Reverence as a Practice Reverence is a spiritual practice. By engaging in the practice, we enhance our feelings of worth and awe. I have talked extensively about mental and physical health. As a Personal Trainer and Mental Health Therapist, physical and mental health go together, but to get a person to marry the two together can be problematic, often because of one’s lack of reverence for oneself. Reverence according to Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat is “Reverence is the way... Read more
This is a post that focuses on the spiritual practice of you. You are a precious gift from the divine. You are potential seat of Christ, and you are loved. Each of us is a work in progress and there is always room for improvement. We are not just human beings, we are human becomings. No matter what you are going through right now, no matter how bad it will be tomorrow or the next day, you are loved, and... Read more
I love reading. A funny thing happened when I was young. Because of my diagnosis of ADHD in the 80’s and a general misunderstanding of what ADHD was, I was lumped educationally with children who often had more severe learning disabilities. Because of this, I had to go to special reading and math classes for almost all of my childhood educational career. In 86 or so, from what I can deduce from research I did in college, I scored particularly... Read more
I was listening to Pete Enns and Jared Byas’ Podcast recently and they interviewed David Dark on impact of doubt on faith development. There were so many great points, that I wanted to comment on this podcast from the contemplative lens that I see the world through. Doubting Thomas Let us consider Thomas from the Gospels. If you remember, after Jesus’ death, the followers that were left experience several mystical presentations of Jesus. When they informed Thomas of their... Read more
How can the historical Jesus and the movement he started inform us today? A Historical Context In my world’s religion class, I spend a whole section of our time together looking at religion and politics. The question I ask my students to consider is this: “Does religion cause violence?” To put things in context, let’s look at the Palestinian situation from Jesus’ perspective. Palestine in Jesus’ day was part of the Roman Empire, which controlled its various territories in several... Read more
Before I begin, a disclaimer … I am a trained Christian pastor, an Oblate with the Benedictine order, with a heavy focus on peace and justice. I am an outpatient mental health therapist with a therapeutic focus on trauma and education; I am opposed to violence for the sake of violence. My views in this post are as objective as I can make them. They do not reflect one political party or another. I am a Christian who leans heavily... Read more
Questing takes all shapes and forms. This last weekend, I took my wife and daughter on a 127-mile bike backing trip. We have been preparing for weeks, starting with small, twenty-mile rides and two weekends ago, completing a fifty – three-mile ride. I am a huge fan of doing hard things and I have written on both doing hard things and the spiritual practice of questing. Questing Three Days On The Appalachian Trail and Questing Going into the weekend, I... Read more
What is a True Self I have been thinking about one’s true self lately. The contemplative teachers Richard Rohr and Joan Chittester have both devoted recent posts and meditations on this topic. Chittester has devoted the whole month of July to this topic in her Monastic Way ( https://joanchittister.org/content/newsletters/monastic-way/current-issue ) I recently wrote a post around Thich Nhat Hahn’s book “Peace with Every Step” ( https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/07/is-peace-achievable-in-todays-society/ ). Returning briefly back to this book, I want to reflect on Hahn’s thoughts... Read more
A Definition As we continue to blur the lines of right and wrong, it is important to return to the basics and explore the ancient, historical origins of concepts of morality, virtue and even personhood. In this post, I want to explore how we have moved from an ancient, objective perspective of virtue to a subjective, often agenda-based ideology of virtue. Plato and Aristotle are Western pioneers of this school of thought and in the East, we find Confucius... Read more
Is Peace Achievable? There is a lot of talk these days (or every day since time immortal) about all the chaos we are observing. Some would go as far as saying this is the worst it has ever been. I strongly disagree. I am sitting with Thich Nhat Hahn’s 1991 book, “Peace is Every Step” this week and contemplating and meditating about peace. This would be one of the first books I read from him when I was in college,... Read more
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