Courage is lonely but powerful.

Courage is inherently lonely. It's lonely to make hard decisions, to stand up to a bully, to take huge risks for the sake of doing what one thinks it right. How much courage does it take to go along with the crowd?
Political courage is no exception.  How much courage does it take to disregard a sound public policy - a balanced budget, for example - in order to gain power, or to avoid losing it?
Ironically, how much power - particularly regarding the bully or "the crowd" - there is in the lonely act of showing courage!

Do I shrink from responsibility? Why?

Do I shrink from taking responsibility for my decisions because I don't want to be responsible for their consequences?  
Do I, for example, tell myself "I didn't choose to do that; I had to do it," because I don't want to create any duty or expectation in my own mind or in others' minds that I will take on responsibility for more things?

I am fully responsible for the foreseeable consequences of my decisions - including what I choose not to do.  But I will not allow myself to be paralyzed by fear of the unforeseen.  I hope in this way to contribute to society and to preserve my integrity and the example I set for my children.

December 24, 2017

What religious teaching, law, or cultural or family tradition affects our values without our conscious or unconscious acceptance?

Apart from human, mechanical and natural exigencies which demand that we respond, what external power of any kind frees us from responsibility for our choices?

What more can – or need – the Holy Spirit do for us than reveal Itself, beckon us to seek to develop our relationship with Itself, and offer us in return Its wisdom, our growth, and a greater experience of love and peace?

December 17, 2017

Like radiation from outer space, there is in life a constant flow of objective facts in the physical world.  Those facts include what individuals say or do, what groups of people say or do, and what I say or do.  Most of the time, however, it is not the fact itself but its meaning to which we respond - and each of us is responsible for discerning what that meaning is for us.

In discerning the meaning of what people say and do, what filters do I use?  Is my perception of the meaning of facts based on self-righteous judgment or fear?  Or is it based on guidance from the Holy Spirit; on love, an open mind, and a desire for growth and contribution?

Facing the bear

You know joke. "I don't have to outrun the bear: I just have to outrun you."
It's no joke if the bear is real. 
It's no joke if the bear is fear: fear of failure, of not being enough, of loneliness, of violence, of not being loved.
It's no joke if the bear is adversity: living in a war zone, addiction or other illness (one's own or a loved one's), being a victim of discrimination, employment travails or unemployment, hunger, homelessness.
Let's not try to best each other. Let's be kind to each other. Let's be strong for each other. 
Let's stand together and help each other face and drive away the bear.

November 12, 2017

I do not proselytize.

Every person must, and of course must be free, to seek and find her or his own truth.

I simply and joyfully share my belief that I am a better person, and my conviction that I am a happier person, because what I call the Holy Spirit is present to guide me, to serve as best I can see to do, to try to live up to, and to thank.

November 5, 2017

I think the first step of the fundamental human journey of the spirit is to consider whether there might be something - some spirit or being - wiser and more powerful than we are, beyond us yet available to us.

I think the second step of that journey is to decide whether and how to explore and develop one’s perception of, and connection with, that spirit or being.

The next, and continual, step is to decide whether and how to honor and live up to that spirit or being for the gift of life; for lessons learned; for our comforts – and for pain avoided or relieved; for the people, things and experiences which bring us joy; and for our opportunities to serve and grow.

Self-righteousness and a way to limit it.

I'm as prone to self-righteousness as anyone else.  I think I can restrain my self-righteousness by my sense of its costs and my desire to be free of them, by my awareness of my ordinariness and of the holiness in others, and by the discipline, and grace, of love.

Good things free!

Not everything of value is in limited supply and costs money or time.  Three things of great value and in great demand which are in unlimited supply, with no cost except self-righteousness and a little energy, are kindness, forgiveness and love.

September 24, 2017

The Bible tells us that Jesus said that the two most important commandments are to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  While Jesus clearly meant there is one Lord, one God, Jesus left to each person's heart and soul and mind and strength the development of his or her understanding of, and relationship with, God.
Also left to us are several big questions: Who is our neighbor?
What does it mean – what sentiment and what actions are needed - to love our neighbor as ourselves? 
What basis is there to think that Jesus meant to limit “our neighbor” to those who share our beliefs, who love us back, and who wish us no harm?

September 10, 2017

Dear God, we humans respond to victims of hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters with love - with compassion, generosity, effective assistance, and cooperation.

Help us find in our hearts, and to apply, the same love, compassion, generosity and cooperation to recognize and aid victims, including society as a whole, of storms of our own making - wars, racism, and political and social conflicts of all kinds.  Help us to see and to do what we can do to mitigate such conflicts, to bring them to just and peaceful ends, and, whenever possible, to avoid them.

September 3, 2017

Today, and particularly every human interaction today, is the latest and best opportunity to continue humanity’s multi-millennia exploration of that Source, that Spirit, of love, wisdom and power which is beyond our conscious ken, and yet within each person’s spiritual reach.