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8/30/2010

The Presence of God

When do we know if God is around? Or if there is even a God? And if there is, what does He look like? Or is he really a she?

Many people want proof of God's existence before believing. But it is the unknown that is fascinating, not knowing who God is, what God is, or where God is. Instead, doesn't it make sense to simply believe in the unknown, to know that a higher power, one we might call the Holy Spirit is working in our lives?

Thomas Merton spoke of this when he wrote: "God approaches our minds by receding from them. We can never fully know Him if we think of Him as an object of capture, to be fenced in by the enclosure of our mind ideas. We know Him better after our minds have let Him go. The Lord travels in all directions at once. The Lord arrives from all directions at once. Wherever we are, we find that He has just departed. Wherever we go, we discover that He has just arrived before us."

Does this make sense to you? Is Merton right, or full of baloney?

7/24/2010

The Wisdom of Prevention

Here is some wise advice all around. See what you think of this excerpt from the Tao te Ching:

"Deal with the difficult,

While it is still easy,

Solve large problems,

When they are still small.

Preventing large problems,

By taking small steps,

Is easier than solving them,

Therefore, the Tao person,

Anticipates and lives wisely,

By small actions,

Accomplishing great things." (63)

Too often we let things build up and instead of hills, we have mountains. Are you one who does this, and if so, why?

6/29/2010

Listening for the Voice of The Spirit

Through the miracle of discovering a daughter and grandchildren I never knew existed, I was once again reminded of how a higher spirit, whatever it may be called, may guide our life path. Thomas Merton once said he wanted to "listen for the voice of God," but it may be any voice, one that spearheads our desire to act Christlike in nature whether one believes in Christ or not. As my wife Lu once told me, "Christ sounds like a good role model." Amen.

If there is one aspect of the "spiritual world" tough for me to understand, it is how many simply decide to disregard it altogether. For instance, dismissing the Bible as pure fantasy causes one to miss the wondrous stories of inspiration and miracles all around. Why not pick and choose scripture that may guide our daily lives such as that noted in James or Job when times are tough? Having a true spiritual foundation provides a way to never feel alone, and instead have a ready "partner" to steady the rocky road.

One passage always sparking thought on my part is "It is only when we refuse His help, resist His will, that we have conflict, trouble, disorder, unhappiness, ruin." If you don't believe there is a "His," so be it, and then substitute the words "spirit," "higher power," or whatever you choose. But listening for a voice that my guide your way makes perfect sense, especially when we realize human beings simply cannot cope with everyday woes by themselves. Trust in the spirit; and the spirit will never let you down.

Your thoughts?

6/14/2010

Where are we headed?

Are you lost? Confused? Does the world seem overbearing? Have your lost your way? Many times we think we are the only ones who feel this way, but everyone does at one time or another. Even the wise man, Thomas Merton, experienced doubt and wonder. He wrote:

"My Lord God, I have no ideas where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so . . . "

How do we know if we are truly following the will of the spirit? Where are the answers? Or is it better to have unknowns in our life as we attempt to lead Christline lives? No one has the answer. This is the answer. What do you think?

 

6/4/2010

The Tao of Inner Peace

If you are looking for reading that inspires, no greater book exists than The Tao of Inner Peace by Diane Dreher. A slow read of this testimonial to peace and love, or even better still, two slow reads, calms the soul as wisdom escapes from the writing on every page.

Throughout, author Dreher quotes passages from the Tao te Ching, another inspirational book. One to consider reads:

"The greatest wisdom

Is to follow the Tao.

The Tao is mysterious, unfathomable,

Yet within is all that lives,

Unfathomable, mysterious,

Yet within is the essence;

Shadowy, intangible,

Yet within are vital principles,

Principles of truth

Informing all creation,

The lessons of life

Inherent in Tao."

Is Tao a partner to the Holy Spirit, unfathomable, mysterious? And what are the lessons of life inherent in the Tao? Your thoughts?

5/19/2010

Turning Anger into Love

When we are angry, the whole world seems dark. We even forget to count the wonderful list of blessings in our lives. How sad, how distressful.

To lift ourselves from the depths of gloom is a true spiritual journey. Here's my take on it, plain and simple: The key is to reduce anger to disappointment, and then disappointment to understanding. If we can do this, then we take our understanding of whatever has occurred and turn it into acceptance. This leads next to forgiveness and then to our ultimate goal, love.

