Saturday Mornings

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. -- Albert Einstein

I've noticed ...my  anger  is more existent (often even instantly) about things that still don't work, even after I've made spec...

The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, a...

There are certain chairs I like to sit in — some because of how they make my lower back feel, others because of the view of the  morning lig...

  Visual - "Busy": Winona Lake, IN

When my wife Anne and I turned 40, we decided to run a marathon to celebrate reaching middle age. Unfortunately, three months into race trai...

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards . -- Søren Kierkegaar

Our character isn't defined by the battles we win or lose,  but those we dare to fight. -- Robert Beatty So, what determines what is ...

If you’re at the station, sitting on a train about to leave, you might notice that the train next to you is moving. But, perhaps, that train...

Ever noticed ...where all the insects have gone? 25 years ago, an after-dark drive in the summer would result in the front end of your car ...

Jesus does not replace. Jesus reimagines and expands, inviting an alternative and often innovative reading of Jewish tradition.  -- Diana Bu...

...the title says it all.

Avoiding something doesn’t make it go away, particularly emotions . Not everything that can be (or needs to be) received, can be received al...

In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on. -- Robert Frost

AXIOS Reporting dynamics aside, you can try to keep things from changing , but they do anyway.  It is the nature of things, of reality .

You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself. -- Harvey S. Firestone

I'm wondering ...about another lingering reflection , from a recent Randoms ...: Do you ever feel like your life is just a combination o...

Where there is no longer any opportunity for doubt , there is no longer any opportunity for faith either. -- Paul Tournier

This sounds like a guy I'd like to know (or be).    Last week, Walter Wangerin Jr. passed away, and a unique voice fell silent. His wife...

People who talk for a living and truth are not mutually inclusive. Certainty can be a kind of false comfort. At the very least, observe y...

The true goal of education is to make people able to do good . -- Richard Mitchell As another school year begins, I'm digesting the  o...

 ' Poem for the week' -- "Life":               1 A moment of pleasure ,     An hour of pain , A day of sunshine,     A we...

It seems like we are always now in a mode of receiving or rejecting information — maybe we have been doing that all the way along.  What mak...

Excitement comes from the achievement. Fulfillment comes from the journey that gets us there. -- Simon  Sinek

I've noticed …that I cry more often over beauty than sadness.

The awareness of being a child of God tends to stabilize the ego and results in a new courage , fearlessness , and power . I have seen it ...

Polebridge, MT We had a wonderful time again this year hiking in Montana — an amazing and visually stimulating week in  Glacier National ...

Teaching is planting seeds in the human heart. We are all swimming in the truth everywhere — maybe we should spend less time consuming it ...

Joy is a mystery because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances, even in the midst of suffering , w...

Truth doesn’t struggle against anything. It exists, and it knows .  -- Deepak Chopra ™ MD

LinkedIn asked its more than a million followers for the best advice they'd give their 20-year-old selves in order to inject a little of...

Another lingering reflection , from a recent Randoms ...: What actually most informs us, our mind or our body? What If ...it is the action o...

Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it. -- Madeleine L'Engle

Ever noticed ...how your recognition of something increases the more you experience it?

In the millennia since Christ walked with us on this Earth, we’ve often tried to box up the “wind” [of the Spirit] in manageable doctrines. ...

Everything you do is another story to tell…about your story.  The slower you go, the more you see.  As people get older, they seem to eith...

Visual - "Shadow Mirror": Bowman Lake, MT Impeccably quiet…in every way. There’s nothing quite like silence , to allow you to rea...

' Poem for the week' -- "Earth Your Dancing Place": Beneath heaven's vault remember always walking through halls of c...

Be curious , not judgmental . -- Walt Whitman  (maybe…)

We often run first into  what .  What needs to be done?   Once that is understood, the most natural next question is,  how ?  How do we do w...

Letting go gives us freedom , and freedom is the only condition for happiness . --  Thich Nhat  Hanh

I'm wondering …what makes me come alive? Perhaps one of the best gifts we can give ourselves (and the world) is to ask ourselves this qu...

Instagram:  mariashriver The true mark of maturity is when somebody hurts you, and you try to understand their situation instead of tryin...

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in w...

I am never less curious than when I am afraid . There is not only some comfort, but also great value, in finding ways to make notes about w...

Writing in the International Journal of Wellbeing in 2012, two Japanese scholars surfaced an important cultural difference in the definition...

  Visual - "Pink":

Between stimulus and response there is a space . In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and ou...

Healing  can be a frustratingly slow process for me, especially when I'm in a hurry. What If ...that is the point of healing? — like, by...

People lose their way when they lose their why . -- Michael Hyatt

I've noticed ...that just because something doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. A couple of nights ago, I felt very flat emotio...

The two wheels of Scripture and Tradition can be seen as sources of outer authority, while our personal experience leads to our inner autho...

An unfortunate truth; if you lie enough times, some people will actually believe you. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to hav...

The United States is not in the midst of a “culture war” over race and racism. The animating force of our current conflict is not our differ...

AXIOS AXIOS Why make note of this? Because this is more than just information; it is telling us something.  Who is (isn't) listening?

Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort. -- Fred Rogers

There is a quiet, yet persistent, urging within me to do more of what I really enjoy doing — what I notice I most naturally do, what I want...

The selfish fear change . The selfless lead it. -- Simon  Sinek

Ever noticed ...when and how claims like 'it's rigged' are made?

Attention of the heart is the primary aim of spiritual work. -- Simeon We have nothing to give to others that we ourselves have not first...

What actually most informs us, our mind or our body ? Despite that the conspiracies of men are relatively small and short-lived (many only ...

In the pre-dawn hours of May 15, 1918, Private Henry Johnson was pulling sentry duty with Private Needham Roberts in a French trench that fa...

' Poem selection' for the week -- "Everything Needs Fixing": in your thirties everything needs fixing. i bought a toolbox...

Your relationships improve drastically and the tension in your mind decreases significantly when you can simply accept people for who they...

One of the more significant tensions  we feel (or, at least I do) is...if we manifest our true-self more obviously, what risk does that int...

You will either step forward into growth or you will step backward into safety. -- Abraham Maslow

In 1982, the economist Mancur Olson set out to explain a paradox. West Germany and Japan endured widespread devastation during World War II,...

When I was a kid, we spent two weeks each year with my grandparents in their old summer cottage on Long Island Sound. Every night around sun...

The sooner I start eating addictive things, the more I want to eat....  :) Those who disregard the past, are condemned to repeat it. Becaus...

Recently: It is just too easy to maintain our need for an enemy : The rivalry with China is palpable but history teaches us lessons about ...