December 13, 202–

I am going to burn that trash tomorrow. I would do it right now but I don’t have a burn permit. If I get off of my dead donkey and do something, I am certain that I will feel better.

Why am I struggling? I am feeling so useless.

from Consolations

“Solace is the beautiful, imaginative home we make where disappointment can go to be rehabilitated. When life does not in any way add up, we must turn to the part of us that has never wanted a life of simple calculation. Solace is found in allowing the body’s innate wisdom to come to the fore, the part of us that already knows it is mortal and must take its leave like everything else….”

–David Whyte, Consolations

From Brother Ben oh

Ask your question and then listen.

Ash Wednesday Meditation from Frederick Buechner

IN MANY CULTURES there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of
each year’s income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe
the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth
of each year’s days. After being baptized by John in the river Jordan,
Jesus went off alone into the wilderness where he spent forty days
asking himself the question what it meant to be Jesus. During Lent,
Christians are supposed to ask one way or another what it means
to be themselves.

If you had to bet everything you have on whether there is a God
or whether there isn’t, which side would get your money and why?
When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it
that you most like and what do you see in it that you most deplore?
If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people
who are most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five
words or less?

Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you
would most like to undo? Which is the one that makes you happiest
to remember? Is there any person in the world, or any cause, that,
if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for?
If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?
To hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to begin to
hear something not only of who you are but of both what you are
becoming and what you are failing to become. It can be a pretty
depressing business all in all, but if sackcloth and ashes
are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end.

from Rabbi Shapiro

Enveloped in Your Light, may I be a beacon to those in search of light.
Sheltered in Your Peace, may I offer shelter to those in need of peace.
As I am embraced by Your Presence, so may I be present to others.
-Rabbi Rami Shapiro

The Spiritual Life

The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real when it is lived in the midst of the pains and joys of the here and now. 
Henri Nouwen

Grace

"Grace has been defined as the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul." ~ William Hazlitt

from George McGoverrn

"From secrecy and deception in high places; come home, America. From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation; come home, America. From the entrenchment of special privileges in tax favoritism; from the waste of idle lands to the joy of useful labor; from the prejudice based on race and sex; from the loneliness of the aging poor and the despair of the neglected sick - come home, America."  

The Deal from Terry Hershey

Groundedness (the sacred present) marries gratitude and spills, becoming generosity and transformation. Why? Because I want to share this gift of wonder. “Did you see that?” “Did not our hearts burn within us?

Two About Seed

Plant seeds.
Don't be stupid.
God's not sending anyone else.
He sent you.
To save yourself.
Be smart.
Plant as many seeds as you can,
for as long as you can.
You never know...
Plant good seeds everywhere.
Plant seeds of love.
Plant seeds of kindness.
Plant seeds of friendship.
Plant seeds of hope.
~José N. Harris, Mi Vida


I must plant the seeds of hope within myself first or I will have no seeds of hope to plant anywhere else. (?) We plant seeds in each  other…We must be alert for the seeds that are being  planted in our souls.
-Brother Ben

(revision 2/26 2020)  I must find the seeds of hope that have been planted in my soul and nurture them until they can no longer be contained in my soul alone.

The Finger and the Moon

The Finger and the Moon Matthew Laney January 21, 2020 “John the Baptist was not the Light, but he came to testify to the light.” - John 1:8 (NRSV) Zen Buddhism has many wonderful sayings such as, “The finger that points to the moon is not the moon.” In Zen, the “finger” is whatever points to the truth of existence. The finger might be the Buddha (the teacher) or the dharma (the teaching), which point beyond themselves to the truth, the “moon.” If you focus on the pointers, you will miss the truth to which they point. The Buddha likened the teacher and the teaching to a raft that carries you across a river. Once you reach the other shore, you leave the raft behind. It would be foolish to take the raft with you as well as unkind to future travelers. This distinction is an important reminder for Christians: The Bible that points to God is not God. The theology that points to God is not God. The church that points to God is not God. The pastor who points to God is not God. It’s easy to confuse and conflate the finger and the moon. Instead of worshipping God, we might erroneously worship the Bible, theology, the church or the pastor which only point to God. The Gospel writer makes it clear from the get-go: although John the Baptist was a bright and fiery figure, he was not the light. He came to point to the light coming into the world. There is one notable exception to the finger-is-not-the-moon rule: Jesus, the true Light, who is both finger and moon. Jesus is the sign and the reality, the teacher and the truth. And Jesus is the Light to whom we, like John the Baptist, are called to point. In the process, we glow brighter too. Prayer Light of lights, although I often feel like the little finger or all thumbs, help me to point others to your eternal brightness. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Matt Laney is the Senior Pastor of Virginia Highland Church UCC in Atlanta, GA and the author of Pride Wars, a fantasy series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers. The first two books, The Spinner Prince and The Four Guardians are available now.

Life from Three

Put down the pen someone else gave you.  No one ever drafted a life worth living on borrowed ink.
Jack Kerouac

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
Jane Goodall

Let the Spirit Speak

Do not worry if our harp breaks
Thousands more will appear.
We have fallen in the arms of love where all is music.
If all the harps in the world were burned down
still inside the heart
there will be hidden music playing.
Do not worry if all the candles in the world flicker and die
We have the spark that starts the fire.
The songs we sing
Are like foam on the surface of the sea of being
While the precious gems lie deep beneath.
But the tenderness in our songs
Is a reflection of what is hidden in the depths.
Stop the flow of your words,
open the window of your heart and 
Let the spirit speak.
   -Rumi
(translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi)