...]
Struggling to Arrive
I have had an interesting collective of dreams and inner messages over the last few weeks, each addressing the difficulties we face in finding comfort and balance in the world. Remarkably, one of the dreams included an instruction to me to write about this and to title this post “Struggling to Arrive”. So, here we go! It is not easy being human in a world that is inequitable and seems to become more so all the time. It is as if there are different worlds, multiple and uneven playing fields, indeed, parallel universes, right here in our own surround. The spaciousness of spiritual … [Read more...]