Author: tomstellawebsite

“To come to ground is to find a home in circumstances, and in the very physical body we inhabit in the midst of those circumstances, and above all to face the truth, no matter how difficult that truth may be; to come to ground is to begin the courageous conversation, to step into difficulty, and, … Continue reading On Being Grounded

     “What really counts in life? What can we identify in our deepest selves that is essential? There must be something within us, something that motivates us, a direction that manifests, and gives meaning to each step we take. Living is not being content with roaming around aimlessly at the whim of chance encounters and … Continue reading The Yin and Yang of Life

     “With spiritual maturity the basis for (our) practice shifts away from ambition, idealism, and desire for self-transformation. It is as if the wind has changed, and a weather vane – still centered in the same spot – now points in a different direction: back to this moment. We are no longer striving after a … Continue reading Spiritual Maturity

     “The idea has been around as long as humans have been, of course; the poets of East Asia. the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, regularly made stillness the center of their lives. But has the need for being in one place ever been as vital as it is right now?... In an age … Continue reading Sitting Still

“What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?” asked the boy. “Help,” said the horse. “When have you been at your strongest?” asked the boy. “When I have dared to show my weakness.” “Asking for help isn’t giving up,” said the horse. “It’s refusing to give up.”      The dialogue above is an example of … Continue reading Alone Together

“Tragedy and suffering will come to us. We cannot insulate ourselves from them. We cannot avoid them. They come in their own season and in their own time. When they come, they may overwhelm us and immobilize us. For a time, we are living inside a scream where there seems to be no exit, only … Continue reading Withstanding Tragedy

“Now at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken… So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up to Judaea, to the town of David called Bethlehem…in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. … Continue reading Glory to God in the Lowest

“The only way to become whole is to put our arms lovingly around everything we know ourselves to be: self-serving and generous, spiteful and compassionate, cowardly and courageous, treacherous and trustworthy. We must be able to say to ourselves and to the world at large, “I am all of the above.” If we can’t embrace … Continue reading Holiness is Wholeness

“Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given; gratitude arises from paying attention, from being awake in the presence of everything that lives within and without us…Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and live together and mesh together and breathe together in order for us to … Continue reading Gratitude, Attention, Prayer

“…there is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist…easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow one’s self to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, … Continue reading Succumbing to Violence