One Christmas afternoon many years ago, I answered a call on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) from a young man in middle school. Through oceans of tears he told me how he and his father argued almost constantly. All he wanted to know was whether his father loved him. It broke my heart. We …
Value Absent of Accomplishments
Having completed nearly 67 years of this human journey, I can recount hundreds of gatherings I have summoned into existence. I wonder what, if anything, has been accomplished. In a world heavily dependent on to-do lists and action items, most people believe there is little hope of change unless a gathering concludes with a list …
Being the Hole in the Flute
Even at the quantum level, as separate and distinct, a single particle has little value. It is only when they are in relationship to other quantum entities that they form the universe. So too for humanity. Absent our intimate relationship to all things, we are nothing. As I write, since I feel my fingers on …
Wealth is Destroying Us…Again
Money separates us from life and devalues humanity. I recall an exercise used in a philosophy class. “Think of a problem in your life, any problem regardless of its difficulty or seeming intractability. Is there an amount of money that would solve the problem for you?” the professor would ask. Inevitably, students would find some …
A Finitude of Days
I am dying. In truth, to the best of my knowledge, I’m a healthy 66-year-old with, I hope, many years ahead. None-the-less, I am dying…and so are you. Because of cultural biases, I imagine many will find these words deeply disturbing. We resist open discussion of our mortality at great peril. There are, I am …
Reweaving the Fabric of the Universe
A friend, working his way through my book, Questions that Matter, had just read, and was thinking about, the essay “Patiently Waiting for Me.” In the song “I’m Movin On,” country artists Rascal Flatts sing “Finally I see…life has been patiently waiting for me.” In the essay, I ask if the “me” life is waiting for …
The Place To Which God Calls Us
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Frederick Buechner No matter how far we have journeyed, and regardless of age, each of us has many miles to go to fully uncover, and live into, our deep gladness. I am often asked how I …
The Paradox of Suffering
How should we understand human suffering? I received a call from a young man who began the conversation by declaring “I have a gun in my lap and when we finish talking, I intend to use it.” This young man’s life, and sense of self, were defined by exploitation. He had been abused in every …
500 Years in the Making
It is always an honor to be asked to read at Waterline Writers. On October 15, I read two short essays from my book “Questions That Matter.” If you like these two, the book is available by clicking here.
What Have We Done!
Now and again, I find the work of an author so compelling, their book deserves a mention not only in my list of recommended books, but as a separate post. “Reset Your Child’s Brain” by Victoria Dunckley, MD is such a work. Dr. Dunckley, over the past 20 years, has been documenting a disorder she …
Proof of Our Goodness
The call came from a young man in a parked car. He was unmerciful. “I am a horrible, evil person. I don’t deserve to live.” I asked if he would be willing to share what led to such fierce condemnation. Just before he left a nearby store, as he waited in the checkout line, something …