Unfulfilled Martyrs

[W]ho will die for consumerism, secularism, or the smorgasbord of causes that drive what passes for intellectual and cultural thought in our society? ~T. Douglas

I’m reminded of the quote, "Everyone lays down his life for something." ~jpc

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

"The universe is the primary referent," as Thomas Berry said again Saturday.Yes, and spirit is that at the heart of the universe that intercommunes us -- that authentically relates all its members to each other in the universe. It is spirit that gives each of us chance after chance to choose to relate to (to commune with and be on behalf of) more and more members of the universe each time, and in a heart to heart way. Spirit leads us all to believe and act like the universe circle is unbroken. ~jpc

From an Art Perspective

Look at that brick. It’s different from all the other bricks. Everything’s a piece of art. ~NPR

So it follows: Look at that tree. It’s different from all the other trees. Every tree’s a piece of art. Look at that cat . . . and that child. . . . Look at that HIV/AIDS person. She’s different from all the other. . . .

But none of these pieces of art will bring anything close to the price of a piece of art at a Sotheby’s Auction. Reckon they don’t know jack about the value of real art. ~jpc

Talk about Illusion

To consider that one is enhanced by diminishing the other is an illusion. ~Thomas Berry via Randy Williams

Life Only Has to Make "Awe"

Life . . . does not have to make sense, it only has to make "Awe" – that is, be "holy" in openness to the "Holiness" that is always "Present." ~Gene Marshall, "Beyond Spong: A Theological Response"

Who’s Next?

One comeback I can take, but two? Who's next? Lazarus?

~from "Seabiscuit" movie when radio guy is announcing that Red, who had broken his leg, would ride Seabiscuit, back from a near-fatal leg injury.

Hardest Years

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy. ~Helen Hayes via TC Wright

A few more years and I’m home free. ~jpc

True Faith

True faith comes from how the path you are taking can bring you life and love and happiness everyday. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

And true faith manifests itself in service, a la Jesus and Buddha. ~jpc

Forewearers

Where else will our feet land but in the shoes of our forewearers? Maybe, if even by the smallest chance, we can march them into a brighter twilight. ~Eric Webb via Jim Slotta (Eric is in prison seeking leniency from the judge; his father, Craig, was one of our great colleagues.)

That's What's Lovable

The umbilical point, the humanity, the thing that makes you human and not supernatural and immortal -- that's what's lovable. ~Joseph Campbell

To Hope Is to Gamble

To hope is to gamble. It's to bet on the future, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety. To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear. ~Rebecca Solnit via EarthLight

Spirit re Relationship

Spirituality has to do primarily with relationship: spirit reveals itself in relationship through grace and in disrelationship through judgment – both of which are finally gracious. ~jpc

Religious Fanaticism

The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan values and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism. ~Reinhold Niebuhr

Stories Not Atoms

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. ~Muriel Rukeyser via Beret Griffith

Myth Is the DNA

Myth is the DNA, the software, the unconscious information, the program that governs the way we see reality and behave. ~Sam Keen

Bike to Work: for son's 2 cents worth, click link below
http://www.thelakepaper.com/articles/2005/06/15/news/news01.txt

Desert?

I walked in a desert,
And I cried,
“Ah, God, take me from this place!”
A voice said, “It is no desert.”
I cried, “Well, But –
The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon.”
A voice said, “It is no desert.”

~Stephen Crane

"Old" Jokes

Three old guys are out walking.
The first one says, "Windy, isn't it?"
The second one says, "No, it's Thursday!"
The third one says, "So am I. Let's go get a beer."

*****

An elderly man tells his neighbor: "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost $400, but it's state-of-the-art."
"Really," says the neighbor. "What kind is it?"
"Twelve-thirty."

~via Ginny Reece

True Listening

[The free man] listens to what is emerging from himself, to the course of being in the world; not in order to be supported by it, but in order to bring it to reality as it desires. . . . ~Buber

Randy Williams' reflection: . . . that which is seeking to emerge wants to emerge within me, or as Buber says, "is emerging from himself." The transformation of the world for which we strive is also the transformation of me. It will not be complete until I decide what I am able to will. We who share in and are part of creation are all subjects interacting with and upon each other to bring to fruition "what is emerging."

Not Your Everyday Announcement

Filled with Spirit,
you will be one with Tao.

One with Tao,
you will know the eternal,
and need never fear you will cease to exist,
even when your body has turned to dust.

~Lao Tzu

Love Is . . .

Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person; it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole. ~Erich Fromm via Beret Griffith

Veronica and Jeremiah

Means of Grace

III. Marriage is about COMMUNION (deep life in spirit):

To keep your COVENANT and mission of CARE alive . . .

Remember "Home" is a . . .

*communion place

*caring place

*forgiving place

*deep breathing place

*deep dialogue place

*fun place

*healing place

*a sacramental place

. . . marriage and home are means of grace.

~remarks at wedding in Spain, jpc

Cock and Wordsworth families

A Gracious Moment

It is, I would say, a gracious moment,

a moment of entrancement. . . .

As we join in this wedding

we are lifted up beyond ourselves.

We are, I say,

lifted up to that super-abundant

Joy that Heaven bestows on all . . .

Who live their lives

in the Wonder and Praise

and Resonance with that Universe

wherein the divine and the human

discover their intimate fulfillment.

~from Thomas Berry poem I read at son’s wedding in Spain (jpc)

Our Deep-seated Fundamentalism

Today we suffer from the division between fundamentalists on the left and fundamentalists on the right. The struggle with fundamentalism however is not a struggle between secular and religious fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is based in a profound human fear. We deeply fear losing the illusory "Mask of God" that we have so carefully constructed, which defines meaning in our life and to which we desperately cling. . . . We must ultimately become aware of the deep-seated fundamentalism that is in each one of us. ~Doug Druckenmiller

Absolutely Partial

Spirit is impartial, or better said, is absolutely partial to everything in creation. ~jpc