Attuned to Soul

“I am… noisy full of the racket of my imperfections and passions, and the wide open wounds left by my sins. Full of my own emptiness. Yet, ruined as my house is, You live there.” “No matter how low you may have fallen in your own esteem, bear in mind that if you delve deeply … Continue reading Hitting Bottom

“When from our better selves we have too long Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop,                                    Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired,            How gracious, how benign, is Solitude;                                    How potent a mere image of her sway”      With a poets mind, heart, and gift for words, William Wordsworth, in … Continue reading Sweet Solitude

     “There’s a branch of Christianity that promises a cure for tragedy. It is called by many names, but most often it is nicknamed the “prosperity gospel” for its bold central claim that God will give you your heart’s desires: money in the bank, a healthy body, a thriving family, and boundless happiness...      The … Continue reading The Prosperity Gospel

“When we confine ourselves to the village, we lose touch with our true nature. No wonder soul alienation is suffered by most people in the industrialized cultures of the Western world… At one time in our lives…we’ve experienced an emptiness at our core, a sense that our lives don’t make sense, that something essential is … Continue reading Live Large

     “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious superior (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of junk, every breath. Every moment is the guru.”        Perhaps … Continue reading Ready or Not

“A priest of the Greek Orthodox Church…tells of a monk he met on Mount Athos.     He was in a very bad state, very dark, very bitter, very angry. When asked what was the matter, he said, “Look at me; I’ve been here for thirty-eight years, and I have not yet attained pure prayer.” And … Continue reading Pure Prayer

“The spirituality of imperfection speaks to those who seek meaning in the absurd, peace within the chaos, light within the darkness, joy within the suffering…This is not a spirituality for saints or gods, but for people who suffer from what the philosopher-psychologist William James called “torn-to-pieces-hood”…We have all known that experience, for to be human … Continue reading Torn to Pieces

“Learning to live a more contemplative way of life in the midst of today’s world – what could be more simple or more difficult? Simple because the contemplative way is the way of seeing what simply is... It is the way of being who we simply are in the rhythmic simplicity of our breathing, in … Continue reading A Contemplative Way of Life

“We live in the most affluent culture the world has ever seen. Estimates are that although we have only 6 percent of the world’s population in America, we use almost half of the natural resources. It seems to me that if more were actually better, we would live in the happiest, most satisfied culture of … Continue reading Just Passing Through

“…A plant scientist, armed with his notebooks and equipment, is exploring the rainforests for new botanical discoveries, and he has hired an Indigenous guide to lead him. Knowing the scientist’s interests, the young guide takes care to point out the interesting species. The botanist looks at him appraisingly, surprised by his capacity. “Well, well, young … Continue reading Everything Has a Song