Spirituality
Where God Has Me
It’s been a difficult week. The Best Beloved and I just got back Montreal where we’d gone for my father-in-law’s funeral. Morris passed away on January 12th (which is, oddly, also the day on which my adoptive father passed away, back in 1993). My father-in-law, Morris, was a great guy. He owned a department store…
Read MoreA Simple Life….Beloved
Photo by Ron Davis – Newfoundland A couple of nights ago I watched the tail end of a television show about a serial killer. In this episode the serial killer in question was a goth rock star who had lost himself in his stage persona. At the end of the show a woman’s voice-over quotes…
Read MoreChaos vs Stillness – Writers' Habits
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said “One must have chaos in oneself in order to give birth to a dancing star.” Well, that‘s a poetic and hopeful concept for those of us who come from chaotic backgrounds. However, I’m not convinced that the life of such a tumult-born star can be sustained and nurtured in the…
Read MoreToday the trees are coming down
The old silver maple God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, “Ah!”- Joseph Campbell This morning I woke early, made a cup of strong, fortifying coffee, and went outside to say goodbye to some friends. In about an hour a troop of men with chain saws will come and cut down…
Read MoreYou're wrong! I'm right!
I will not stand and fight all night. I will not shout, YOU’RE WRONG, I’M RIGHT! A few years ago, my Best Beloved and I had an argument. It was a real corker, a rip snorter. Tears were shed and doors were slammed and some very unhappy things were said. My Best Beloved had, some…
Read MoreGod's Three-Ring Circus
When I was down in Tennessee recently, I attended the Otey Memorial Parish Church, an Episcopalian church in Sewanee, and there I heard a truly wonderful sermon by Rev. Francis X. Walter. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect at a church down south. I haven’t been an Episcopalian for all that…
Read MoreView from the mountaintop II – Spiritual journal
My last post was about the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Tennessee, where I went recently to lead a workshop on keeping a spiritual journal. In that post I talked about Monteagle and the people there. Today I’ll talk about the workshop itself. There’s a line in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous about a…
Read MoreFrom the mountain top
I recently went to Tennessee to teach a workshop on keeping spiritual journal at the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly on the mountain top near Sewanee (not to be confused with the river or the song of similar name). The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly entrance The church and gazebo on the mall Okay, I admit it,…
Read MoreWe have no idea
A couple of decades ago, at a party, I was introduced to a tall thin man with an infectious grin framed by a dark goatee. His hair curled around his collar. His eyes were the sort of blue it’s hard to forget, although apparently I had. “We’ve already met,” he said. “I’m awfully sorry,” I…
Read MoreLove anyway — where I think The Sacred Lives
My Best Beloved and I had dinner on Friday night with Leslie and Chris, (they graciously gave me permission to use their real names.), new friends who exude a wonderfully attractive kindness, integrity and intelligence. We’ve wanted to get to know them better for a while… Beyond all those lovely qualities, there’s something more, however.…
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