Contribution

What higher non-physical need do we have than to experience contributing to - mattering to - at least one other person?

Most treasured moment?

Which is the more to be treasured: doing something for the first time or doing something for the last time?
Does it matter?
Aren't we always living this moment, breathing this breath, for the first time and for the last time?

Wanting the best for our loved ones

We want our friends and loved ones to be well, happy, and fulfilled - even it means being well, happy, and fulfilled somewhere else or with someone else.

A father's advice

If a person knows you think something is wrong, or even just unwelcome, yet asks you to do that "if you love me", that person doesn't love you.

A question about fear

Is my fear of failure, embarrassment, loss, grief or pain the inner counsel of conscience or of cowardice?

(I think fear can come from an instinct for wisdom, even survival.  But it can also come from avoiding the kind of discomfort that is essential to growth.  See October 6, 2013.)

Doing my best

For what moment, what circumstance, has my life not prepared me to do my best?

My mother's favorite saying

"We are always in just the right place to learn what we need to learn."

When in doubt

When in doubt,
breathe in,
breathe out.

Being a person of substance

Being a person of substance is a matter of choice, not of money.

November 3, 2013

What more profound expression of spirituality is there than the constant cultivation of gratitude?

What surer path to happiness is there than the constant cultivation of gratitude?

The equation of an ultimate expression of spirituality and a sure path to happiness is perfectly elegant.

Yet there is more.

In human affairs, when one is deeply grateful to another person, it is natural to ask, “What can I do for you?”  Or we might say, “Let me know if I can ever return the favor.” 

Let us do the same in matters of the spirit.  By asking the Power – however named – to which we are grateful, “What can I do for you?” we demonstrate our gratitude.  By listening for the answer to that question and acting accordingly, we serve that Power; we become agents of grace; and we enlarge and nourish the garden of gratitude.