religion
Digging Wells, Swimming In The Source
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008An excerpt from a 1977 dialog between Brother David Steindl-Rast and Ram Dass. Swami Satchidananda was also present. (”The occasion was a week-long meeting of forty monks, nuns, and lay people of differing religious traditions to discuss their mutual goals.”)
David Steindl-Rast: “The moment I came to know Buddhist and Hindu monks it became obvious to me that what we […]
Christ
Monday, January 7th, 2008Frederick Buechner wrote a beautiful piece about Paul. In it, he asks, What kept Paul going? Of course it was his visitation by Christ: Everything that Paul ever did or wrote from that moment on flamed up out of that extraordinary encounter on the Damascus road.
Ironically, it seems that non-Christians are visited by […]
Interbeingness*
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007Reynolds Price is a fascinating man. I recently heard a replay of a 2006 Terry Gross interview with him on Fresh Air (listen, oh listen, it’s great).
Personal experience germinated his faith. As you know, that’s my story, too—not having been raised with religion, I suspect if I’d not had certain experiences, I’d be agonizing over whether or not God exists, rather […]
The Sin Of Gluttony
Monday, September 3rd, 2007Thin people can be the worst gluttons. I read a blog the other day (now I don’t remember whose) wherein an overweight woman was writing about how her sin, the sin of gluttony, was there for all to see, whereas most sins are invisible, hidden within the mind. This is, of course, true. But the […]
War.
Wednesday, August 29th, 2007A million words. This photograph is worth a million words. It’s from a painfully beautiful exhibit, Eyes Wide Open, organized by the AFSC to illustrate the human cost of the Iraq war. We drove past one of the exhibition sites last week; even from the car, the sight of the boots lined […]
I Confess: I’m a Terrible Church Goer
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007A part of me thinks we Christians should all be like Quakers: simple.
Simple, simple, simple. Do away with the extraneous stuff and just sit down with Jesus. It should be uncomplicated and open, certainly not about big churches and money. And the idea of being essentially leaderless (other than Jesus, of course), seems more in […]
Forgiveness & The Prophet
Thursday, August 16th, 2007I owe a debt the size of an ocean liner to a twenty year old Sudanese refugee named Elijah.
One day, as I was giving him a ride to his job at a grocery store, Elijah opened his mouth and uttered three words: ”You should forgive.” I had hardened my heart and decided I could not, would not—not […]
Hello God, It’s Me
Sunday, August 12th, 2007Doesn’t it happen sometimes when we’re not stuck in our heads, thoughts buzzing round and round, that the mind will open right up and everything is spanking clear? It’s like the fog lifting suddenly at the beach and oh, look, there’s water! At those times, I feel God right here and I am right here, […]
Drinking God
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007I love mystics. Anyone blotto on the love of God, I love: Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Hindu, all of them.
In his wonderful book, Ecstatic Confessions, Martin Buber compiled writings of mystics from many traditions. Mechtild von Magdeburg of Saxony (1217-1277) wrote:
God speaks: When I shine, you must gleam. When I flow, you must ripple. […]