Multiple Things

Not just one thing is true. 

Multiple things are true. Even seemingly contradictory things can still be true.

Subconsciously, we often seem to prefer just one thing to be true. Perhaps this is because it requires more of us, if it’s not. We tend to like certainty (especially when it is one thing) and not like ambiguity (not to mention paradox). But, this can become a real problem when the habits we form around this desire actually become our requirements of the world (not to mention the people in it ...especially others).

Recent elections, for example, reveal this tendency.  The issues involved in public policy are multi-variate and require an ability to hold multiple things simultaneously and to reach for something that enables us to do so. 

Religious faith can also often become too easily reduced to a single issue (which, in and of itself, seems contradictory to the essence of it — if that were actually possible, why would you need faith?).  I'm for this thing or I'm against that thing.  But, few things in our lives actually allow for that kind of reductionist simplicity, not to mention trust.

More than one thing is true.  And, since there are so many in fact that are, we have to take a kind of posture towards the range and depth involved.  It is our overall stance that is revealing.  Are we primarily resistant to things that may be true (after all)?  Are we welcoming of what is true, as we discover the dimensions and contours of it?

Since we're often not, why wouldn't we be?

Well, as we've seen time and time again, there is another element seems to co-opt our relationship with truth.  Power.

Power often creates and facilitates fear.  Then, it borrows on select singularities of truth to leverage our response to it.  And, the more it does so, the more we move away from truth's essence. 

Certainty is too often not what it is portrayed to be, especially when it reduces truth to something we're comfortable with (manageable — code for controllable). But, truth certainly does not submit to certainty.

It takes a kind of humility to not clamor for certainty — to remain (or become) open.  Openness can lead to freedom; freedom can lead to wisdom.

Wisdom is a result of humility's posture towards the expansive and inclusionary nature of truth. 

...and the true nature of faith that is then required when multiple things are true. 

Election: 70% of voters under 30 & 60% of Hispanic voters

 
Axios


AP NEWS

Every generation has a moral responsibility to “re-create the faith; they have to re-create the journey; they have to re-create the institutions”.

-- Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, Jesuit Superior General

This, too, may have had no small effect on the election: 

Trump and Vance Attacked Pope Leo XIV. Voters Answered.

The Best Victory Speech?

Great People

Without great people, even great ideas are useless.

-- Simon Sinek

When I think of 'great' people, things like character, values, integrity, competence, and service to the common good come to mind. 

Through our voting today, we can have a say as to who represents such ideals: 

The Power of Having Our Say, by Parker Palmer

Knowledge Is Better Than Ignorance, Kareem by Abdul-Jabbar

Political Parties, Leadership, and Voting

I'm wondering...today, as many are, about the impact of our collective elections voting tomorrow.

To be honest, I've never really questioned whether or not the right to meaningfully do so would ever be in jeopardy. But, the calculus has clearly changed.  What we've been watching (assuming we have been) has been called the greatest heist ever (though, even a casual understanding of history shows this isn’t the first time such things have been attempted...and that may be the scariest part — we elected this, TWICE).

Weighing on my mind, it looks like I'm not alone:

 

GALLUP - Front Page

 
GALLUP - Front Page

Axios

Despite claims to the contrary, it's not going to just get better:  

Many with ACA coverage face a new crisis in 2027: Insurers fleeing the market 

Scale of CORRUPTION

Democracy depends on leaders who respect our institutions, tell the truth, accept accountability, and seek to unite rather than divide.

:  
Scott MacFarlane Reports

Have people finally caught on (nearly 60M people nation-wide have voted early)?

 

On election fraud...(anyone notice how mono-directional the claims are?). 

Voting

When it comes to voting, Christianity should sound like, "I'm thinking of the most vulnerable people among us and voting out of love for them" not "I'm voting for the candidates who hate the same people I do."

-- Benjamin Cremer

A meditation on Loving Your Neighbor

The Clocks Went Back and Nobody Told My Body

 

At ten to six this morning I was wide awake, lying very still in the dark, listening to my body insist that it was ten to seven. 

It was quite firm about this. It had done the maths overnight and wanted me to know. 

