Attuned to Soul

     “In mainstream religious traditions, a creator may be ostensibly worshipped while the creation itself is dishonored; our Western political system and economy are rife with people who claim, for example, allegiance with Judeo-Christian religions yet do not flinch at profiting from the destruction of Earth’s life support systems. Reverence is reserved for a disembodied … Continue reading Turning here into heaven

     “At one time or another, most people go through a period of sadness, trial, loss, frustration, or failure that is so disturbing and long-lasting that it can be called a dark night of the soul. If your main interest in life is health, you may quickly try to overcome the darkness. But if you … Continue reading Dark Nights

“The chief rabbi of the shtetl (small Jewish town), a sage renowned throughout the land as the greatest mind in Jewish thought, is approached by two young Seekers of Truth. They have traveled for weeks, a great distance, on foot, in order to sit at his feet.     “Rabbi,” asks one, eager for wisdom. “Why … Continue reading In Praise of Irreverence

   “Be the … Lewis and Clark of your own streams and oceans; explore your own higher latitudes … be a Columbus to whole new worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought … it is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals … than it … Continue reading Discovering Our Sacred Self

     “Present is living with your feet firmly grounded in reality, pale and uncertain as it may seem. Present is choosing to believe that your own life is worth investing deeply in, instead of waiting for some rare miracle or fairy tale. Present means we understand that the here and now is sacred, sacramental, threaded … Continue reading Present Over Perfect

     “Compassion, like charity, begins at home. The first step toward deep healing is self-healing. Only after we have remembered to respect and care for ourselves can we truly enter into “kinship with all beings.” If we try to help others before we have healed our wounds and developed compassion for ourselves, we may find … Continue reading Self Care First

“In bullfighting there is a place in the ring where the bull feels safe. If he can reach this place, he stops running and can gather his full strength. He is no longer afraid… It is the job of the matador to know where this sanctuary lies, to be sure the bull does not have … Continue reading Querencia

“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing… is that pretty much anything else you worship … Continue reading Everybody Worships

“…ecology merges with spirituality, because the experience of being connected with all of nature, of belonging to the universe, is the very essence of spirituality. The original meaning of spirit in many ancient philosophical and religious traditions, in the West as well as in the East, is that of the breath of life. The Latin … Continue reading Between Birth and Death

“I came here with a huge open heart, like a big, sweet dog, and I still have one. But some days the only thing that can cheer me up is something bad happening to someone I hate, preferably if it went viral and the photo of the person showed hair loss and perhaps the lifelong … Continue reading Loving Our Imperfect Selves