Hopeful Thinking

    Humanity’s relationship with and understanding of God is based on a limitless supply of limited information. All we know of God is what we can see through the keyhole. It seems impossibly dark in here. A bright light is definitely on in the other room. All we can see of it, however, is the narrow band of photons which miraculously hits the impossibly small target of our eye.      It’s not much information to begin with. But worse, we’re all trying to see through the same keyhole at once. Crowding around it. The sides of our faces pressing hard against one another. So many trying to see. To verify. Each of us gets so little. Just a thin pinstreak of light. But our slender beam is entirely our own. No other eye can see through the opening at the exact angle we can. Just like no two views of a rainbow are exactly the same. What each looks like depends upon where you’re standing. In fact, each rainbow is in reality a series of individual rainbows in an amount...

    I am fascinated by the concept of holiness. First, I have to say that I do believe some things, places, even people, can accurately be referred to as “holy.” Still, I expect the concept to hold up to scrutiny. What does the word holy actually mean? Who, or what, confers holiness? Do we correctly infer God’s favor? Do we assume God more deeply approves of this person or that? Upon what criteria? What’s the checklist of “holy person?” What about holy spaces? Who or what decides these things? The answer can only be: People.     People declare holiness. They deem it to be on the authority of an outside higher power, but how can anyone confirm that? If God is as mysterious as tradition tells us there is literally no way we should maintain certainty. Divinely inspired or otherwise, holiness is a human construct. Yet that doesn’t mean it’s less special, sacred, or even less divine.     Why do we try so hard to read God’s mind? Why do we insist upon delving...

    What are you afraid of? Think about it for a minute. Sort through the obvious ones like losing a loved one or of dying ourselves. Get to the weird ones. Or the unexplainable ones. I personally know someone who is afraid of red nail polish. Get to the fears you don’t really mention to anyone because you hardly notice them yourself. I still flinch when driving through intersections and it’s been many years since my very minor accident.     I wonder about these fears. I wonder what they can tell us about ourselves. I think of them like symbolic dreams, but worse. We often know exactly what our fears mean. And yet feel so powerless against them. I’m sure scientists have come up with multiple categories for different types of fear. I deliberately chose not to look them up.     Many years ago I decided to have a little ceremony on the bow of a cruise ship I was singing on as it headed east from the island of Ibiza where we had spent the day. It was a new mo...

    Spoiler alert. Life is what you make of it.     I have to admit, my experience on social media is almost entirely positive. I am aware of what else is out there besides positivity, but I spend my energy on letting that pass through and around me rather than battling it. Here’s a hint: If you’re angry, you’re battling it.     I have developed a rule about my participation online over the years. Every time I break it, it bites me in the butt. I guess that’s what ethical standards are all about, however. We draw lines in the sand that we sometimes fail to remain behind, but from which we always learn. Even if rubbing our sore backsides while we’re doing it.    The rule is Be Kind. Perhaps that degree of simplicity sounds cliché or contrite. Naïve, even ignorant. Many have accused me of being decidedly unrealistic about life. They are welcome to their opinion. But like I said before, I have a positive experience on the Internet. Why might tha...

   Retail sales were up this Christmas. Good news, I suppose. Some say it's because we have more consumer confidence this year. But I’m not so sure. I think Christmas presents are a different category of retail altogether. They represent something more communal, more human. I suspect we bought more presents this year because we needed more Christmas this year. I think we gave more gifts because we need to enhance our sense of belonging right now.     This is not to discount the religious reasons for Christmas or even choose one tradition over another. But not all parts of of Christmas belong to Christ. Gift giving and tree trimming among them.     What are we saying to someone when we buy or make and give a holiday present? To some we are making a gesture of professional courtesy with a gift, like to a coworker or the mail carrier. Other gifts are so profound they could bind together an entire village.     But in the most basic, traditional h...

    My favorite holiday story is the tale-in-song of Good King Wenceslaus. It takes place on the Feast of St. Stephen, December 26, second of the twelve days of Christmas. On this particular evening in the early tenth century, the much-loved and posthumously-declared king, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia looks out upon the frosty snow. He sees a poor man gathering sticks in the distance and becomes curious about him.     He calls upon his page to tell him about the man. The page explains he lives a fair distance away, by the edge of the forest, near St Agnes’ fountain. Agnes and Wenceslaus are the two patron saints of Bohemia. The reference to her in the second verse is acknowledging that. However, the 19th century songwriter took a bit too much license. At the time of our good king Wenceslaus, Agnes wasn’t yet born. She is actually a direct descendant of Wenceslaus, born 276 years after his death. Neither Agnes nor her fountain existed in the tenth cent...

    It’s almost over. The declining of the light is starting to slow down now. We are reaching the lull period when the days and nights begin to exchange superiority. They are greeting one another in passing. Enjoying the few moments they have only twice each year when they are equals. Take heart now, the sun returns.     Ancient cultures have a deeper understanding of how the earth is indistinct from all that walks upon it. It’s no effort for them to imagine their connection—their sense of ultimate belonging—to the earth itself. Humanity has wavered from that understanding. We have lost our sense of belonging to the earth. It’s okay. This too shall pass.      Through our scientific explorations of the planet we have inadvertently distanced ourselves from it in direct proportion to our awareness of its miracles. We feel increasingly inadequate to the intricacy of the profound creation we have been systematically discovering. We have become all ...