Backstory: Last night I was at a meeting about the design of a worship space. I was wearing my theological hat (or biretta, miter, skullcap, veil, ring of roses) because it is very hard for me to take that particular item off, even with the best intentions in the world. Anyhow, during the meeting I …
I recently had the amusing opportunity to read an excerpt from an article by Michael Lewis that first appeared in its entirety in The New Republic. The article was about the impact of wealth on the human brain – which is not actually a benign event, as it turns out. Moreover, by changing the brain, …
My mother was a people person who was endlessly fascinated by the human eccentricities and idiosyncracies she observed around her. She was a delighted visual and, when possible, audio eavesdropper on everyone, everywhere. As a result, she had a well-developed sense of the ridiculous. She loved slapstick. She adored droll and self-deprecating British humor. When …
High Holy Days open conversations in paradoxical ways. Sometimes dialogue around the extended family table seems anything but. Often it is a rote repetition of past years, little more than familiar monologues competing for airspace. A neutral observer might wonder if there had been an intervening year, or growth, or change, or world (national, community, …
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice is upon us. On December 21 at 4:03 MST, the North Pole reaches the point at which it is tilted furthest – 23.5 degrees – away from the Sun. One breath later, we begin to tilt slowly back toward the light, toward warmth, toward longer days and shorter …
Back in April, I wrote a blog on the spirituality of paying taxes…which I happen to think is, actually, a spiritual discipline. As Christmas draws closer, I find myself reflecting on the spirituality of giving gratuities. Or sharing largesse. Or practicing some small kind of equity in my particular micro-environment. My training in this area …
Rumer Godden’s extraordinary book, In This House of Brede, is about an enclosed community of Benedictine nuns in England in the middle of the 20th century. Early in the story, a financial crisis (caused by the impetuous choice of a previous leader) threatens to overset the abbey. The newly-elected Abbess realizes she needs to act …
The spiritual practice that anchors Samhain is attentive, intentional waiting which, let’s face it, is not a highly developed skill or favorite activity of our culture. In fact, the resistance to waiting has become almost pathological. Case in point: those two women who camped out in front of Best Buy for 22 days so they …
Lying fallow is a good time to notice the things around us that are coming to the end of their natural cycles (everything from patterns of behavior to leggy houseplants to the elastic in our underwear). Other seasons are so filled with activity – both inner and outer – that the quiet events or tired …
In my family system, I am the oldest of three siblings and I am substantially older: seven years older than my brother and ten years older than my sister. [And (while I have the chance) I would like to note that being the oldest – for all of you who are in some other family …