When I worked in substance abuse counseling, I quickly learned the difficulties involved. People in early recovery can be grumpy, horny, enjoy power struggles, and frequently fail to make it beyond the word “early.” In my five years as a counselor in an outpatient clinic, I saw one client three different times. On his fourth... Continue Reading →
The Nameless One
The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the Named is the mother of all things. – Lao Tzu[i] One day, while shepherding sheep somewhere in the Sinai desert, Moses saw... Continue Reading →
Unexplainables
“The greatest of all illusions is the illusion of familiarity.” G.K. Chesterton[i] When I was in the ministry, I got to know a retired Methodist pastor named Edgar who was a spiritual healer. I’d visit with him at his house, from time to time, to talk about prayer and his understanding of healing. Edgar had... Continue Reading →
What’s A Person To Do?
My first experience with God occurred when I was fourteen-years old. My mother, after finding racy pictures and lingerie pages from the Sears catalogue hidden under my bed, confronted me about them in the middle of family dinner. The trauma has largely erased all specific memories, but lasting guilt about masturbation was one of them. ... Continue Reading →
Spiritual Practice
There is much about the world to which we are blind. It is estimated that humans can only see about 0.0035 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum, otherwise known as light. Spend a day at the beach and your skin may turn red, but your eyes won’t notice the ultra-violet rays that cause it. If dogs... Continue Reading →
Listening
Even though listening to someone is a foundation for any loving relationship, the act of listening is surprisingly difficult. We could even say, like unconditional love, that paying full attention to another person is not a natural human behavior. Instead, due to our egos and their constant yammering, we usually pay more attention to ourselves... Continue Reading →