January 28, 2018

This morning I have listened to two very different recordings which now evoke a common theme.  On my way to Meeting, I listened to a TED talk about violence treated prophylactically, as a public health problem, rather than with reaction, judgment and punishment.  Over and over, where this approach was applied, murder rates were cut by about fifty percent.

Second, here before Meeting, watching a lecture on “Lost Christianities,” I learned of, and marveled at, some of the intellectual gymnastics of early Christian writers seeking to defend and advance their theories of the meaning of The Old Testament in light of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

These talks remind me of the notion that the proverbial tree of the knowledge of good and evil is better seen as the tree of the perception of the knowledge of good and evil; the tree of the perception of the knowledge of right and wrong; that is, the tree of self-righteousness.

I ask the Holy Spirit to help me avoid self-righteousness, which creates conflict and distance between people and from which it is so hard to grow, and to help me focus on love and curiosity.

The difference between could do and actually do

What's the difference between the good I could do and what I actually do?
Every day, I am responsible for that difference.
Am I comfortable with that?

January 21, 2018

We gather to reflect on, to thank, and to strive to connect with and learn from something vastly greater and more powerful than we, yet accessible to each of us.  That something has many names, including God, Allah, Yahweh, the Way, the Tao, the truth, Life, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  There are countless ways to contemplate, to learn from, and to serve this something, this Holy Spirit.  As humble as my service to the Holy Spirit is, there is no one but I who can perform it.  How can I say no to that service – especially since it is accompanied by the guidance, inspiration, and comfort of the Holy Spirit?

January 7, 2018

Eternity begins now.

And now.

And again now.

Of course, eternity actually includes many, many, many nows, past and future. But for purposes of my – of our – present choices, eternity does not begin tomorrow, or next year, let alone after death. It begins now, and it includes what we do, and what we don't do.

Holy spirit, please help me to see, and to contribute, what I can - my personal penny - to the tranche of eternity which is here right now.

December 31, 2017

The only specific query I remember from First Day School with the late Professor Wight Bakke, at New Haven Friends Meeting, is this: “This past week, what could I have done to be a better person?” 

Perhaps its simplicity and timelessness makes the query so durable.

Today, on the eve of the new year, it can be restated: “What can I do each day of the new year to be a better person and servant of the Holy Spirit?”