Thirteen Ways We’re Not Helpless – Notes from the Edge of the Cliff

There are a lot of things that could be said about right now, today, December 31, 2012. For starters, we in the Northern Hemisphere are in the darkest time of year.  In Portland, Oregon the days are short, and most often gray and wet.  Nonetheless, we, like all of us, are in a great series of collectively signified moments that invite suspension of despair and the joyful tending of possibility. On December… Read More

Holy Days

Here on the eve of what Christians recognize as the day for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ – here on this 24th day of what people all across the globe know, each in her or his own language, as December – here in the moments of reading these words on this page is the source of the idea — holy. In the mystery of one moment passing to the next I want… Read More

What do we learn? What do we teach? The days after Sandy Hook

Love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger.  President Obama Newtown, CT 12-16-2012 The days move by in this the darkest season for the Northern Hemisphere.  Saturday was the day after, Sunday two days after, Monday three, Tuesday four ….  These days will pass into months and years, and those of us still drawing breath in these wild and precious lives will continue.  As we do, we… Read More

Today’s December 10

It’s the end of the day, and unlike most days between November and July the sky outside my window is vivid with sunset colors – you know those indescribable shades of pink and purple, hints of orange, red, yellow, even bits of green.  I’m in Portland, OR where I live and work – and walk and dance and chit chat with neighbors and laugh and cry with friends.  Today I’ve done all… Read More

Birdsong in Oregon and VOICES FROM DECATUR

Here we are in December – already.  Here we are nearing another turn of season; this time to winter.  I’ve been noticing how the calls of birds really do become less present as the days shorten and the weather cools. Maybe it’s an effect of spending the last four years listening to what everyday people have to say.  It’s for sure not boredom or lack of distraction.  But here’s what noticing the… Read More

Amidst the Fuss about Mexican Immigration and Gay Marriage

Last night, I stood rinsing 50 plates, stacking in a small tower the ones that didn’t fit in the first run of the dishwasher.  Behind me a loosely coordinated team of cooks fussed over flan one woman had made. “I wasn’t expecting 50…!” she whispered.  “Loaves and fishes time,” said the mountainous man with the big hands and superb skill with savory and spice. These are other things I heard – “Is… Read More

Neighbors at War and the Possibility of Peace

Today.  Right now.  Palestinian people and all people in and around the area of Israel known as Gaza — the Syrian people, Afghan people and people in too many other places on the planet to list here are in immediate danger.  Some are dying.  People = children, youth, and adults including mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents.  These people have pets, they live in places where other animals live, they drink water and… Read More

Listen to Each Other

Today is Veteran’s Day.  I know that among the reasons I am here typing these words onto this screen with lunch cooking on the stove is the presence and courage of the men and women who over time have been warriors in this country and on this planet.  I’m not a big fan of armed conflict — not a big fan of war — and still I know that for the largest… Read More

Presidential Politics and the #6 Bus

The podcast series continues – in fact, the entire world continues – even here in the days just preceding and just following the 2012 U.S. Presidential election.  This past Friday, Alex Ward, the producer of the podcast series, uploaded Chapter 3 – Voices from the Southwest.  The radio recounting of my miles on the post-inauguration highways of early 2009 continues.  The most important feature of these podcasts for me is the chance… Read More

Matters of Spirit before the Election — and a second podcast —

Last night there were fireworks in the rain for the last game of the season for the Portland Timbers — our professional soccer team.  The season ended with a tie between the Timbers and the San Jose Earthquakes.  I wasn’t at the game.  And, true confession, I didn’t know about it.  But the sound was enormous for 20 minutes or more.  My imagination ran the gammut, but I remembered my friend Dia… Read More