The clocks went back on Sunday, the country got its extra hour, and everybody else rolled over and took it like a free biscuit. 

My body, meanwhile, had not been consulted, did not recognise the authority of whoever it is that decides these things, and got me up at the old time out of a sort of principled stubbornness I can only admire. 

Continue...here. 

-- The Old Grey Thinker

3 Observations & A Question

Friendships can be like a sheltering tree.

We do change our minds, when we want to. 

 

As much as contrast can draw our attention, sometimes the effect of unison can be equally as compelling (things like leaves—see below—flowers or music…and people).

 

Will we make it? (perhaps some comfort — this is not the first time in history this has been asked)

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Fall Tree Of The Day, 2026

An annual series — Fall Tree Of The Day:

Winona Lake, IN

More Fall pics here....

We're often mesmerized by the beauty of this season.

Is It Me?

Is it me?

That question almost always gets involved, if you really want to know.  Much of the time we don't really want to know, so we don't go there very often.

But, if we're honest, the question at some point is unavoidable.  As, perhaps, it should be.  We aren't never involved.

What if it is (me) anyway?  After all, we all wonder about it, even if mostly just privately.  Though we feel shame when it is the case, we also know that it creates opportunity for understanding and for personal growth. We know our egos are often involved in our self-presentation, not to mention self-protection (don't we?).  So, what's really to fear?  We have to ask the question, at one point or another, or we'll never move forward.

Besides, when it is (me), those around us may be SO relieved when we finally risk asking the question they've been wishing we would ask. 

On the other hand....

Just because there certainly have been times when it IS me, that doesn't automatically mean that it always is.  In fact, on the average, it's probably more likely that it isn't (me).  Self-preoccupation can be an addictive thing.  And, the downsides of it can be quite ugly.  When our insecurities always make it about ourselves, it doesn't really serve anyone well.

Even though not always, more often than not it (whatever it is) has nothing to do with us.  Too often, we are all selfish enough that we are rarely thinking about anything other than what we're facing, about what affects us.  We aren't really even thinking about another person, most of the time.  Neither are they.

So which is it?  Ask the question or not?  Most 'either / or' scenarios are often better served by 'both / and' perspectives.  In other words, while at times you do have to ask yourself, is it me?, much of the time it really isn't.

This may actually leave us in an even more uncomfortable position, when we are provoked to wonder (often by a response or lack of one from others).  Because here you have to really think about what it means when you don't really know where it leaves you.  Sometimes it's easier to just assume it is you, so you have something to work on.  If it's not, though, making it so mostly just complicates things (unnecessarily). 

…when it IS me, however, I do need to know — sometimes it is good to just ask.

HISTORY: Stock Market Crash, 1929

Another history: the market crash that rocked America. 

Déjà Vu? (given the dynamics involved, you can't not wonder...)

One's Life Has Value

One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others.

-- Simone de Beauvoir

Fix The Problem

Before deciding how to fix the problem, compare how different people are experiencing it.

-- Gallup’s 2026 Team Experiences research

The Gap

I’ve noticed…that it's how I respond to the gap between what I think something should take (effort-wise) and what it actually does that matters.

Bigger Things

3 Observations & A Question

There are a few things as invigorating as working at something good.

 

Opportunities surround us all the time — the point isn't to try to take advantage of all of them, just some of them is all we need to do. 

 

Though perhaps not always in many day-to-day interactions, human beings are (especially generationally) surprisingly adaptable to their environments.

 

What is one thing you would really love to know the answer to? 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

The Best

...since we're often effectively asking the opposite question.

A meditation: 

Praise What Comes

Zeitgeist

There is so much to say right now and so little that seems new — that isn't just repeating the Zeitgeist we're immersed in....

It's like we are all just holding our breath, hoping that something will change the calculus we're using. 

Will the election do it?  It’s hard not to wonder what will happen after it…whichever way it goes.  Will anything really change (given the character-based tenor of things)?  Will there be any real, serious work on substantive issues?

After the demise of so many of our institutions, we are looking for something to believe in again. Something that translates our spiritual ideals into something pragmatic for the way we live our lives each day.

