Hopeful Thinking

Meditation: The Acorn of the Seminarian We are here because we have been called. We are here because we perceive a potential within us. A potential we choose to cultivate and nurture in the esteemed company of Seekers. We are as seeds of hope and good news, wisdom manifest, with a sacred intent to both nurture and nourish. Within us, in this exact moment, we hold the full culmination of our past as well as the complete foundation for our future. A future that includes not only us, but all those whose lives we will touch and all those whom we may inspire to sacred callings such as our own. Within us we store the great blueprint of our soul’s intention here on earth. Like a great oak tree, whose hidden roots below stretch as far outward as the reaches of its sacred canopy above; mirroring the seen and the unseen attributes of its deciduous duality. The oak is the embodiment of patience and wisdom and strength. A strong wood, concentrically growing and drawing into itself, as...

I don’t know when in my life I originally started to think about Muslims and their faith, but I know I did think of them. Probably young. Many years before September 11, 2001. Perhaps as young as 10 or 12. I no longer remember what my early impressions were. Perhaps from the movies. My later impressions were forced to be concluded against a social backdrop of war and politics, colored by personal experience. At the age of 23 in 1993, I was only a few blocks away having lunch when Islamic terrorists bombed the basement of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. I felt the ground shake. I assumed it was an earthquake. I was wrong but correct. Eight years later, I had dinner reservations at the Windows on the World Restaurant on top of the North Tower scheduled for Sept 12, 2001. I was packing for my trip into the city when I saw the second plane hit the South Tower on the news. The restaurant where I was to have dinner the following night was already gone. Early th...

See those folks loudly arguing over there?  Observe them for a moment but don’t conclude what’s going on by what they say.  Look at other parts.  What do you think these people WANT?  Not what they SAY they want.  What is the underlying honesty beneath?  When people use God as an argument to do anything other than make friends they have another Want in mind than God.  What is it?  Figure that out and you’ll know how to help them.  It’s harder to be them than us.  But it’s ok.  They need this drama.  It’s important for them to experience it, in the cosmic sense.  We all of us have or shall spend time there ourselves to one degree or another.   The world has changed and they don’t have quite as much control over things as before.  The rules have altered a bit in our favor and they're scrambling.  Pray for them.  That's the best way to help them get caught up.  That's all we really want anyw...

Accepting change is hard.  And so much of our world is in a state of flux right now.  Change is rampant and not always for the better, but often.  Things we never imagined seeing in our lifetime —both good and bad—happen now practically every day.  The fall of the Berlin Wall, microwave ovens, landing on the moon, the Internet, smartphones, YouTube, marriage equality. Trump leading in the polls. (Definitely never imagined that one.)  And while not all of our surprises are good ones, the ones that are good are great .  When I think of the progress in my lifetime alone!  We have become accustomed to the speed of change even as we resist it.  Only a few decades ago things were vastly different.  Imagine a farmer in 1970 having to upgrade his tractor as often as we upgrade our iPhones?   Progress on Earth is snowballing.  One has only to look at a longer timeline of humanity to see that the rate of change has increased e...

Language. It's all about the word. And yet words are there only to describe the emotional state resulting from a thought package.  An idea.  A concept.  In our minds there are no words really.  Our thoughts come and go much too fast to be worded.  In our minds there are only experiences and concepts.  But how often do words fall short of describing the totality of our experience? What you think of when we think of the word ineffable ?  Ineffable is a word we use to describe a concept that is indescribable.  It’s a very forgiving word.  It is a word we use to be accepting of our ignorance.  It’s a word of self-forgiveness in a world where we crave control and comprehension.  And categorization. I propose that we consider something a bit forward-thinking today regarding the ineffable.  But I'd like to ask you a few questions first.  Do you believe in love?  Do you believe that IT exists?  Do you believe it is ...