Category Archives: The Church of What’s Happening Now

We have vulnerabilities that are actual, and vulnerabilities that are imaginary. At 2:00 AM, imaginary is actual. At 2:00 AM, we can worry about the damnedest things. For some people, 2:00 AM lasts all day long, every day. They are awash in agony over earthquakes that never happen, droughts and floods, and a critical shortageContinue reading “July 19-B, 2022”

We build a life around our original nature and the innate virtues that are our from birth. We live to serve these things, sharing them appropriately in each situation as it arises. What we do to pay the bills falls into place around this center, and we live with balance and harmony, with integrity andContinue reading “July 19-A, 2022”

We have to find the center and live from there– the center of the boundary line between the extremes. Between the contraries. Between the contradictions. We have to live on the boundary between the mutually exclusive polarities that populate our life, and not just anywhere on the boundary, but in the dead center of theContinue reading “July 18-C, 2022”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) said, “The final leave-taking is leaving God for God.” That is to say, “Leaving our idea of God for God.” Our idea of God is not God. Yet, the thing we do best is to tell God how to be God. We tell God who God ought to be. Growing upContinue reading “July 18-B, 2022”

We are always waking up to some aspect of our life– the life that we are living and the life that is ours to live. The nagging, recurring, idea that we have missed something, that this isn’t what we are cut out for, that we are empty in the wrong kind of way, and floundering,Continue reading “July 18-A, 2022”

I am officially old. I cry at everything these days. The Webb Telescope being a case in point. But also, Joe Manchin for blocking a better life for millions of people. It’s a long list. And I’m an old man crying over everything on it. Flash mob concerts. Animals being reunited with former owners. WonderfulContinue reading “July 17-A, 2022”

There is a willing force in nature that cannot be denied. Grass and weeds don’t quit growing even though they are whacked down once a week. Dandelions grow through asphalt! They don’t say, “Oh, gee. Asphalt! Can’t grow here!” Life is determined, willful, unrelenting, non-stop. Our life is like that. The life we came toContinue reading “July 16-A, 2022”

Looking up “caduceus” on Wikipedia, you will read: “The caduceus is the traditional symbol of Hermes… It is often used as a symbol of medicine, especially in the United States, despite its ancient and consistent associations with trade, liars, thieves, eloquence, negotiation, alchemy, and wisdom.” Which makes it a perfect symbol for me. If youContinue reading “July 14-C, 2022”

“Om mani padme hum” translates as “The jewel is in the lotus.” This phrase simultaneously implies its completion: “The lotus is in the slime at the bottom of the pond.” “The jewel is in the lotus, and the lotus is in the slime at the bottom of the pond.” Where does the slime stop andContinue reading “July 14-B, 2022”

The concept of “God’s will” comes to grief upon the realization that if this is the best God can do, God should be fired. And if this is not the best God can do, God should also be fired. A God who wills being incapable of doing better than this is a disgrace to theContinue reading “July 14-A, 2022”

It would be easier to be a sand dune, or a mountain range. Nothing to do but sit there and take it. Let the wind blow you where it will. Nothing to strive for, fear, desire, dread… Life presents a completely different set of problems. We wonder when is the best time to do what?Continue reading “July 12-C, 2022”

It is all in what we make of it, do with it, do about it. It is nothing without us. We make it what it is. It is what it becomes through us and our interaction with it, our interplay with it, our impact upon it, which is also its impact upon us. And “it”Continue reading “July 12-B, 2022”