Wholeness – it’s my word for the new year. Some years a word has served me better than a resolution. A word's given guidance when I didn’t know where I was going, let alone what steps to take to get there. When the world keeps changing, or when I’m considering what’s important in a new... Continue Reading →
On Birch Branches and Everyday Reminders
A birch tree reaches out over the White River at a point very near my favorite bike trail. A clear view of it opens up from the hilltop north of an interstate bridge. From there I see many branches of many trees, but the birch’s vivid white bark often catches my attention. I first noticed... Continue Reading →
All Those Who Wander: The Spiritual Practice of Walking
I could have driven to the coffee shop. I'd have stayed warmer and drier. But that wasn't the point. The point was that it was time for a walk. So, inside heavy wool coat, hat, scarf, and mittens, I set out on foot into the swirl of damp snowflakes. They stuck everywhere: on my nose,... Continue Reading →
Pausing with Whatever: Practices of a Monk in the World
The titles on my bookshelves don’t fully reveal what those shelves or their books actually hold. Because I have the habit of tucking notes into my books for safekeeping, I never quite know what will fall out when I open a book. Not a great organizational method for my correspondence, this tucking away of notes... Continue Reading →
Silly Things We Do That Keep Us Sane
What do you do that keeps you sane? I’m guessing that a lot of us have things we do that would appear impractical and odd to anyone who observed us doing them (if we actually let anyone observe us doing them). They’d count as silliness were it not for one factor: the good they do... Continue Reading →
To Practice Change
I’ve been looking ahead, daydreaming about blossoms on trees, and fresh starts, and new things. They sound beautiful. Newness means change, though, and I’ve had a complicated relationship with change. Perhaps many of us have in recent years as the pace of it seems to have picked up. Change can bring about great good, but... Continue Reading →