"Never stifle a generous impulse"
— William Redington Hewlett
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Life of A Day
Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can easily be seen if you look closely. But there are so few days as compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it would be surprising if a day were not a hundred times more interesting than most people. But usually they just pass, mostly unnoticed, unless they are wildly nice, like autumn ones full of red maple trees and hazy sunlight, or if they are grimly awful ones in a winter blizzard that kills the lost traveler and bunches of cattle. For some reason we like to see days pass, even though most of us claim we don’t want to reach our last one for a long time. We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this isn’t one I’ve been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when we are convinced, our lives will start for real. Meanwhile, this day is going by perfectly well-adjusted, as some days are, with the right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light breeze scented with a perfume made from the mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak leaves, and the faint odor of last night’s meandering skunk.
- Tom Hennen
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Living In The Now
The other day I came across a quote that really made me stop and think. It was attributed to “Anonymous”, which may be better than having a famous name attached to it. Here’s how it went: ” Hell is the knowledge of opportunity lost; the place where the man I am comes face to face with the man I might have been.”
Undoubtedly it’s odd to mix the idea of hell with Zen concepts, but the more I thought about this idea the more it spoke to me of the need to truly be present to my thoughts, actions, and choices in this moment.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
No More Taking Sides
In recent days we've heard the news of a cab driver in New York stabbed because he is a Muslim http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/nyregion/31cabby.html and another incident in Seattle where an employee wearing a turban in a 7-Eleven store was beaten and told: "“You’re not even American, you’re Al-Qaeda. Go back to your country.” http://peterdaou.com/2010/09/man-beats-man-in-turban-youre-not-even-american-youre-al-qaeda-go-back-to-your-country/
And today the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority will sit down at the State Department with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to begin a process of trying once again to find a road to peace and to end a conflict that has afflicted that region for more than 60 years.
Will the new peace process work? We can't know yet, of course, but it seems to me that all people of good will have to hope and pray that it does. And what about our country, are these recent incidents of anti-Muslim feelings, even Islamophobia perhaps, isolated events, or are they signs of what is to come, of where our nation is going? Those questions must remain unanswered right now too, left to be answered by future historians in light of what tomorrow’s news reports may bring.
All this was on my mind this morning as I dutifully spent my hour on an elliptical trainer at the gym. I used to listen to music on my iPod while exercising, but over the past couple of months I've been enjoying some very intellectually stimulating and educational podcasts from "Speaking of Faith", a program produced by National Public Media and wonderfully hosted by Krista Tippett. I could go on and on about how much I've come to love this program, the people to whom the recorded shows have introduced me, and the website that expands upon and broadens the potential scope of the learning the show offers in ways that are truly amazing. But I'll resist that temptation, at least for this post, and speak only about the show I listened to today. "No More Taking Sides". http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/no-more/
If you follow the link to the page for that particular show, you'll see that the introductory blurb describes it this way: "Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest." The story they have to tell is, at the same time, heart-breaking, inspiring and a source of hope. They talk about moving beyond being pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian to looking for a way to use the pain they each feel over the loss of a loved one in a way to try to help heal and, ultimately, resolve what seems to be the unresolvable conflict between their two peoples. At one point, Mr. Awwad makes the comment that he sees his pain over the loss of his brother as "holy", and he felt that to strike back in anger over that loss would allow that holy pain to be used in furtherance of continuing a struggle that would inevitably lead to other losses and other futile acts of retribution.
I urge you to listen to this program, to think about the way in which these folks are trying to find a better way, and - if you're so inclined - to say a little prayer for them, for the peace process being started today, and for our country. May we all be guided by wisdom, from whatever source you may believe in.
And today the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority will sit down at the State Department with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to begin a process of trying once again to find a road to peace and to end a conflict that has afflicted that region for more than 60 years.
Will the new peace process work? We can't know yet, of course, but it seems to me that all people of good will have to hope and pray that it does. And what about our country, are these recent incidents of anti-Muslim feelings, even Islamophobia perhaps, isolated events, or are they signs of what is to come, of where our nation is going? Those questions must remain unanswered right now too, left to be answered by future historians in light of what tomorrow’s news reports may bring.
All this was on my mind this morning as I dutifully spent my hour on an elliptical trainer at the gym. I used to listen to music on my iPod while exercising, but over the past couple of months I've been enjoying some very intellectually stimulating and educational podcasts from "Speaking of Faith", a program produced by National Public Media and wonderfully hosted by Krista Tippett. I could go on and on about how much I've come to love this program, the people to whom the recorded shows have introduced me, and the website that expands upon and broadens the potential scope of the learning the show offers in ways that are truly amazing. But I'll resist that temptation, at least for this post, and speak only about the show I listened to today. "No More Taking Sides". http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/no-more/
If you follow the link to the page for that particular show, you'll see that the introductory blurb describes it this way: "Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest." The story they have to tell is, at the same time, heart-breaking, inspiring and a source of hope. They talk about moving beyond being pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian to looking for a way to use the pain they each feel over the loss of a loved one in a way to try to help heal and, ultimately, resolve what seems to be the unresolvable conflict between their two peoples. At one point, Mr. Awwad makes the comment that he sees his pain over the loss of his brother as "holy", and he felt that to strike back in anger over that loss would allow that holy pain to be used in furtherance of continuing a struggle that would inevitably lead to other losses and other futile acts of retribution.
I urge you to listen to this program, to think about the way in which these folks are trying to find a better way, and - if you're so inclined - to say a little prayer for them, for the peace process being started today, and for our country. May we all be guided by wisdom, from whatever source you may believe in.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Mirror Lake
During our recent vacation in Utah, Suz and I hiked around this alpine lake, which was about an hour from Park City where we were staying. All along the way out and back we were marveling to each other as each turn in the road or crest of a hill brought one gorgeous panorama after another into our vision. It was a magnificent day!
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