When we love, the world brightens and we savor even the smallest of blessings during what is surely a true gift of life. Do you agree? If so, why? Perhaps you have alternative suggestions. Please pass them along.

5/14/2010

Integrity or Honesty: Which is More Important?

What do you think? Can one exist without the other? Here is one viewpoint, written beautifully by Rosalind Karczewski:

"When a person, lies, cheats, or uses deception, a part of her is destroyed The person's moral bedrock is cracked forever Her stature shrinks & the voice of conscience silenced The word comes from the Latin integer, means untouched, whole or entire  Integrity is the state of being complete, whole or unbroken One who lacks integrity has failed to mature socially & morally She has not fully learned the benefits of integrity nor the long- term negative consequences when u act without it. Integrity brings self-confidence & self-assurance A person with integrity has no moral fears Whenever, you have a question regarding how you should act in a given situation, integrity will show you the right way... Being "Ruthlessly" & "Compassionately" honest is always best...a razors edge...I know"

Do you agree? Let's hear from you.

5/10/2010

New Directions, New Horizons

Here's some special wisdom from Thomas Merton re new directions and new horizons. See how this might fit into your life.

"The one thing necessary is a true interior and spiritual life, truth growth, on my own, in depth in a new direction. Whatever new direction God opens up for me, my job is to press forward, to grow interiorly, to pray, to break away from attachments, and to defy fears, to grow in faith, which has its own solitude, to seek an entirely new perspective and dimension in my life . . . and to open up new horizons at any cost, to desire this and let the Holy Spirit take care of the rest."

Are you open to new directions, to new horizons, or are you stuck in second gear?

5/3/2010

A Simple Prayer

Do you believe prayer works? Have any evidence of that? Some believe it's a bunch of hooey, and they could be right.

I feel differently, having seen firsthand the power of prayer and how the Holy Spirit may work in our lives if we are open to listening and watching. Each day, I now say a prayer that may be simple in nature, but makes sense to me. Perhaps you can try it and see how it feels for you. Here goes:

Dear Lord,

Each day involves the desire to hear, the willingness to do your word, and the ability to decifer between my thoughts and your promptings. When this occurs, I am truly being guided by the Holy Spirit and God's Words are in my mind, God's love is behind my actions, and God's power helps me curb my selfish desires.

Not bad, huh? What do you think?

4/21/2010

The Miracle of Finding My Daughter and G'Daughters

Miracles are everywhere so we must never give up hope. To learn about my miracle, please visit this link on Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-shaw/thomas-merton-mark-and-mi_b_545687.html

How blessed I am.

4/15/2010

Inspiration is Everywhere

Here's a good story from one of our readers, Mary Orchard. Very inspiring!

"Once I went to a retreat sponsored by Joni and Friends, an organization dedicated to helping churches respond appropriately to people with disabilities. The variety of disabilities represented in that location that week made me realize that people who are deemed officially "disabled" are God's metaphores for the state of being human.  No one is able to do everything well; everyone has inadequacies (aka defects). In that sense everyone is disabled. If we attempt to be too independent, we make more mistakes. God likes us to be aware of our dependence upon him and upon one another. Identifying our own strengths and those of others makes it easier to also accept our inadequacies. Nevertheless, sometimes we don't know the value of things we do. At one time in my life I was extremely depressed. During  that time I took my son to the park to play. My eyes made contact with a woman who was pushing her child on a swing. We didn't know each other and didn't speak, but she smiled at me. That smile gave me the courage to keep living. I'll never forget it, but she most certainly has."

Amazing what a simple thing like a smile can do to help others. Have you smiled lately when you see someone who appears upset or in need of a lift? Tell us about it.

4/12/2010

A Moral Story with a Moral

Please consider the following story forwarded to me by a very special woman named Marni:

"An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do ha lf of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. 'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.' The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?' 'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.' For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'"

Marni - "Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them."

Do you look for too many flaws in people instead of looking for the blessings, the good in them? If so, why?

