For some it’s the belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing God, who cares about our lives.
For others it’s about a better way to live, through morality, devotions, spiritual practices; prayer, meditation. Be the aim union with divinity, greater connection to others, to live more fully in the moment
Any practice is based on the premise that there is a better way to live than the way we are living now.
If zen is a religion it’s the religion of getting up in the morning and brushing our teeth. It’s the religion of ordinary things, stripped of fantasy and exposed to stark truth.
Zen is making up our minds that since we are here anyway, living life, we may as well do it well.
Blind faith? Faith can move mountains? Faith of our fathers? Author Richard Fast offers a critique on faith worth reading, I think.
“I’m NOT trying to sell Atheism … “God” forbid. I’m selling the concept of searching and finding your faith.”
Check out an excerpt from Richard Fast’s provocative article recently published in Backyard Church
I Finally Found Peace When I Accepted Atheism
The more I searched for answers outside myself, the more frustration and anxiety I felt.
I became an Atheist. I had found my answer.
I didn’t require a God or a particular faith to settle my tormented soul. With total peace of mind, I could accept that there doesn’t have to be a God. The universe could just be a beautiful mystery.
I didn’t have to invent or conjure anything to calm my soul. I didn’t have to force myself into mental contortions to follow someone else’s belief; I could happily accept that there are many questions to which I will never know the answers, and I’m okay with that.
Conclusion: True “faith” feels right.
If history has taught us anything, there’s very little we can honestly know. Finding faith is a uniquely human experience that makes the challenging road of life a little easier to travel.
But many years of searching, thinking, deep introspection, and an acceptance of Atheism (the unknowable) have finally given me peace of mind.
I’m NOT trying to sell Atheism … “God” forbid. I’m selling the concept of searching and finding your faith.
Whatever that may be, I sincerely hope that you find your faith, as I’ve finally found mine.
I hate to wait and that has been a life-long challenge for me. Below is an excerpt from a recent Lion’s Roar article that helps me better understand why.
Valerie Mason-John, M.A. is a public speaker and master trainer in the field of conflict transformation, leadership and mindfulness, the author of ten books and the Co-Founder of Eight Step Recovery, an alternative to the 12-step program for addiction.
Watch your thoughts; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become stories. Watch your stories; they become excuses. Watch your excuses; they become relapses. Watch your relapses; they become dis-eases. Watch your dis-eases; they become vicious cycles. Watch your vicious cycles; they become your wheel of life.
Every time we habitually react, the past is present.
We transcend our habits by allowing a part of our superego to die.
For more from Valerie Mason-John check out these two websites:
Are you lovable? Do you have a perspective worth sharing? Is the world better off for you being here?
Today’s meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation includes a challenge from Jacqui Lewis to “really see.” See an excerpt below and read the full meditation on cac.org.
jacquilewis.com
A Heart-Centered Revolution Excerpt
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis writes of the solidarity necessary to transform our culture and our world:
In order to live a moral life, a good life, an ubuntu life, we must commit to a life of love that means seeing all the things ..…
Friend, you are the only one standing where you stand, seeing what you see, with your vantage point, your story. You are right there for a reason: to have, as my dear friend Ruby Sales says, “hindsight, insight, and foresight.” I want us to learn to see, with our eyes wide open, how best to be healers and transformers. I want us to really see, to fully awaken to the hot-mess times we are in and to the incredible power we have to love ourselves into wellness….
I want us open to revelation, not afraid of it, and open to the ways that it will provoke us to believe assiduously in how lovable we each are, and in the love between us and among us because, actually, believing is seeing. [2]
[2] Jacqui Lewis, “Apocalypse Now: Love, Believing, and Seeing,” Oneing 10, no. 1, Unveiled (Spring 2022): 44–45. Available in print and PDF download.
Doctor (and Sister) Joan Chittister shares her weekly Vision and Viewpoint newsletter today with her comments below on the importance of “living an integrated life.” You can learn more about her and the Benedictine religious community in Erie, Pennsylvania at this website: joanchittister.org/~joanchit/
“Do not lie, even to yourself
Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi could have been a Benedictine. Humility is about living an integrated life, a life in which each part is in harmony with every other dimension.
The person who lives a lie, for instance, no matter how effective otherwise, is in tension every moment of the day.
The truth is that we are meant to be transparent.
Be what you say you are. Do not lie, even to yourself. Don’t live two lives
At the end, three things measure both our integrity and the harmony of our own lives: self-control, respect, and freedom from self-deception.
a process of slow and self-emptying transformation
enjoy the rest of the adventure called life, learning, becoming, growing as we go.
—from Radical Spirit (Random House), by Joan Chittister
Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation offer another provocative post at their Daily Meditation site: cac.org/daily-meditations/the-departure-and-the-return/
Below are a few excerpts that especially interest me, and hopefully you as well.
