Today is my 58th birthday. How strange it is to think I’ve been around that many years, but I have. And I haven’t wasted a year. I’ve lived a full, rich and exciting life that has led me places I could not even have imagined. Toward the end of 2013, I found myself waking up in the mornings with aches and pains that made me feel old. But at 58 I’m not ready to slow down. I thought of my friend Wiebke, who at 76 is one of the most vibrant, fit, active women I know of any age....
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My dear friends, Since the first time I heard this song (‘Breath of Heaven’ by Amy Grant) it has moved me to tears. I relate to this young woman who humbly asks for strength to go the distance in her life and trust the process. Every spiritual tradition has its most important stories. Those stories can be told from many different points of view. And each has the power to transform lives for better or worse. This year at Christmastime, it’s Mary’s story I wish to share: a...
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Life is an ever-changing set of competing priorities, where visions become reality in the context of daily demands. For me these days life is occurring at an ever-quickening level of intensity, as my different priorities compete with the mundane for my time and attention. And I know from talking with clients and students that this is a very familiar place for a lot of people. I hear people tell me, often on the verge of desperation, that they cannot figure out how to create...
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I don’t know about you but I think human beings tend to be somewhat crisis oriented. We don’t really reach down into ourselves for answers until everything we’ve tried to do to control the world around us fails. As long as you have the familiar sights around you – things that you think you know – there is a sense of security. But when you leave the place that you know, and things aren’t working (e.g. Thomas Edison’s 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at a...
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Today is Labor Day in the USA. Summer’s last fling! Enjoy it! As you roast your hot dogs or catch the last sales of the summer, let me ask you a question. What inspired Labor Day, and how can it inspire you today? The origins of this now-happy holiday go back to a dark summer in American history. It was 1894. The country was struggling to recover from a deep depression known as the Panic of 1893. Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike as the company,...
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I went to the beach this morning for swim. It’s very hot here these days, and I find if I can cool down my core temperature in the morning I’m comfortable for the rest of the day. This morning the waters were a bit turbulent. My swimming buddy told me he was nervous. A little girl in her father’s arms cried. And I got to thinking about the difference between trusting the water and fighting against it and what a good metaphor this is for life. When a person goes...
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