Something feels out of control.  And, the future has been effectively depicted as something largely to be terrified of.  Even those still holding out for technology-based solutions seem perceivably vacuous, as if the only remaining constructive option for society is to bring more information faster, build robots, or leave the planet altogether.

And eerily, planting gardens again feels a bit inadequate against the existential concerns surrounding us, seemingly everywhere you look.

But, I'm going to slide something under the door here:

There is always something deeper that is still true (obscured as it may feel at any given moment).

And, this moment is moving us toward it, individually and collectively. 

Will we finally take our echo-chamber blinders off and get to the real work that is needed? 

It is up to us now. We've already seen enough of what politicians are interested in (another unbelievable 'dropping the ball' example here) or, in this case, not interested in.  We can't defer (to them) any longer.

Truly Good At Heart

I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.

-- Anne Frank

Assume They Know Something

Most beliefs are soft until challenged. When you tell someone they're wrong, the belief hardens.

Instead of trying to convince someone they're wrong, assume they know something you don't and figure out what it is.

I've found that saying, "Seems like you have a reason for saying that ..." helps them explain instead of defend. Half the time, they'll find gaps in their own reasoning before you have time to point them out. The other half, you'll learn something and change your own mind.

-- Shane Parrish

Not Be In The Future

Ever noticed...how hard it is to not be in the future (and in the present instead) when you’re not with other people?

To put it the opposite way; is it easier to be in the moment when you're with other people? ...even though it's quite obvious (especially to others) when you still aren't.

Radical Inclusion

Jesus reformed the laws of religion and undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary, and punitive behavior. He became the forgiving victim so we would stop creating victims ourselves. He became the falsely accused one so we would be careful whom we accuse. 

This is Jesus’s simple message: Holiness is no longer to be found through separation or exclusion, but through radical inclusion. Any exclusionary system only lays the solid foundation for violence in thought, word, and deed. 

-- Richard Rohr 

3 Observations & A Question

Paying attention can help you avoid choosing things that diminish you.

Take care to understand who you really are, including what most establishes that understanding.

If you don’t do what you really want to do, you should ask yourself why — there's usually only about one reason.

There is a profound legacy of human goodness and you have the wonderful (albeit sometimes challenging) opportunity to personally perpetuate it — so how do you want to do that?

 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Disconnect or Sh*t Show

They agreed because I said they agreed.

-- Mr. Trump, referring to the Ukraine/Russia cease-fire he had announced at the White House

...well OK then.  But, how about:

A closer look at the US-Russia diesel deal

Washington Is Warning of Election Threats While Weakening Our Defenses

 
Axios

Billionaire Elon Musk has already funneled at least $366 million into the midterms to try to make sure voters elect Republicans

...and that may not be the worst of it:

Ukraine loses Starlink access as Musk says Zelenskiy went "too far"

...so who put Musk in charge of these things? (Not really a question; we know who did...).

“I can do whatever I want, if I want.” — Trump's arrogance never stops (if only this was the worst of it): 

Axios

Because it isn't:

They Shouted “USA!” As Men Beat A Woman

...unfathomable for an American President to publicly pile on in such a situation.

And the wanna-be waiting in the wings has been taking notes, using the same shtick:

JD Vance smeared James Talarico, then admitted he was “just guessing”

...where do these guys come from (naively or not, I used to think Republicans were more noble than this)?

At least there's some resistance (late as it may be — too little, too late?):

Scott MacFarlane Reports

Public Execution Won’t Have the Effect Intended

As if all this wasn't enough, there's what happens when you intentionally undermine public confidence with disinformation:

This disease now declared an emergency — Maps show where it's spreading.

There's almost no sphere where the fissures aren't deepening in our systems:

 
Axios

 
FOX BUSINESS

...all combined, it seems pretty clear this is way bigger than a 'disconnect'. 

Donald Trump has turned the Republican Party into something I no longer recognize. 

-- One of the Republicans supporting Democrat Chris Pappas in New Hampshire

Between Things

Instead of looking at things, look between things.

-- John Baldessari

Frame of Reference, Con't

Another lingering reflection, on a recent I'm Wondering...:

I'm wondering...about our frame of reference.

