Tag Archives: purpose
A New Story to Replace the Old
A New Story A New Story to Replace the Old Thursday, January 14, 2021 In this time of unveiling, new stories need to be told about everything from ecology and faith to money and power, and they need to be told from many different perspectives. Only as we contemplate and engage new paradigms and visions… Continue Reading A New Story to Replace the Old
A New Framing Story
A New Story A New Framing Story Monday, January 11, 2021 Thomas Kuhn’s book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions popularized the term “paradigm shift.” [1] A paradigm is a set of beliefs, images, concepts, and structures that govern the way we think about something. Kuhn (1922–1996) said that paradigm change becomes necessary when the previous paradigm… Continue Reading A New Framing Story
Dying as Disorder
Order, Disorder, Reorder: Part Two Dying as Disorder Thursday, August 20, 2020 Dying is not extraneous to life; it is a part of the mystery, and we do not understand life until we stand under death. —Richard Rohr There may be nothing more disordering than being diagnosed with a terminal or chronic illness. It upends… Continue Reading Dying as Disorder
Common Ground and Purpose
Alternative Community Common Ground and Purpose Sunday, May 31, 2020 Pentecost Sunday It’s sad to say, but for centuries the Christian vision was narrowed to what we have today—a preoccupation with private salvation. Our “personal relationship with Jesus” seems to be based on a very small notion of Christ. We’ve modeled church after a service… Continue Reading Common Ground and Purpose
Gurdjieff and the Enneagram
Enneagram Part Two: Heart Center Gurdjieff and the Enneagram Monday, March 2, 2020 My friend Russ Hudson and his writing partner, the late Don Richard Riso, give some of the history of the Enneagram in their book The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The person responsible for bringing the Enneagram symbol to the modern world was George… Continue Reading Gurdjieff and the Enneagram
The Gift of Sufficiency
Economy: Old and New The Gift of Sufficiency Thursday, November 28, 2019 Thanksgiving in the United States As long as we operate inside any scarcity model, there will never be enough God or grace to go around. Jesus came to undo our notions of scarcity and tip us over into a worldview of absolute abundance.… Continue Reading The Gift of Sufficiency
Cultivating Nonviolence
Peacemakers Cultivating Nonviolence Wednesday, September 18, 2019 If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, first go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount describes unconditional love in action. Tomorrow we’ll… Continue Reading Cultivating Nonviolence
An Uncreated Spark
The Perennial Tradition An Uncreated Spark Thursday, August 15, 2019 Eknath Easwaran (1910–1999) was an Indian born spiritual teacher and author, as well as a translator and interpreter of early Hindu texts such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. I was personally introduced to him during a visit from Henri Nouwen in the late… Continue Reading An Uncreated Spark
Christ Is Everywhere
Introduction to Christian Mysticism Christ Is Everywhere Tuesday, July 16, 2019 The twentieth-century English mystic Caryll Houselander (1901–1954) describes how an ordinary underground train journey in London transformed into a vision that changed her life. I share Houselander’s description of this startling experience because it poignantly demonstrates what I call the Christ Mystery, the indwelling… Continue Reading Christ Is Everywhere
Love in Service of Transformation
Conscious Love Love in Service of Transformation Monday, June 17, 2019 Cynthia Bourgeault, an Episcopal priest and one of the Center’s core faculty members, calls Jesus’ teaching and way of life “the path of conscious love.” She writes: “Conscious love” . . . emphasizes the life-affirming and implicitly relational nature of the path, and the… Continue Reading Love in Service of Transformation