“We are created with an inner drive and necessity that sends all of us looking for our True Self, our true home, whether we know it or not. This journey is a spiral and never a straight line. …
We dare not try to fill our souls and minds with numbing addictions, diversionary tactics, or mindless distractions. (We are) found, precisely in the depths of everything, even and maybe especially in the deep fathoming of our fallings and failures. …
If we go to the depths of anything, we’ll begin to knock upon something substantial, “real,” and with a timeless quality. We’ll move from the starter kit of “belief” to an actual inner knowing. This is most especially true if we have ever (1) loved deeply, (2) accompanied someone through the mystery of dying, or (3) stood in genuine life-changing awe before mystery, time, or beauty. …
Like Odysseus, we leave from Ithaca and we come back to Ithaca, but now it is fully home because all is included and nothing wasted or hated: even the dark parts are used in our favor. … What else could homecoming be?
Poet C. P. Cavafy (1863–1933) expressed this understanding most beautifully in his famous poem “Ithaca”:
Ithaca has now given you the beautiful voyage. Without her, you would never have taken the road. With the great wisdom you have gained on your voyage, with so much of your own experience now, you must finally know what Ithaca really means. [1] “
References: [1] See C. P. Cavafy, “Ithaca,” in The Complete Poems of Cavafy, trans. Rae Dalven (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1961), 36–37. Paraphrased by Richard Rohr.
“Let go of those activities that no longer serve.” And I might add, don’t be a slacker nor a martyr. There is a middle way.
Below is the link to Lynn J Kelly’s latest post that helps us better understand how our compulsions and lack of mindfulness are not serving us very well. It’s far better to choose wisely how we focus our attention.
Richard Rohr provides another provocative post about the examples provided by Saints Francis and Claire of Assisi.
One quote from the article link below that grabs my attention is:
“When we agree to live simply, we put ourselves outside of others’ ability to buy us off, reward us falsely, or control us by money, status, punishment, and loss or gain. This is the most radical level of freedom, but, of course, it’s not easy to come by. Francis and Clare created a life in which they had little to lose, no desire for gain, no debts to pay, and no luxuries they needed or wanted. Most of us can only envy them.“
We could use some good topsoil. So, I’m doing my research and here’s a few pointers from Better Homes & Gardens that I’m considering today.
Topsoil Myths & Misunderstandings
These four common assumptions about topsoil can trip you up, leading you to pay less attention to your topsoil and, thus, harming the success of your garden. Knowing these basics will help you successfully create the best environment you can for your plants.
Topsoil Myth 1: All Topsoil Is Pretty Much the Same
Topsoil can differ dramatically, even in the same yard and from one garden bed to another. All the earth in your yard is made up of sand, silt, and clay in various amounts. The ideal ratio of these three elements allows for good drainage yet holds enough moisture to allow plant roots to access the water they need. Your soil can also vary in pH level, which is a measure of how acidic or alkaline it is; some plants, such as bigleaf hydrangeas, are more affected than others by pH levels, so you may want to tailor your topsoil blend accordingly.
Topsoil Myth 2: The Dirt in My Yard Is Fine the Way It Is
If you recently moved into a home that was previously owned by a skilled gardener, then maybe this is true. But more often than not, the quality of soil around homes—especially newly constructed ones—isn’t the best for plants. It takes time to build up high-quality soil that includes generous amounts of decomposed plants, called organic matter. This is a vital component that gives topsoil good drainage, just the right water-holding capacity, and a loose, easy-to-dig quality. It’s also important for supporting a healthy soil ecosystem of microbes that help plants grow better.
The quickest way to get great garden soil is to purchase it. You can put a 2- to 3-inch thick layer directly on top of existing soil before planting and just let nature do the rest of the work, or you can till it in. On top of that, you can amend your topsoil further with a couple of inches of compost. This can be costly and involve a lot of labor, but it will ultimately create very productive soil.
Topsoil Myth 3: To Always Have Good Topsoil, I Have to Till It Annually
If you’re creating a new garden space and want to till in soil amendments to get everything off to a good start, that’s fine. But after that, it’s best to avoid disturbing the soil as much as possible. For one thing, turning soil brings weed seeds to the surface where sunlight will stimulate them to sprout, so you’ll just be creating more work for yourself to get rid of them. Typically, nature will take care of mixing in organic matter so you really can save yourself the trouble.
Additional tilling may be necessary if your soil becomes very compacted, which means it doesn’t have enough tiny air pockets in it that roots require to establish. You can avoid this by staying off your soil, especially when it’s wet. If you need to walk into a bed to care for plants, you can avoid compacting the soil by creating a permanent stepping stone pathyou can use for maintenance or temporarily laying down a sheet of plywood while you work.
Topsoil Myth 4: Rich Soil Never Needs Fertilizer
Plants draw the nutrients they need to grow from the soil they’re planted in. Those nutrients usually need to be replenished every so often for the healthiest growth, no matter which type of soil you have. This is especially true for the soil where you grow annual flowers and vegetables, which suck up a lot of nutrients to fuel their rapid growth. Luckily, it’s easy (and inexpensive) to restore nutrition to your soil by adding high-quality compost and/or granular or liquid fertilizer products as needed. If you’re not sure whether you need to add nutrients, a soil test is a quick way to check. To add nutrients and replace organic matter as it breaks down, add 1 to 2 inches of compost to your garden beds in the fall. That way, you’ll be all set come spring and can just add a layer of mulch after cleaning up and planting your beds for the new growing season.” excerpt from 4 Topsoil Mistakes That May Be Hindering Your Garden Success @ http://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/soil/topsoil/
Life Matters 