Blog

I am co-facilitating a program for a wonderful group of people who wish to deepen their writing by learning to trust their own voices. Each of them has a project that they are working on, but the real work of our program is to generate pathways of deep trust and creativity within themselves.  Recently I talked to them about a powerful moment I had early in my journey of becoming a writer. I was plagued by insecurity and self-doubt. I was paralyzed not knowing where or how to start. Finally, I confessed this to a… Read More

“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft…I would essentially be a kamikaze pilot,” Maj. Heather Penney recalled about her flight on September 11, 2001.  On that day, Penney, then a lieutenant, had her orders. She had to intercept and stop United Airlines Flight 93 from making it to Washington DC. But neither she nor her commander, who was ready to go in another fighter, had any weapons to fire at the hijacked jet. The jets only had dummy bullets, still loaded after a training mission. So the plan was,… Read More

I find this hard to believe, but this (almost) daily meditation now reaches thousands of people across the world. Each day many of you write to me with wonderful questions, observations, and stories from your own lives. I read each note you send, but I am rarely able to respond directly. That disappoints me because you are gifting me/us with wonderful insights for further inquiry. Here is what I would like to do: You keep writing, and I will take the questions that you offer and respond to those I can… Read More

I was sitting with a friend of mine on a park bench in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. She was telling me about a devastating experience that she had as a child. She was abused and tortured by family members until she finally escaped her home at 15 years old. The pain of her experience was palpable. My heart broke for her, even as I marveled at the extraordinary woman that she had become. In response, I did what seemed natural. Feeling righteous indignation for her suffering, I started trying to… Read More

Yesterday we watched an attempted coup in the United States of America. We watched angry white men and women storm the Capital, push through barriers, break windows, trespass onto the floor of the House, occupy lawmakers’ offices, attack law enforcement officers, replace American flags on poles with Trump flags, all while believing their actions were patriotic. They believed they were fighting for their nation. In fact, they were seditious.  In the news coverage, I remember seeing flags declaring “Jesus 2020.” Well, I don’t know what faith they hold, but I know without… Read More

Yesterday was about transitions. We saw the electoral college certify that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. We learned that William Barr has resigned as the US Attorney General. We officially lost over 300,000 souls to the coronavirus in the US while also administering the first doses of a vaccine we pray finally stops this pandemic. Yesterday was also a day of transition for one of my neighbors. Yesterday, she posted on our neighborhood app called “Next Door” that she could no longer feed her children or herself…. Read More

I am co-facilitating a small group in my church during Advent. Tonight we met online and discussed one of my favorite passages from Isaiah 40, “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.” We read the whole passage, verses 1-8, but I never made it past the first verse in my heart.  “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.” Around 5 AM this past Saturday morning alarm bells hang out to the New York City Fire Department. There was a fire at the corner of 48th East and 7th St. The fire department was… Read More

Years ago I went hiking through the rainforests of Costa Rica. I had never before experienced the magnificent energy of a rainforest. I remember my sense of wonder, walking under a fern frond and looking up to see that fern was nearly twice as tall as me. I brushed plants that recoiled at my touch and then opened again once I passed. I met a lizard braced on a towering tree who looked me straight in the eyes as if to have a conversation with me. Like Alice in Wonderland,… Read More

I’ve been collaborating on some projects with author and theologian Matthew Fox recently. In a conversation with our mutual colleague, Dr. Luther Smith, Matthew quoted a statistic that left me absolutely stunned.  In talking about our worrisome descent into self-destruction as a global society, he said, “People in the US spend $56,000 EVERY SECOND on weapons development. I can think of a lot more creative ways to spend that kind of money.” Couldn’t we all? St. Thomas Aquinas, a medieval Roman Catholic scholar, was the first to coin the term “common good.” He was… Read More

Every time I get in my airplane to fly, I am required to get a current weather report. In aviation lingo, its called an ATIS (automatic terminal information service) report. I tune my comms to a designated frequency and listen to a recording that is updated about every 20 minutes by an air traffic controller. The report tells me about conditions at the airfield. I hear the latest wind direction and speeds, temperature, dewpoint, altimeter setting, and any service issues such as a taxiway closed or a lighting system out.  When I am… Read More