Hopeful Thinking

  Renewable energy hit a record high in March. The US generated 10% of its electricity from wind and solar for the first time. Cities, states and corporations from across the country are committing to the terms of the Paris Climate Accord. Eight states have banded together to promote clean cars. It’s really not that hard to find a flood of evidence that the societal tide has already turned. We know what we want now. The technology is there and people, all things being equal, are buying it. Electric car sales are up. So is public interest in renewable energy overall. Besides the new Tesla is so sexy.   I remember when Massachusetts first banned cigarettes from restaurants and eventually bars as well. Business owners were certain that it would be armageddon. No one would ever come to a bar or restaurant again. Of course business was impacted, change is a bumpy road. But those who could adapt fared better. People got used to it. Just like seatbelt laws. As society be...

Occasionally I begin writing a column with a question to which I don’t yet know the answer. When I do this, I find the answer seems to unfold itself as I write. It is an act of faith that the answer will be there once the question is so boldly asked as to set it in print. But we must then remain open to how that answer will arrive. One of my favorite old spiritual jokes describes a man on his roof amid the waters of a great flood. He has prayed to God to save him, but sends away a rowboat and then a helicopter because he expects God will accomplish the task by means of the miraculous not the physical. Be sure you see miracles in rowboats. You never know from whence they came. Be also careful with your expectations. Light comes best where there is no obstruction (read: expectation). There’s an old bit of flower lore which states if you seek a truth unknown to you, put a sunflower under your pillow and truth should be revealed the next day. I like this thought. Especially because ...

Do not despair. You have been told. So don’t do it. But of course it’s easier said than done. And what is despair? It’s not merely sadness. Is deeper than sadness. It’s the persistent belief that sadness is your new permanent mailing address. It’s from the Latin prefix de - meaning “down from,” and sperare meaning “to hope.” As if hope is the pinnacle, and we are banished from ever again reaching it. But despair is not about being in the depths, it’s about looking away from the light. It’s about choosing to see the depths as your new forever reality, rather than just a temporary one. It’s actually quite easy to slip into a belief that we will never be happy again when we lose someone. We can’t begin to picture what it would feel like to be happy as we process our loss. But worse, we fear we are doing our love for them a disservice by imagining a future happiness in the midst of our present grief. We think it says we didn’t really love them unless we tear our clothes, put ashes on...

It is said in many ways and by many different cultures that it’s not the destination which matters most. It’s the journey. We often see this kind of bumper-sticker speak suggesting we take in the present moment rather than obsess about future outcomes. Or past failures. It might be concluded that world scripture is nudging us toward smelling the warmed roses, rather than burying the bushes for the winter in June. What might be sniffed from this? Let’s create a “fact” for the sake of argument. The “fact” is: Journey is exponentially more important than Destination. If that is so, then why? And to what? If we assume Journey literally is the destination we seek, what thoughts does it bring up? My faith operates under the assumption that like a good jazz vocal, real Truth fits in many different boxes without losing the essence and intent of the original thought. Truth is continuously revealed in the process of exploring it. God isn’t interested in us figuring it out as It ...

Some years ago, I had a sudden epiphany. I hated winter. Okay, so perhaps that’s not such a revelation, but to be honest I hadn’t really thought about it before. Sure, I had complained about it enough, but I hadn’t really declared my awareness to the level of actual venom. I see people all the time who emphatically hate winter and even all things white, just to be on the safe side. They appear to love the sport of icy grievance. They speak of the weather as if it were grounds for a customer service complaint. To whom would their suggestions be boxed? There’s a spiritual concept of Nonresistance which confuses us, especially Americans. We have been ingrained to resist as a point of national heritage. If we don’t like something we resist it. We throw our tea into the harbor time and again. The urge to resist is natural, it’s conscious, direct and actionable. Nonresistance as a concept feels like punching someone with Jello. But nonresistance isn’t passive. It isn’t ineffective e...