Two things I love about the wisdom of the Muppets, First, their philosophy is eternal. It was here long before Jim Henson, and will be here long after the Muppets retire. The second reason I think the Muppets are necessary for life’s learning, is because it reminds me there is hope. Hope for the spiritual realities we yearn for in life, regardless of one’s faith philosophy or tradition.
Whenever I see pictures and cartoons that poke fun at us humans, I generally save them to my phone. And then when the time is right I post them to Facebook, or text them to someone who needs to hear the message even more than I do. For instance, the latest one reads, “If I [...]
I have never outgrown my delight in smelling coffee brewing first thing in the morning. Especially during my morning contemplative time. Wherever I am, at home or traveling, there is something about that earthy aroma that makes me pause while a smile spreads across my face, like warm syrup over a pancake. As I breathe [...]
Sometimes when I consult with churches, I provide marketing and communications support. Before ministry I was the Creative and Art Director for a design and marketing agency in Phoenix. So for more than 23 years, I have kept myself on the cutting edge of advertising and helping people grow their businesses (including churches) - well, [...]
Do not adjust your screen, yes, you read the title correctly - I’m giving up God for Lent. I know this may sound strange since I am a member of the clergy. Why on earth would someone who’s JOB is God give up God for Lent? It would be like watching a doctor ask the [...]
Everywhere I look there are TV shows, articles, pictures, poems, reflections and pithy aphorisms about love, oneness and seeing or knowing God. If I didn’t know better I would think we were hungry, or even starving, to see Spirit! In our spiritual journey we seek to define God, to manifest Spirit, to know our faith and to live it. I sometimes find myself drifting in and out of knowing the Divine, and what it means to fully “see” God, or even to have faith in what I am doing.
One of the treasures in my life is the ability to lose myself in a song. Closing my eyes and allowing the words and music to play through me – to stop listening with my ears and listen with my heart. As the music washes over me, my mind relaxes, my breathing slows and I quietly drift into unexpected places of creation. This is the sacred discipline of deep listening, of being spiritually attentive through our hearing sense.
Take a strawberry into your hand. Notice the brilliant color, the sweet aroma, the texture of its seeds. Consider these as you sink your thumbnail into the skin of the strawberry… the membrane that so carefully holds the precious juice inside. Notice the burst of aroma and the spray of juice. Feel the sweet, sticky coolness [...]
In the previous blog I talked about the spiritual sense of smell, as akin to our physical sense of smell, which can be a powerful attraction to something. The spiritual sense of smell is a symbol, a metaphor for that attraction to being attentive to Spirit that is hidden all around us, as well as [...]
I am almost always in awe at how the deepest and truest things in life are those things that are intangible. Things like love, fear, peace, faith and even God. We can’t really hold them in our hand, or really point definitively to them. And while we can’t see them with our eyes, we can [...]
