“Trees also understand that slowness is the key to a good life. For humans, at the moment, it feels like life is going faster and faster. This way of living uses up so much energy that the quality of our lives doesn’t get better. We should slow down.” – Peter Wohlleben – My father…Continue reading Want to Learn about Community? … Listen to the Trees!
Category: Family, Friends & Foe
Assumptions: The Noxious Weeds of Relationships
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” – Isaac Asimov – The front garden demolition has started. Since moving into this house in November, I have been eyeing the garden beds, overgrown with weeds and noxious plants that have taken the…Continue reading Assumptions: The Noxious Weeds of Relationships
Reflection on Rites of Passage
“Few of us go through life without taking part in some kind of rite of passage.” – Hank Nuwer – It was the French ethnographer and folklorist, Arnold van Gennep, who first coined the phrase “rites of passage”. It is the ceremonial event that exists in all known historical societies that marks a person’s passage…Continue reading Reflection on Rites of Passage
This Ancient Mountain
I acknowledge the original custodians of this land and pay my respects to the Elders both past, present and future for they hold the memories, the spiritual connections, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. Every morning when I step on to my front verandah I greet…Continue reading This Ancient Mountain
A Thrill of Hope
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. – Adolphe Adam – Simeon’s Moment by Ron Dicianni It’s that time of year again. While some folks claim there is a ‘war on Christmas’, it takes very little research to discover that this apocalyptic, deluded conspiracy theory holds…Continue reading A Thrill of Hope
Remember with Purpose
You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. – Exodus 22:21 – Part of the problem in reading an ancient sacred text with modern minds is that there is a disconnect and dissonance in context, culture and thought. When reading the Bible, for…Continue reading Remember with Purpose
Congestions, Delays and Detours!
Odd, how life makes twists and turns. I never would have guessed that I’d end up where I am now, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wouldn’t trade this path I’m on for the whole solar system, for that matter. If I’ve learned anything these last several months, it’s that sometimes the…Continue reading Congestions, Delays and Detours!
The Challenge: Learn Something New!
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. – Ghandi – How fortunate are the ones who at least once a day can exclaim, “I did not know that!” What a privilege to be able to walk with our eyes open, with a sense of wonder, and…Continue reading The Challenge: Learn Something New!
Job, His Friends, and Disappointment
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. – Martin Luther King, Jr. – The book of Job has always fascinated me. One of the oldest books in the Old Testament and most celebrated pieces of biblical literature, it is dominated by two main characters: Yahweh and a wealthy man called…Continue reading Job, His Friends, and Disappointment
Saying Goodbye Sucks!
Why can’t we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn’t work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. – Charles M. Schulz It…Continue reading Saying Goodbye Sucks!