Not measured by paragraphs

Writing is only writing. The accomplishments of courage and tenderness are not to be measured by paragraphs.

-- Mary Oliver

Let Us Run the Race Before Us...

...together!

Pilgrimage: Patience and Passion

...a funny thing happened on the way to my vocation.  Today, twenty-five years after I left education in anger and fear, my work is deeply related to the renewal of educational institutions.  I believe that this is possible only because my true self dragged me, kicking and screaming, toward honoring its nature and needs, forcing me to find my rightful place in the ecosystem of life, to find a right relation to institutions with which I have a lifelong lover's quarrel.  Had I denied my true self, remaining "at my post" simply because I was paralyzed with fear, I would almost certainly be lost in bitterness today instead of serving a cause I care about.

Rosa Parks took her stand with clarity and courage.  I took mine by diversion and default.  Some journeys are direct, and some are circuitous; some are heroic, and some are fearful and muddled.  But every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need.

As May Sarton reminds us, the pilgrimage toward true self will take "time, many years and places."  The world needs people with the patience and passion to make that pilgrimage not only for their own sake but also as a social and political act.  The world still waits for the truth that will set us free -- my truth, your truth, our truth -- the truth that was seeded in the earth when each of us arrived here formed in the image of God.  Cultivating that truth, I believe is the authentic vocation of every human being.

-- Parker Palmer

Arcade Fire and Suburban Camping

It was supposed to be all about comfort and predictability, twin notions that must make God chortle fairly heartily.

-- Andy Whitman

Get this music to honest up your heart a bit.

Afraid to laugh

It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in His presence.

-- George MacDonald

Stars

One thing about stars, while once or twice a year on some undistracted evening we 'oooh and aaah'...most of the time we just don't notice them at all, often forgetting they are even there.

And the odd thing is that we...want to be stars, if not to all, at least to those most closely around us, especially family. But more often than not, it seems, we have to live like the stars -- relatively unnoticed...even when shining with a twinkle in our eyes...but still without much thought or reflection from the star-gazers we want to see us.

We feel this from our kids, as they grow older...and try to shine brightly on their own. We feel this from time to time from our spouses or a friend. But in the end, faith teaches us to 'twinkle' on anyway...noticed in the moment or not...because we know that one day our star will be an important one among the many which reflect the hidden beauty and marvels of God. Our star in the midst of His Milky Way; we become content with the momentary opportunity to do our direct twinkle-work every once in a while, when someone we love stops to notice.

May we take our spots in the sky with gratitude and not seek to be brighter than we are.

Stand Up...Again

It is faith that compels us to stand up again...to stand up again and look through all the evidence of our failures to the God of our faith who draws us away from the emprisoning ugliness of self-determinism and towards the beauty of our released freedom in Him.

There is Truth...

There is some truth in what almost everyone is saying....

No Painless Way

If you are looking for painless ways to grow toward each other and toward maturity, call off the search.

-- J. Grant Howard

A Beautiful Mind

I've made the most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found.

-- John Nash

I've been introducing some movies to my son that have been meaningful to me over the years.  I watched this one again recently, realizing I've forgotten what a great story it is.  I particularly like the choice of love that John's wife makes to reach her husband.

I also have recognized periods of my life where unreal things distort my sense of reality...while not the same issues, they are not unlike what John Nash had to work through. Perhaps the things that tempt us or plague us never really do go completely away -- these thorns in the flesh. But, in retrospect, they do seem to be able to be silenced, even as they continue to wait for opportunity to ensnare us...not unlike the image in Genesis of sin that 'crouches at the door'.  Believing in truth strikes me as a lot like what is depicted in this movie.

Humility

True humility doesn't consist of thinking ill of yourself but of not thinking of yourself much differently from the way you'd be apt to think of anybody else.

-- Frederick Buechner

The Story of Now

Have you noticed how...we often refer to things that have taken place in the past?