4/4/2010

Thomas Merton and Solitude

The wisdom of famous Catholic monk Thomas Merton lives through the ages. Author of more than seventy books, including New Seeds of Contemplation, Wisdom of the Desert, and No Man Is An Island, Merton advocated the "contemplative life," a way of living where one detaches themselves from the real world. This requires a sense of solitude and Merton had much to say about this subject, including:

"True solitude is found in humility, which is infinitely rich. False solitude is the refuse of pride, and it is infinitely poor. The power of false solitude comes from an illusion which pretends, by adorning itself in things it can never possess, to distinguish one individual self from the mass of other men/women. True solitude is selfless. Therefore, it is rich in silence and charity and peace . . . "

As I wrote in Beneath the Mask of Holiness, my recent biography of Merton, he challenges us to become truly one with solitude. Are you "selfless" or "selfish?" Are you rich in "silence and charity and peace?" If not, why not?

3/31/2010

Restoring Relationships

Is there someone in your life that you need to contact so as to restore a relationship gone sour? Has enough time passed since whatever trouble occurred that you can patch things up? Are you strong enough to make that first call or send that first email toward a reconciliation?

Pastor Rick Warren talks about restoring relationships in his bestselling book, The Purpose Life. I don't agree with everything Rev. Warren writes, but consider these words:

"Relationships are always worth restoring.  Because life is all about learning how to love, God wants us to value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict. In fact, the Bible tells us that God has given us the ministry of restoring relationships. Paul wrote, 'If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you . . agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.' Paul taught us that our ability to get along with others is a mark of spiritual maturity."

Are you spiritually mature? Who needs to hear from you with a tone of forgiveness and love? Is Rev. Warren right when he says "relationships are always worth restoring?"

3/24/2010

Is God a Big Deal?

Check out this article from LiveScience.com

"Most Americans believe God is involved in their everyday lives and concerned with their personal well-being, though the well-educated and higher earners are less likely than their counterparts to believe in such divine intervention, a new study suggests.

Scott Schieman, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, examined data from two recent national surveys of Americans and their beliefs about God's involvement in their everyday lives.

The results, published in the March issue of the journal Sociology of Religion, suggest these beliefs differ across education and income levels. Past research has suggested other factors involved with our religious beliefs, with one study revealing teachers are more religious than other college grads, and another suggesting women are more likely than men to believe in God.

Here are some highlights from the new findings:

• 82 percent of participants reported that they depend on God for help and guidance in making decisions.
• 71 percent said they believe that when good or bad things happen, these occurrences are simply part of God's plan for them.
• 61 percent indicated they believe God has determined the direction and course of their lives.
• 32 percent agreed with the statement: "There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God's hands."

Overall, participants with more education and higher income were less likely to report beliefs in divine intervention. But among the well-educated and higher earners, those who were more involved in religious rituals reported similar levels of beliefs about divine intervention as their less-educated and less financially well-off peers.

"Many of us might assume that people of higher social class standing tend to reject beliefs about divine intervention," Schieman said. "However, my findings indicate that while this is true among those less committed to religious life, it is not the case for people who are more committed to religious participation and rituals."

 

Agree? Disagree? Comments please!

 

3/18/2010

For Those Who are Lost

So many people appear lost these days with no real purpose in mind. Confusion reigns as decisions are contemplated during a time when negativity appears to be the call of the day. But there is hope if we simply understand that together obstacles may be overcome if we discover a true spiritual foundation to guide our way. This way, as Rev. Rick Warren writes in The Purpose Driven Life, "we will not let others upset our spiritual balance."

I certainly don't agree with Rev. Warren on everything he wrote, but there is comfort in knowing that another, the gifted wordsmith and famous monk Thomas Merton, acknowledged being "lost." He wrote, "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so . . . "

What Merton inspires us to realize is that we must first admit being "lost" so we may "found" and then do something about it. Do you agree? Can you provide some guideposts to live by?

3/15/2010

Why are we Afraid?

Lately, I have been hearing from all sorts of people experiencing tough times. When I listen to them, there is a common emotion appearing consistently as to what is causing them to suffer. What is this emotion? Nothing but the element of fear. 

