GRATEFUL LIVING

Feeling grateful, probably more than any other emotion, keeps us sane. 

A grateful heart helps us keep our perspective on life by keeping us grounded both internally and externally at the same time, reminding us that the external world (experienced through our senses and experiences) and the internal world (our thoughts, feelings and reactions) are intimately entwined. 

Always. 

Our carte blanche gratefulness is the music we play, inviting these two dimensions of life to dance freely together, one taking the lead and then the other, while we criss-cross the floor of life.

We have other choices. Fear, for instance. But to dance with our fears--be they authentic or imagined--is dangerous. We lose not only our sense of wellbeing, we lose our bearings--the foundational ones that help us choose which decisions to make and which actions to take.  

Finally, gratefulness also helps us see what we otherwise miss in the face of fear; things like our strengths--which often lay dormant and oddly invisible to us; things like our options--which can be hard to perceive while immersed in the paralyzing fog of our fears; and things like our ever present capacity for creativity--which is the pathway we must walk in order to move through and beyond them.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”(Philippians 4:4 NRSV Bible)

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT JUST BEING GRATEFUL. PERIOD.

STANDING IN THE RAIN

I close my eyes and look up, 

smiling gleefully at the skies.

I open my mouth wide 

and feel fat dollops of rain

splashing in my face,

splatting raucously 

on my super-stretched tongue, 

rivuleting through my hair

and down the nape of my neck.

Suddenly I’m seven.

So very young,

and so very, very alive!

I don’t care if I get soaked. 

I want to get soaked! 

Soaked down to my socks.

When does one get old?

Is it the day we decide 

we don’t want to get wet?

But then what do we miss

that the children still get? 

When do we lose our love 

of splashing like a wilding

through the summoning puddles? 

Admit, I must, few are the times 

when I haven’t dashed inside, 

and far fewer still the times 

I’ve purposefully gone out 

to play in the pelting rain. 

Yet those have been the moments 

that I’ve felt most alive, 

weightless with joyful abandon, 

gloriously, uproariously free.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

“Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?”

This question was first posed by MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the early 1960’s. Dubbed the “butterfly effect,” popular culture has generalized the term to affirm the predictability of huge change via tiny actions. Well and good. Lorenz, however, meant quite the opposite: Small variances in the initial conditions of a system (or situation) create the possibility of unpredictable yet profound alterations to the outcome of that very setting.

For example, when you or I undertake an act of kindness we create the possibility of altering the outcome of the context (situation/relationship) in which that kindness is performed.

The prime difference between such acts of kindness and what Putin is doing to the Ukrainians (and the world) is not so much one of kind as degree. Yes, he’s engaging in an act of unspeakable aggression instead of kindness. But it’s the scale on which he’s doing so that renders us speechless. After all, none of us is unfamiliar with acting out in aggressive ways.

Yet if each of us, and therefore all of us, engage in singular acts of kindness--even ones that seem random relative to today’s European/global context--the degree (and therefore potential butterfly effect) is far more massive than that of any single person. And, to the extent we direct that kindness toward our neighbors in Ukraine we create the opportunity for a different outcome than that of Putin’s medieval “siege and starve” tactics. 

Putin’s apple cart needs to be upset. Quite ironically, cumulative kindness can do that.

“And what does the Lord [Life] require of you [each of us] but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God [our neighbor]?” (Micah 6:8)

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT . . . AND INITIATE ACTS OF KINDNESS.

A WRINKLE, IN TIME

Habits are like wrinkles.

Some, like our parents’ values, 

are permanently pressed into us.

But others fall from the fabric of our psyche naturally 

once we experience the gravity of life’s lessons.

Some of the good ones may just need

 a “What was I thinking!” shake or two 

--friendly reminders--and we’re ready to go.

Some, like a blouse stuffed in a suitcase,

may need a timely touch up of self talk. 

Some, like a new dress shirt propped up 

with pins and plastic and cardboard, 

need to go through a quick wash of mindfulness.

Then of course, there are some--the bad ones-- 

that are so stubborn that we have to iron them out.

One, like a wrinkle, in time may smooth out by itself,

--yet there are some that require galactic TLC.

They respond only to the heat of self discipline, 

the thus-far-and-no-further pressure of resolve, 

and perhaps the steam of some fervent emotion!

Whatever the case, once we tend to our wrinkles, 

the garment of who we are looks fresh and crisp

and we get that lovely well-put-together feeling 

when we look in the mirror of self-reflection.

ALWAYS FREE. ALWAYS BOUND.

