As Halloween approaches and we can’t help observing, and perhaps participating in, dress-up and pretend play, I think again about the importance of imagination, and in particular how much children can remind us about expanding our capacities to know in non-linear ways. Children are impressive in their ability to easily and fluidly abandon so-called rational thought and immerse themselves with freedom and delight into imaginary worlds. In the process of such play they are naturally accessing their intuition and accomplishing important developmental tasks. My young granddaughter is expert … [Read more...]
Nonviolent Action and Incarnational Spirituality
As we observe the fiftieth anniversary (on August 28th) of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King’s transcendent “I Have a Dream” speech, I am reminded of the quiet power and effectiveness of nonviolent collaborative community effort directed towards achieving common goals. Nonviolent action achieves its objectives without using violence, but rather through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, and other means. The modern form of non-violent resistance was most notably practiced by Mahatma Gandhi, and subsequently followed … [Read more...]
People Are Good
Really. I mean it. We often forget this is fundamentally true, and are too often reminded of our weaknesses, not our strengths, as humans. But it is my consistent experience that generally people are good, they mean well, and try to do the best they can for themselves and others. We can feel so discouraged or disappointed at times in what we see in the world around us, and alas, any such sense of pessimism can be negatively reinforced from a variety of directions (not the least of which is the incessant barrage of bad news by media on a 24-hour cycle of filling digital formats of all … [Read more...]
Politics, Truth and Compassion
Are you as worn out from this election season as I am? I am beyond weary from fending off the incoming—all kinds of energetic approaches vying for my mental, psychic and emotional attention, ranging from snail mail, email, print and TV ads, the endless coverage by the media of each side’s daily talking points and the innumerable partisan surrogates appearing on behalf of each agenda, and, most difficult of all to bear, the relentless sniping and small hearted negative attacks that appear to be acceptable terms of engagement in politics. We are all being subjected to energetic fields replete … [Read more...]
Free Will
Free will is complicated. We all have it, and we all want it—as long as it is our own free will we are exercising. But it is more difficult when someone else is exercising their own free will—against our interests or better judgment. Whether it is a two year old throwing a tantrum or self-governing nations in armed dispute, it comes down to a battle of wills. Of course we agree to submit to the will of others in many ways, for good reasons. So the parent must teach and protect the two year old, and in doing so denies the child her will, and properly so. Likewise, to organize ourselves … [Read more...]
True North
Do you know your “true north”? Or how to find it? True north is a navigational direction based on the Earth’s axis. Magnetic north—the north a compass needle points to—deviates from true north over time and from place to place because the earth's magnetic poles are not fixed in relation to its axis. True north is fixed and certain. But the “true north” that I am referring to is your personal navigation marker, the one based on your own inner axis—that is, your alignment with your true, authentic self. This is the pointer that allows you to successfully find the way in your life, and … [Read more...]
Why Do We Choose Life?
I have a new granddaughter, a 6-pound bundle of perfect incarnation, not yet 2 weeks old. As I hold her I am not only reminded of the ineffable wonder of creation that produces a new life, but I have also been contemplating the why of it, why we souls become embodied. Why do we choose this physical experience? Why are we here? Many traditions teach that we come into life to learn, to develop ourselves and our ability to love and serve, to express compassion and to understand truth and integrity. Human incarnation--our visceral physical presence-- allows us the experiences of ego and … [Read more...]
Pathways
As Fall brings transition, I have been thinking about the nature of pathways: the choosing, the traversing, and sometimes foraging when the path disappears. And then arriving, finding where the path takes you. How did you get there? What did you bring with you? What did you find on the way? How difficult was the passage? Where are you now? Choosing your path, trying to figure out what is the “right” path, for you, is not easy. And, things are not always as they appear. The soft and sunlit path in the woods, so gentle and inviting, may take you through rough terrain ahead that you … [Read more...]
Love Infinity
Creation begins at home. We are each and all participants in creating our world. We put together lives and partnerships and settings, seeded with intention, expressing our selves into our environments, presenting who we are as individuals. As we do this, often without great attention, we not only build a sense of home, both inner and outer, but we are also projecting our selves, the expression of our personal truth, into the world. So, the first place to begin in creating the world you would like to see is with your self. More precisely, through your embodied “Self”: the physical, … [Read more...]
Declare Your Independence!
Do you remember who you are? As we turn to July 4th and celebrate the declaration of freedom, I am reminded that political independence is necessarily founded upon a deeply held value of personal independence. It is your birthright to be your unique self. By self, I mean you in all your aspects, inner and outer, full and strong and beautiful and wholly integrated. This seems such a simple statement. Yet, we face all sorts of obstruction, much of it well meaning, that nevertheless suppresses our abilities to thrive in “full-selfness” and be and give from our individuality and our … [Read more...]