Give up and die...you'll be glad you did.

Repent for the End is Near!

Yes, all those nuts screaming on the corner are right! It really is happening! The end is finally here. The end that John the Baptist and Jesus and that guy with the painted hearse who drives up and down your block have been talking about has finally come, any day, any hour, any week, any second. If I had sackcloth and ashes I’d wear them. If I had a cardboard box I’d tie it to my chest with the word Repent written on the front. If I had clean underwear, I’d put it on. If I had anything left to…

Easter Again

The meaning of Easter often centers around The Passion of Jesus and bunnies that lay eggs. But to focus on just The Passion means to sometimes fall once again for what theologian Walter Wink calls the “myth of redemptive violence.” This is the belief that all great deeds must come…

Kick Some Ash Wednesday! Give up to find innocence lost. Or give up giving up.

Watching my three spirited children grow, I’ve seen vividly the slippery slope of life and the loss of innocence we all go through. One day, nothing makes them happier than a bowl of mushy rice cereal and a rattle. Then they taste mashed carrots. Next it is applesauce and their…

The Gratitude Experiment

I’m grateful for wool socks on this cold winter morning. Our house is a 1920′s Sear’s Roebuck drafty special. But with generous gifts from my wife and sister, I’ve gone from a scrappy, hole-filled, generic, tube-sock wearer to a fancy wool-sock fanatic. I remember scoffing at the site of them…

We are all Broken and Beautiful: The practice of non-judgment and loving-kindness

So, it turns out, I’m a horrible driver. Recently, I was flashed two middle fingers and greeted with a less than friendly shout-out from a pedestrian. I did not even realize I had done something wrong until I saw the birdie pointed in my direction. My first reaction, of course,…

Eight Ways to Ruin a Good Time

I took the summer off to have fun. I did take some classes—which is fun for me—and got a little housework done. But most of my focus was on spending time with my kids while they’re still at that awesome age where they want to hang out with me. Of…

Five Things You Should Get Rid Of (and as a bonus, never write a thank you card again)

Micro-houses. Buy nothing new for a year. Reduce all you own to one hundred things. ”Less is more” is the current trend, probably because having so much crap is a fairly new trend itself. Think of all the things that did not exist fifty years ago. We consume twice as…

The Mystical Opportunities of our Modern World

Despite all my complaining about modern problems, I truly do believe we live in remarkable times. World travel is feasible, even for starving artists and low paid teachers. There’s no three week train rides across the Great Plains or four month passages on cramped ocean liners. The Internet has opened…

The Freedom and Peace of Not Knowing God

“The moment you you teach a child the name of a bird, that child will never see that bird again.” -Krishnamurti May 1, 2012. My oldest son is a great list maker. His latest is a list of all the animals he has seen in the wild. On a recent…

Transforming Big Troubles with a Little Imagination: The Spiritual Master Role-Play

April 16, 2012. Many mystical practices involve the use of fantasy and imagination. Our creative mind can be a powerful tool for transformation. Buddhists have Koans: strange, puzzle-like dialogues that are meant to challenge students to see things in new ways. Christians have parables, some with clear lessons (The Good…

Why Mystics Love Dying

“Unless a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” -John 12 April 13, 2012. You hear it from all the mystical masters: Die to the self. Die to the past. Die to the future. …

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