Hopeful Thinking

Humans, like many other animals, are an inter-dependent species. We rely on the strength of the group to protect the individual. Over and over again we demonstrate our desire for and need to collaborate with each other. This is social as well as biological. Diversity of the gene pool and survival of the species relies on our ability to collaborate and adapt as a group. Unfortunately, we too often lean on the paradigm of sharing a common enemy to create that unity. So much so, that society is often manipulated into believing there is an enemy so that a coalition forms. That coalition is rarely intended to combat the imaginary enemy as much as to accomplish separate, unknown objectives, typically political or financial in nature. Of course there are genuine enemies out there. But are we perceiving them at the same level as their threat? Are those whom we’ve been told to fear truly as fearful as we’ve been led to believe? Are we being separated on purpose? Knowing that there a...

The observance of Easter is upon us. Cultures throughout the world, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, honor rebirth at this time on the wheel of the year. These celebrations are of course far older than Christianity. But still, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ seamlessly corresponds with the ideas of rebirth and renewal celebrated elsewhere. Unlike Christmas, which honors the birth of Jesus on a day and time of year likely different from when it actually occurred, Easter is observed in relation to the same Jewish calendar as when it first reportedly happened, the first Sunday after Passover.  According to tradition, Easter Sunday is the day when Jesus rose from the dead following his execution three days and nights before. Must we believe such a story? Most Unitarians would say no, belief in the literal rising of the dead is optional. Today, we rely upon reason to decide, for the most part, that once something or someone is dead, they tend to remain so. ...

Your feelings are a real thing, let’s be clear. They have power and influence of their own. They are, in fact, the navigator of our entire lives. Our feelings are what guide us in the decisions we make and the forgiveness we feel. Feelings are the unadulterated language of God. What your feelings manage to accomplish on a day-to-day basis depends on how well you care for them. Our culture has twisted the idea of altruism into something which excludes us from the equation of serving others. Somehow we’ve come to believe that we don’t matter. We should only think of others. A life of utter sacrifice is holy, so the story goes. But that is a car with no gas to fuel it. How you feel always matters. How you feel determines the stamina you have to serve others joyfully. How do you feel right now? Are you comfortable? Are you uncomfortable? Are you happy? Do you believe you deserve to be? Deeply ask these questions of yourself and listen very carefully for the answers. Don’t always e...

Remember the first person who trusted you with something expensive? You knew you didn’t want to let them down. Their trust in you meant so much you tried even harder to keep it. Remember that. Trust is something we often do by choice. We choose to entrust something to someone without 100% assurance of either safety or success. Of course, we don’t always fully trust the people for whom we choose to demonstrate it. Letting your newly-licensed child drive your car is a display of great trust not always felt. Sometimes we behave according to a level of confidence we do not fully know, but hope to. The word trust originates from an old Norse word for strong. We tend to have confidence in things which appear to be strong. Sometimes, however, things are not as they appear. Weakness can always hide behind a thin veneer. It’s the inside which determines strength, not the out. Consider the inside of something when placing your trust in it. When faced with a dilemma, a person‘s character...

    The ritual of walking across hot coals, or firewalking, is a spiritual act recorded as far back as the Iron Age, but comes from traditions much older than written records. It is a rite of passage, a test of strength, and of faith. One walks barefoot across a lengthy pad of red hot burning embers. Hopefully unburned. If done carefully, one’s feet will not burn. It is often assumed to be a great feat of the mind to manage to essentially walk in fire and escape unharmed. But there are physics which explain why it works. However, it is still a great feat of the mind. One must remain calm, firm, but not forceful. If you run across the coals, you will sink into the embers and burn your feet. If you walk too soon before the coals are ready, they will have too much water still in the wood and will burn your feet. If you have not carefully prepared the surface, nails or other metal may be present and will burn your feet.     So what do we think about that ?...

Many of us have experienced abuse, either emotional, sexual, or physical. Some of us have known war, violence, or deep psychological trauma from one event or many. Sooner or later we all emerge from these places. Hopefully, having survived. Once we are finally free, we often find ourselves with a surprising set of new challenges to face. The unsettling quality of finally achieving a measure of safety following prolonged abuse is a sudden recognition of how much we had gotten used to feeling unsafe. That is a can of worms all its own. The unclenching. It is part of the aftermath of recalibration. A new normal. Imagine you need to go to the chiropractor for back pain. Your muscles constantly ache and pull. You take pills. But sometimes the nerves send out shockwaves like lightning throughout your body. The pain is so sharp and sudden it takes your breath away. You’ve gotten used to it. But something has to be done. We can’t keep going on like this. As you sit on the chiropractor’s tabl...