Why are we afraid, I wonder? Considering why caused me to write the following text for a book I am completing about how we might be enlightened toward a more spiritually fulfilling life. The text reads:

"Fear. Fear. Fear. What a nasty word, but one that is, pardon the cliché, truly the root of all evil. When we fear anything, whether it is another human being, ourselves, a job, a new area of interest, whatever – this dastardly emotion creeps into our minds like an undesirable relative who says too much and stays too long. To set us on a path of enlightenment, and yes, redemption, to lose the old self and discover a new one, requires a well-conceived path toward our goal, dismissing any fear and replacing it with love. When this occurs, precious freedom from the nasty demons prohibiting us from enjoying the gift of life to the fullest, becomes our daily companion."

What do you think of my ideas? And what are your own regarding why we fear?

Four responses thus far:

From T -
"We are afraid when we lack faith. By faith I include traditional religious faith, as well as more abstract states, such as giving-in to unknowing and the fathomless mystery of it all. Fear and lack of faith are not defects; because all humans are afraid (sometimes more than others) fear is a part of our perfection. However, fear feels lousy and blocks us from so much goodness. Afraid? Start your work there. Try again and again to give yourself away."

From Helen - "We are afraid because we are going to die and life after death is unknowable. We are afraid because we are insecure and self-conscious. That covers it all, I think!"

From "Auntie" - "Love, fear & rock bottom...everything we do, action/reaction, is predicated by love or fear. It is ease vs dis-ease. When we act out of love our paths and consequences are positive and hopeful. When we act out of fear we lose ourselves and fall prey to hopelessness and negativism. When we hit rock bottom the cycle begins again, and again we may decide that love is the answer and we have no fear, or vice versa, and we don't feel the love."

From Becky -
"I like Todd's - "fear feels lousy and blocks us from so much goodness" - I'll work on that first."

 

3/12/2010

The Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching

One of my daily companions in the search for enlightenment is a very special book, the Tao Te Ching. A very wise man, Lao-Tzu, wrote these special words centuries ago, but they are still relevant today. One good "stop and think" passage states:

Fame or integrity; which is more important?

Money or happiness; which is more valuable?

Success or failure; which is more destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,

You will never truly be fulfilled.

If you happiness depends on money,

You will never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have,

Rejoice in the way things are,

When you realize there is nothing lacking,

The whole world belongs to you.

Of these words, "Be content with what you have," ring so true since many of us continually, "want, want, want." Are you this type of person, or are you truly content with what you have?

3/9/2010

Are You Wearing A Mask?

In my book, Beneath the Mask of Holiness, Thomas Merton and the Forbidden Love Affair that Set Him Free, I chronicle how the famous mid-20th century monk hid behind a mask for so many years attempting to be something he was not. Instead of exposing his pain and suffering to the world, he tried to be the peaceful, contemplative monk the Catholic Church promoted him to be. But Merton knew he was not being square with those who read his books, noting in his private journals, "I am fifty; people think I am happy."

In New Seeds of Contemplation, Merton wrote "We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may now wear one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face."

Are you wearing a mask? Do people think you are happy, or have your shared your sufferings with others and decided a "new you" is required if you are ever to be free of the mask you have been wearing? Merton says we must "die," before we can "live," so as to attain a freedom never before experienced.

When you ask yourself, "Am I free, truly free?" what is your answer?

 

 

3/7/2010

Jamie's Broken Friendship

Recently I heard from a woman named Jamie who was quite upset with how a person whom she thought was a friend stabbed her in the back. Jamie wanted to lash out at this person to the extent of posting a scathing message about her on Facebook.

I wrote back to Jamie, and explained to her that from my experience, when a person is angry, it normally is more about them than about the target of the anger. I told her to pray about the woman who had wronged her, and decide how she might respond so that the experience might become a positive rather than a negative.

Jamie wrote back, "I understand now and can stay in the 'here and now.' I have not been in touch with my spiritual side and I can see it is hurting me and making it hard to make judgments."

Jamie appears to "get it," that when we are hurt, when are disappointed, we must step back and attempt to reconcile our differences with caring, love and forgiveness despite the temptation to strike back at those who have wronged us. Turning a negative into a positive is an amazing journey, one difficult, but worth the effort.

What would you have told Jamie? Did what I suggest make sense to you? Please let me hear from you.

Here's a reader comment from "Barrie" -

"Jamie appears to "get it," that when we are hurt, when are disappointed, we must step back and attempt to reconcile our differences with caring, love and forgiveness despite the temptation to strike back at those who have wronged us. Turning a negative into a positive is an amazing journey, one difficult, but worth the effort."