 

This is the greatest truth about any of us: We are free…relatively speaking, yes, because we are animals that die. But within the sphere of life, for all practical purposes, we are infinitely free. 

In this very moment we’re free to think, feel and act in an infinite number of ways, free to choose from an infinite variety of choices and their consequences, free to move our lives forward in an infinite number of directions.

Surprisingly though, we often proceed through life thinking the opposite…that we are inextricably bound. There’s sound reasoning for this: We aren’t just free. We are also vulnerable--vulnerable because we are human beings that live and die (which is why marketing that focuses on giving us control works so well).

Being vulnerable means even while we are free, there are always consequences to which we are bound…including the consequences of the sheer capriciousness of life (accidents/disease/natural disasters, etc.) as well as the whims and ways of others (family, friends, neighbors, community, complete strangers, leaders, etc.). 

Always free. Always bound. 

The challenge then, is to decide whether we’re going to live this day out of our freedom or out of our bondage. The good news is that we have a lot more freedom than we probably realize.

Just ask Anne Frank, Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, Sarah Winnemucca…

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT AND THEN LIVE OUT OF OUR FREEDOM.

TO BE & BECOME

I rarely address current issues directly unless they provide an example for my preferred focus, that is, what’s going on in our heads and hearts that creates the blueprint of our response to life around us. Today’s poem focuses on that deeply transformative space in each of us and why it’s so valuable to be in touch with it, spend time with it, and listen for its wisdom.

TO BE & BECOME

Our stillness within, 

that deep space in each of us, 

as huge, as vibrant, as evolving

as the universe without,

is the perfect place,

in this perfect moment,

to be and become, 

to be and become strong, 

to be and become soft, 

to be and become courageous, 

to be and become forgiving, 

to be and become hopeful, 

to be and become kind, 

to be and become compassionate, 

to be and become resolute, 

to be and become loving, 

to be and become thoughtful, 

to be and become thankful, 

to be and become playful, 

to be and become joyful, 

to be and become generous, 

to be and become creative, 

to be and become mindful, 

to be and become heartful,  

to be and become whole, 

to be and become 

our own holy.

GET RELIGION

Hi again, friends.

Still vacating but will be back soon. Here are some powerful and practical words from Rabbi Rami Shapiro...

 “To me, religions are like languages: no language is true or false; all languages are of human origin; each language reflects and shapes the civilization that speaks it; there are things you can say in one language that you cannot say as well in another; and the more languages you speak, the more nuanced your understanding of life becomes. Judaism is my mother tongue, yet in matters of the spirit I strive to be multilingual.”

A CRACKED KETTLE

Hi Friends,

We’re on vacation with our kids (some) and grandkids so taking a vacation from my writings. Meanwhile, here’s another of my favorite sayings from 19th C. French author Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. 

“Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.”

PUTIN'S WAR

What’s going on in Putin’s mind? 

Two things really…choices and consequences. But what are the deep driving forces that, like tectonic plates, are thrusting these egregious choices and their horrific consequences to the surface? Are they beliefs? Perceptions? Emotions? Addictions? Inadequacies? Biases? Prejudices? Ego? Where has his unique profile of decision-making criteria come from? More importantly, where are they leading him? 

And the rest of us. 

While his decisions may diverge significantly from our own, at that deeper level we may have more in common with him than we want to acknowledge. Just today, for instance, we can--and will--make numerous decisions that are ultimately grounded in our own customized cadre of beliefs, perceptions, emotions, etc,. It’s what we humans do.

But will we use each of them to undergird and increase the wellbeing of all that is? 

Every day we live out our (largely self-complicating) existence somewhere on a continuum of love and lust. I define love here as making the choices that create more choices for all. Conversely, I define lust here as making choices grounded in self-gratification and self-aggrandizement that diminish or destroy others' choices. (e.g. lust for power, acclaim, status, revenge, vindication, etc.).

As we see in Putin, a mind tethered to lust is a heartless and diabolical thing. It will stop at nothing, sacrifice anyone and destroy everything in its path--including, ultimately, itself. What else could bring this incredibly beautiful and abundant world to the brink of war?

But love wins. Love always wins. It must win. Love is the way of all we deem holy. It’s the way and the choice of a universe that is all about choices. Which, of course, is why we humans and the rest of it are still here…being given the choice to continue making choices that create more love and more life.

What else can bring this profanity of all that is life-giving to an end?

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S THINK ABOUT MAKING CHOICES THAT CREATE MORE CHOICES.