a prophetic voice-

From The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki: "War is a social, economic and ecological disaster. It is totally unsustainable and must be opposed by all who are concerned about meeting the real needs of all people and future generations. The effect of war is most immediate for those who are killed or maimed or made homeless, but the social and ecological consequences reverberate for generations. Among the children who survive, we still don't know the full extent of the psychic damage they have suffered or the degree to which their problems are transmitted to successive generations. War is the ultimate atrocity that dehumanizes victor and vanquished alike; divorcing children from parents, separating families, smashing communities, it deprives its victims of their basic need for love and security in the company of their fellow human beings." And to give you something else to "chew on", here are some facts and figures: We (the U.S.) are spending $2.3 billion per we...

Ah! A cup of coffee  steaming hot fragrant with cinnamon warmth seeping through reaching out Open, my eyes peer into darkness,     the sun not yet risen     on this sabbath morn. Open, my heart dwells in darkness,     beating out my life's seconds,     even as it reaches out to     welcome the light of compassion. Open, my hands reach out     to take the hands of those     dwelling in my imagination,     at a far distance, yet as near     as my thoughts,my breath,     my beating heart. May your day be both blessed and beautiful, dear one, wherever you are. May it be filled with both strength and courage, both pathos and compassion. And, above all, may you know, truly know, that you are loved. love, linda    

There is no such thing as a meaningless moment. -Joan Chittister Time is nature's way of preventing everything from happening at once. -Anonymous graffiti It is not your obligatio to complete your work, but you are not at liberty to quit it. -The Talmud just wondering... Wit and wonder- are these the marks of being truly human? Do other creatures laugh? And do they question why and how they came to be? The light of the full moon shines through my window and I am filled with such a yearning to walk its lighted path to who knows where? O Brother Squirrel, Sister Wren, do you ever know such depth of yearning? As you cavort through branches high above me, do you laugh at this earth-bound creature? As you fly on your daily round of feeders and feeding , as you sing your preious song, so you now delight? Or are we two-legger earthings the only ones possessed of both the gift and the curse of such awareness? And is this what it means to be created ...

life & death... Steve Jobs has died of pancreatic cancer, and headlines scream and countless words of acclamation have been written, spoken, blogged, and tweeted... more will surely follow, as the world mourns the death of a technology pioneer who changed the face of daily life for countless numbers of us...                 AND a child has died of starvation- and another and another still...numbering in the thousands daily, as headlines stay silent and words of sorrow remain unwritten...as the families mourn alone, the death of one small child changing nothing in the daily lives of countless numbers of us...               or does it?                   should it?             ...

That is sanctity: the wholeness of giving the gift of all your self. Not waiting till that self is fine and moral and healthy and balanced enough to expose. -Rowan Williams stripping down… Over the years, I have ejected lots of spiritual “baggage: which no longer served me well. I am trying to “travel light”…to shed the constraints of tenets, creeds, beliefs which only bind, which no longer fit.   Is there some blessedness, I wonder, in walking around           naked? ass/u/me Why do we so often assume that people of faith never experience      brokenness?      discouragement?      despair? Why do we so often assume, even in this modern age,      that illness & misfortune are      signs of lack of faith? Why do we so often assume that we know who has God...

In my early morning reading, I encountered these words from Mark Nepo: With our hands full of groceries, our heads full of things to do, our hearts full of memories, and our dreams full of plans, we tend to think that if we could only get away or finish crossing off the things on that list, if we could only undo what has been done or do what needs to be done, we might then live more completely, more perfectly. But we are human beings, flawed colorful beings that eat plans and memories for food. Set me thinking, as these morning readings usually do, and the result is my question for today: how do I live fully? How do I live as a responsible, caring human being? How do I make an impact on the world I inhabit- not in the sense of fortune or fame but in the sense of touching other lives, though touching them lightly? Or is the task simply to BE, without much concern for legacy, for impact? In fact, to leave as light a footprint as possible... For in the truly sacred moments o...

Somehow, a sometimes-sultry September has slithered out the door and October has slipped in, bringing delightfully cooler temperatures, blue skies, chill breezes, and the tinge of color on the tips of trees, putting me in the mood for the tasks of making soup and applesauce and, perhaps, baking an apple pie. Isn't it strange how certain foods seem to go with certain seasons? How the palate just seems to yearn for a specific taste when the air cools and the nights lengthen? My heart leans toward "comfort foods" at this time of year...foods like baked or mashed white potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, meatloaf, liver with onions, oven-roasted veggies, and chili, leaving behind the lighter fare of summer, as "real" tomatoes and peaches disappear from the farmers' market, to be replaced by root vegetables and loads of apples. In many ways, Autumn is my favorite season, though it brings with it a certain melancholy, the fragrant, flagrant beauty of summer being gr...