Author Archives: jimwdollar

All of my seminary professors were brilliant people.They talked about God loving us unconditionallyagainst the backdrop of the Vietnam warand the assassination of Martin Luther Kingthe the bit about being sent to hell for not believingthe bit about God’s unconditional love.As though there were no contradictions, discrepancies,inconsistencies within the mix of the times.They were brilliantContinue reading “October 04, 2024 – A”

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The Buddha and Jesus were as neurotic as the rest of us, and given to panic attacks,frustrationand uncertainty.They, too, wrestled withDesire, Fear, Duty.And they found the way throughthe right kind of emptiness,stillness and silence,just as we do.And they couldn’t tell usanything we can’t know for ourselvesjust by reflecting quietlyon our daily experiences with lifeand ourContinue reading “October 03, 2024 – A”

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If hurricanes and other natural disastersare going to reshape our lives to fit the contours of a new world,we need to get creative really fast.We are out of time.And rebuilding the way it wasis just putting off adjustingto the new constraints and requirements.For example:People are rebuilding homesthat have been swept into the seaby moving 100Continue reading “October 02, 2024 – A”

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Collecting images “in the field”was the high point in landscape photogaphyfor me. Walking up on them–which is different from waking upon them,which sounds like I am treading themunderfoot–wandering through them,taking time with them,bought me to lifein ways that findingthe right word or phrasedoes for my writing side.Joy unfolding by being there, then.Which is not theContinue reading “October 01, 2024 – A”

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We make things bearableby changing the way we think about them.Shifts in attitudeare a superpower.We wait for the power to come back onby waiting for the power to come back on.And doing what needs to be done in the meantime.Sitting quietly is always a fall back on Do-Thing. Being able to do that is oneContinue reading “October, 2024”

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Joseph Campbell says, in Pathways to Bliss,”What is it we are questing for? It is the fulfillment of that which is potential in each of us. Questing for it is not an ego trip; it is an adventure to bring into fulfillment your gift to the world, which is yourself. There is nothing you canContinue reading “September 30, 2024 – A”

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All it takes is paying attention.Seeing what we look at.Knowing what we know.Asking the questionsthat beg to be asked.Saying the things that cry out to be said.Being awake.Being aware.Being aliveto the time and place of our living.Throughout time.Allowing our intrinsic intuitionto guide our boat on its path through the sea.Knowing and doing what the situationContinue reading “September 29, 2024 – A”

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24 hours without power,12 hours without water,will disrupt the flow,introduce the novel,and the steady presenceof the inconvenientinto any life.Leaving us with respondingto the need of the momentwith the best we can think of at the time,and the hope of never havingto do it again.And comes the realizationthat every moment,every situation,asks things of us,requires our responseContinue reading “September 28, 2024 – A”

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We trust each otherto be who we say we are.And to live together in waysthat honor each other’s rightto be who we arewithin normal, customary, social limits.We aren’t going to trasheach other’s boundariesor mind each other’s business.And we are all going to do our partto “just get along.”I do so wish this kind of socialContinue reading “September 27, 2024 – A”

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Once the Buddha died and his followers got their handson distributing his teachings,Buddhism diverged into Who Says So?I have no idea of how many variants of Buddhism there are,or have been through the ages,but a Google search will take you there.Who Speaks For The Buddha?Who Says So?It’s like asking “Who speaks for the Christ?”Irenaeus theContinue reading “September 26, 2024 – A”

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