… a two-part inquiry into the darkness and the light Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite movies. Some people I’ve talked with about it thought it was too violent for them to watch. I get that. It definitely has its darkness, kind of like our world. I decided to watch the two …
Category Archives: fear
The Open Door Inviting Trauma and Pain into Our Lives
I started out puzzling over racism this morning and wondering why it’s a thing, other than the societal programming that’s been around for ages. My granddad was racist, blatantly so. I had heard the ‘N’ word many times in his home. It angered me while breaking my heart for the obvious hypocrisy. Go to church …
The Places We Most Fear to Go
I’ve been reading quite a few novels lately, sci-fi, of course. I love science fiction. It’s such a great teacher. A new insight never fails to appear, opening possibilities previously not on my radar screen. Last night, towards the end of the seventh volume in the series I am reading, the author introduced the likelihood …
A Confluence of Spirituality and Humanity
There is an interesting confluence of spirituality and humanity occurring. I wondered what it would be. Now I see clearly. In the past I have referred to the intersection of divine and human as the center of the cross, the sweet spot where we are what is, where we pour love onto saint and sinner …
An Unstoried Life
There is a deep responsibility for life that lives within each of us. As we move along the spiritual path we learn to surrender, to let life be as it is, for it is as it is whether we let it be or not. Eventually when the surrender is complete, a new understanding dawns: this …
The Reality of Mortality
It doesn’t matter if you are black or white, red or blue, able to pay the bills, squeaking by or living in a tent, life on planet earth will eventually break you. The only difference is how long it takes before you truly grok the fact that no one gets out of here alive and …
The Empty Tomb is Not What You Think
The Kingdom of God, oh if only we understood those words and didn’t think they were a physical location. To Christians, it means heaven. To New Agers it is other dimensional. To many it means the splitting of worlds, a hard take on the heaven/hell story only for the less religious. Bodies separated by time …
I Shall Not Look Away, but I Will Remember
I Shall Not Look Away, but I Will Remember Few want to be poor, but that seems to be the direction life is taking the 99% of us. Some don’t see it barreling this way, believing they have enough for their own safety. They don’t realize that the US coffers are being systematically drained, that …
And that my friends, is abuse!
I was raised in the church, sang in the choir from the time I was little until my mid-teens, went to youth group, and most of my family’s outings were church campouts and picnics. At the age of 16 while sitting in the balcony listening to the Sunday sermon and the preacher telling me who …
If You’re the Last One Standing
Warning: If you’re anti-vax this will probably trigger you. When I was a child, my neighbor was in an iron lung for polio. It was a tough time for parents, wondering if or when their child would be stricken. The day the vaccine was made available a literal cheer could be heard in the neighborhood. …
Overcoming Self-Doubt: A Journey to Enoughness
I thought it was me. All those years I thought it was me, that I wasn’t—smart enough, pretty enough, clever enough, good enough—you know, loveable. Something didn’t add up, but I didn’t know what it was, so the only answer left to me was to try harder. I carefully picked out clothes and counted every …
An Ode to Hopelessness
If I was focused on the insanity around me, I would be sleepless, anxious, and quite rightly, unhinged. Some say I’m already that last one so I’m guessing I haven’t far to go to get there, wherever there is. Good thing there is no there, only here and the idea, the thought, the belief in …
Are you afraid to die? If you said ‘no’, are you sure?
Why do you suppose most people are afraid to die? Yeah, I know. Not you. You’ve got it dialed in. You’re not afraid, you’d just rather it wasn’t today, or it wasn’t painful, or it wasn’t a burden to those you love, or you didn’t have to suffer. Most have their own conditions on death. …
Demolishing the Illusion of Safety
The greatest gift these times are giving us is the demolition of the illusion of safety. On the surface it sounds like a good idea, to feel safe. Everyone says safety is critical to our ability to be honest with ourselves and others, but when we are cushioned within the illusion of safety, what are …
Owning My Experience
… EVEN WHEN IT CONFLICTS WITH MY PREFERRED SELF-IMAGE OF A LOVING HUMAN Life constantly reminds me to be observant of what’s happening within, and honest, absolutely real about owning my experience. Whenever I get pulled into the right-wrong game, it is sufficiently painful to slow me down, like life saying, take it down a …