Ruminations from the Temple

I have had this blog since 2007. At one time I had a handful of blogs, each with a different focus, and gave them all quite a bit of love and attention for years. Contrary to rumor, I never had much readership, and frankly, I was OK with that. I was getting to write and self-publish about what was important to me. I wasn't seeking to influence great swaths of the population. But, as my writing time was diverted from pithy blog posts to essays and research papers with deadlines, my posting fell. Last year, I actually deleted a couple of my blogs that were no longer useful to me, and have really let the dust collect on several others. All of that history is fine, really. I was never seeking an income from my blogging activities - I really just wanted a place to say what I felt needed to be said, to record life, and to write. And, from my perspective, wasn't that what blogging was all about in the first place? The answer to that question is yes , as the actual word blog is sho...

[Warning: Christmas Day Rant] I really try not to hate Christmas. Really, I do. I would never want to begrudge another's festivities, especially if it is a meaningful and purposeful religious holiday. Or even if it is just a nice tradition for a family get-together. Whatever. I truly want to live and let live, to not judge another's choices, and to embody sympathetic joy for their happiness. BUT, I cannot help hating this holiday. Not because it is a Christian holiday, but because it seeps into absolutely everything. It is not a day, or even two - it is at least a two month slog where every restaurant, business, and office building has to have its own Christmas tree and repetitive holiday music. Further, it bothers me that the religious festival that celebrates the birth of Christ has been co-opted for other purposes, namely marketing. Now, church attendance is just another thing to check off the do-list alongside the long list of presents to buy and wrap, pictures with...

And....it's raining. Not so surprising for late December in the Pacific Northwest. But, it is grey and a little difficult to keep the spirits and energy up without a little push. Sounds like I need some gratitude. To turn this around, I am grateful for rain. There, that's a good way to start. Without rain we couldn't have the oceans, lakes, and rivers that are so beautiful and healing for the soul. Without rain, none of us, including the animals and plants, wouldn't be here. So, I am most grateful. I especially like to be in our cozy little house by the ocean when it is stormy. Yes, I like that quite a lot. I am grateful for our little town of Ocean Shores. I love not having to leave. I really enjoy living in a resort town, and that we are so close to a number of beaches and natural areas - most especially the one right out my office window. The wildlife is amazing to watch, and I am grateful for the seasonal migratory ducks, the songbirds, the river otters, the f...

If things had happened differently, I would still be stuck in my craft room on South Hill. I would still be dealing with struggling, broken people, hearing the same old tired stories, and thinking the same old tired thoughts. If things had happened differently, I would have gone to Barb’s funeral, I would have never sent that resignation letter, I would…might…still be sitting in the front row, still coordinating the festivals, and definitely be unutterably bored and stagnant. If things had happened differently, I would not have grown. Or possibly, something more mundane could have happened…I could have never gone to school, never met some amazing professors, and never racked up so much school debt. I would have never realized I could achieve summa cum laude, learn great things, and think great thoughts. I might have never dreamed of working towards a masters, or dreamed of attaining a Ph.D. All of that would have never happened, if all that happened never did. If things wo...

Kindness Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate the landscape can be between the regions of kindness. How you ride and ride thinking the bus will never stop, the passengers eating maize and chicken will stare out the window forever. Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness, you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road. You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night with plans and the simple breath that kept him alive. Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow. You must speak to it till your voice catches the thread of all sorrows and you see the size of the cloth. Then it is only...

I am in week 6 of my first semester of a master's degree program in Mindfulness Studies. As part of the Theory class, the professor assigned reflection and analysis of our practice, as it stands now. This is my reflection.  I started setting time aside for a committed practice prior to the term starting. I knew it would be required, so I figured that I should just get a start on it as soon as possible. So, after our move, getting settled, and recovering from graduation, I got serious about meditation. I picked up my yoga practice again in earnest, since it had fell by the wayside in my sprint towards graduation. But, it wasn’t until we started class that it really sunk in that I was building something consistent and enduring, as opposed to a hit-and-miss hobby or comfort measure in times of crisis. As I reflect on these past 6 weeks of meditative practice, I realize I have become comfortably addicted to what has become a morning ritual. Upon awakening, instead of lying in ...

“You have to hear what I learned in history class yesterday.” Lisa, my best friend and roommate, is always eager to hear what I learn in class. And sometimes she can take what I have learned to her 6 th  grade classroom of screw-beanies. My four years of classes at PLU have given us much to discuss, to be sure. Today, as we headed from the coast inland to the outlet mall for a little retail therapy, I was eager to narrate the lecture and discussion about animism, totemism, and shamanism, as it is a completely different perspective on religion than I had heard in my various former lives. Combined, Lisa and I have clocked multiple decades of religious experience, and this was definitely worth an animated conversation. So, I started with stage 1, which is the best place to start. I explained that throughout history many peoples have believed that everything has a spirit – from teddy bears to volcanoes. We laughed as I recounted the classroom discussion – we are endlessly fascin...