The Ties that Bind

This beautiful, short sermon by the Rev. Scott Gerard Prinster (UU) reminded me of how crazily blessed my life has been, and how many of those blessings can be credited (or blamed, depending on my mood) to my parents.

Nothing has made me appreciate these often challenging blessings more than being a father myself. (Being a dad also revealed the constantly changing perspectives that growing and maturing afford you, particularly if you're willing to pay attention. Suddenly I was far more compassionate for my parents than I'd ever been in my pre-parent days.) I never really understood what my Mom and Dad meant when they said "I love you" until I said it to my daughter. It's like having a supernova right below my sternum, an explosion of bittersweet wonder and joy. Coming full circle, round 1.

The puzzle of our identities is indeed more complex than we want to admit, and how much of it is attributable to our folks, to their strengths and failings, we'll probably never know. So here's to you, Mom and Dad!

clipped from clf.uua.org I’ve also come to see that manhood is a changing state rather than a fixed set of qualities. In older adulthood, the man my father has become is almost nothing like the caricature I once created. Last week he left a phone message telling me that he was drinking green tea from the coffee company I had introduced him to. Green tea? Maturity has made us increasingly alike, and I’m grateful that my father is now both a man I like and one I don’t mind being like.

You can listen to the sermon here.

The spirit of Richard Feynman

I'm pretty sure the late Nobel laureate Richard Feynman would not have wanted to be seen as some sort of spiritual teacher, but I can't help feel buoyed and inspired by the joy, thoughtfulness, and genuineness he conveys in this series of interviews. To me, those are spiritual qualities. Enjoy!













"I don't feel frightened not knowing."

Cooperation as a factor in evoution

Steve Davis does a fantastic job of arguing that evolution isn't simply about selfishness and competition, and that, in fact, cooperation seems to be the framework within which competition coheres.

clipped from www.scientificblogging.com Cooperation is a form of goodness, but how prevalent is it in nature? Well, we see cooperation between molecules, between cells, between organs, between organisms, between groups, and between groups of groups. How much cooperation do we need to see before conceding its significance? How blind do you have to be to ignore cooperation as a factor in evolution?

Closed mind always wants to protect its right to be closed

Some insights from Deepak Chopra on how to open your mind:

clipped from www.sfgate.com 1. Stop believing that you're right. Examine the compulsion that forces you to be right all the time. 2. Don't make every argument us versus them. 3. Be less attached to winning and more attached to the truth. 4. Don't color every issue with morality. Right and wrong are generally useless when it comes to finding creative solutions. 5. Write down the five fundamental beliefs that guide your life. Now write down the best arguments against those beliefs. 6. When you are the most emotional about any issue, assume that you are blinding yourself. An open mind is calm, centered, flexible, and tolerant of opposing views. 7. When you are thinking of saying an idea that you know came from someone else, let go of it. 8. Most people either automatically agree or automatically disagree. Examine this trait in yourself and give it up. 9. Be aware of how you feel before you speak. Feelings are closer to the truth than words. 10. Walk in someone else's shoes before you judge them.

We need to create a new culture

clipped from www.counterpunch.org To reverse what is happening, we must create strong alternative ideas and hardy alternative institutions and communities, a counter culture that rejects the myths of Washington and Wall Street just as, in the 1960s, a generation put the establishment on the defensive or in the closet. In any case, we need to act, but independent of those responsible for the mess, those exculpating them, those offering remedies that are mere manipulated shadows of the failure, and those engaged in misleading or misguided organizing on their behalf even if with purportedly noble intent. The collapse of American culture was an inside job. Its cure is to be found on the outside, in a counter culture that is clear and worthy in its goals, eclectic in its alliances, and which builds community, recovers integrity and helps us to sing again. If we can't save our culture, we can at least create a new one.

No greater love

A friend of mine played Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" to accompany the crucifixion scene from Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth. I so loved that combination that I worked for a couple of hours early Easter morning to mash it up for my blog. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how the crucifixion speaks to me and what it means (I'm not your "usual" Christian --- whatever that looks like), but I cannot deny its power in my life.

Happy Easter, whatever you may believe!

The goal of the spiritual life

clipped from www.integrativespirituality.org The goal of the spiritual life is to so transform the personality so that there becomes a natural, charming and attractive outpouring of focus on God, and compassionate identification and action toward our neighbor (wife, mother, lover, child, fellow worker, friend, enemy, opponent, etc.) The personality is permeated with the fruits of the Spirit. The discipline of the spiritual life leads to freedom from obsessively trying to keep rules which in the end fall short of loving action.