Frame of reference, basically, is what we think we know and why we know it.  Initially, we don't think about it very much.  We just experience it.

Much of our frame of reference is established (and constrained) by our particular experience — what we have experienced and what we haven’t experienced.  We have to admit that our experience is limited...to what we have experienced.

At one point or another, something prompts a deeper question.  How do we know (not just what we do know and why)?  

For example, how much of what we think we know is true is simply because of the frame of reference we are currently in?  What if we were in a different frame of reference?  What would we think would be true then?

We all have a point of reference.  It's natural; even needed for our development.  It helps us at key points in our lives.

And, it can limit us — we may simply not see important things because of it.

To test the theory, notice what happens when things change.  You basically have two options.  Get things to change back or change how you view them.  To do the latter, you have to change your point of view — how you think about what is happening, about what is different?

This often happens to us more than once over the course of our lives (even it we don't recognize it).  Sometimes it happens simply because of a change of circumstances (insignificant or substantial).  Sometimes education and growth is involved.  Sometimes our carefully constructed worlds no longer seem to fit with the larger experience we are seeing or experiencing.  

Traveling overseas during college was one my first significant encounters with my frame of reference — what it was and how other people's frame of reference was different.  Having kids was another one — what I thought going into it really needed to be expanded.  Right now I'm in a job arrangement that is pretty unfamiliar (at least for me) — I've been using my frame of reference to evaluate it...and it needs to change, to allow for other possibilities.  In each case, I have had the opportunity to change what I use to evaluate things.  Each situation is obviously different; it would follow then that my criteria should, too.

So, sometimes, you have to be willing to allow your point of reference to change.

Whether it is forced upon on us or a choice we make, most of the time, over the course of one's life, there is an opportunity (one way or another) for it to evolve.

LT: The Actual Work

 
Leadership First

Frame of Reference

I'm wondering...today about our frame of reference.

How it helps us, how it limits us, and when it evolves.

For one thing, how things start each day impacts mine:

...today's sunrise reminded me of part of my frame of reference.

Spiritual Life

The spiritual life keeps us aware that our true house is not the house of fear, in which the power of hatred and violence rule, but the house of love, where God resides. 

-- Henri Nouwen

3 Observations & A Question

We often do not see things, because of how and where we’ve been trained to look.

 

There’s usually one or two things that you are deeply committed to — because the perceived consequences would be too costly, if you weren’t.

 

Wisdom is often not perceived in the eye of the beholder, especially in the moment.

 

Why wouldn’t you?

 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Executions

He acts like he has no relatives.

-- An old Indian saying (on the worst thing that can be said about a person, from Listen, Learn, and Contribute)

 
FIVE MINUTE DAILY

 
Letters from an American

Public Sadism:

 

Humility

Humility is the pathway to knowledge and understanding.

When pride becomes arrogance or conceit, knowledge (and especially understanding) dissipates.

We can certainly see evidence of this at large right now, can't we?

Or, maybe we can't, unless we've first seen it in ourselves.

I must admit, I have seen it in myself. And, the consequence has, in fact, been that I lose both understanding and knowledge. Only when we are humbled (or when we allow ourselves to be humbled), do we seem capable of reversing course and seeing the return of growth of knowledge and understanding again. 

Understanding is a two-way street.

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

More often than once, I have discovered (sometimes quite painfully) that what I thought I knew was happening really wasn't what was happening or, at the very least, all that was happening.  As the evidence that that was the case became clear, I had the opportunity to be more curious, more open, more capable of saying I was wrong or limited in my understanding. 

For one thing, I simply don't know everything that is happening and that should be the given default in most situations. When I'm pretty sure about something, I still have the option to consider what I might not know about it.

Humility isn't as much about being wrong or embarrassed about not knowing as much as it is about an overall disposition towards what I don't know, rather than simply what I think I know. Both are involved — being humble allows for that discovery. 

My Only Advice

My only advice is to stay aware, listen carefully, and yell for help if you need it.

-- Judy Blume

Losing and Failing

There is a difference between losing and failing. Losing reflects the score. Failing reflects our attitude.

-- Simon Sinek 

Some People's Dogs

I’ve noticed…that some people’s dogs are more interested in me than they are.

This Is How A Pastor Responds

...to news like that recently coming out of Cornell University.

4 Observations (from Others)

It’s foolish to look far away for what you already have close by. 

 

-- Francesc Miralles, Postcards From Japan

 

The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are. 

 

-- Rumi

 

Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.

 

-- William James

 

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.

 

-- Etty Hillesum

 

 

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

Fall

'Poem for the week' -- "Fall":

Fall Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season 
Changes its tense in the long-haired maples 
That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves 
Redden on their branches (in a fiery competition 
With the final remaining cardinals) and 
then Begin to sidle and float through the air, at last 
Settling into colorful layers carpeting the ground. 
At twilight the light, too, is layered in the trees 
In a season of odd, dusky congruences—a scarlet tanager 
And the odor of burning leaves, a golden retriever 
Loping down the center of a wide street and the sun 
Setting behind smoke-filled trees in the distance, 
A gap opening up in the treetops and a bruised cloud 
Blamelessly filling the space with purples. Everything 
Changes and moves in the split second between summer’s 
Sprawling past and winter’s hard revision, one moment 
Pulling out of the station according to schedule, 
Another moment arriving on the next platform. 
It Happens almost like clockwork: the leaves drift away 
From their branches and gather slowly at our feet, 
Sliding over our ankles, and the season begins moving 
Around us even as its colorful weather moves us, 
Even as it pulls us into its dusty, twilit pockets. 
And every year there is a brief, startling moment 
When we pause in the middle of a long walk home and 
Suddenly feel something invisible and weightless 
Touching our shoulders, sweeping down from the air: 
It is the autumn wind pressing against our bodies; 
It is the changing light of fall falling on us. 

-- Edward Hirsch

The Season of Letting Go

Governing: Terminology, Intimidation, Data Centers, Etc.

From a 'town hall' (and 'rally') ad this week in our town:

A number of implications terminology-wise (besides the topic itself) — gotta get the word 'freedom' in there, too.

And, no surprises here:

The Department of Justice announced that it was charging a grand total of 10 noncitizens with allegedly either registering or voting in the state of Minnesota, over a period of several years. This constitutes, at most, 0.0003% of Minnesota’s active registered voters, based on data from the last federal general election. As the clock ticks down to Election Day, every rushed statement from the administration confirms what we’ve long known: noncitizen voting is infinitesimally rare and already well-prevented by the states.

-- Center for Election Innovation and Research

Fed’s Watchdog Finds No Misconduct or Illegal Activity in Costly Renovations

Other ways of playing fast-and-loose with the truth (at best)

If only (instead of just playing these intimidation games) we could get on with the work of actual governing on the real issues needing attention:

Swiss glaciers lose over 5% of ice volume in 2026 as heat waves, low winter snow accelerate thaw 

 

GALLUP - Front Page

 
digitalinformationworld.com

Difficult Moments

Above all, don't fear difficult moments.  The best come from them.

-- Rita Levi-Montalcini

LT: What, Why, How

A leader is someone who knows what needs to be done and why.

Further, a leader knows how to make it happen and then is persuasive in executing something that incorporates all three.

What, why, and how are critical, but still not enough without execution.

There are leaders who do these things well, and there are those that do them terribly. Nonetheless, all are on the spectrum of leading, for better or worse.

Taboos

Ever noticed...how many things that have been considered taboo throughout history have actually been rooted in health issues (as opposed to social or spiritual issues)?

Good News

Paul’s declaration of the good news found special resonance among people of lower classes, and with slaves, widows, and women. In fact, women proved to be a vital force in the ministry of Paul, serving as apostles, teachers, benefactors, and friends.  

-- Rachel Held Evans

3 Observations & A Question

It is ominous when the only thing that can save you is the law.

Perspective is knowing that seeing is not enough — it needs to be fused with reality (which can get skewed w/o perspective).

There is our experience of something in the moment and then there is our evaluation of that experience, which sometimes turns out to feel quite different.

Have you ever actually listened to even half the people that some people say are dangerous? 

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

When the Sunrise Won’t Stop

Columbia Falls, MT