I work in a corporate culture where resistance to change is omnipresent. Incessant reading has led me to believe over the years that most folks don’t change because they’re comfortable doing what they’re doing. This old story illustrates that the myopia of that sort of thinking. Jalal ad-Din Rumi, a Persian poet and mystic once said, “Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”
Philosophy
In the gap..
The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not … Read more
If you live to be a hundred..
I gave this to my wife once upon a time and she keeps it in her room at work where she can see it everyday. It expresses very much the way I feel about her. God really smiled on me the day she walked into my life. “If you live to be a hundred, I … Read more
Fill the cup please…!
Yesterday, the United States Senate passed a measure designed to increase mileage standards for automobiles produced in the United States to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. By then gasoline will be $10.00/gallon and 35 mpg will be just as anemic as our current standards. Yesterday, the Vice-President announced that his office is not subject to oversight for classified information.
When you reap your harvest..
Much is made these days of returning to our Judeo-Christian roots by ambitious politicians hoping to cash in on some religious sentiment or trying to drive a wedge between us. Here’s a quote that came in the mail from Sojourners today. How would you like to see public policy that actually represented these kinds of … Read more
Living in the present moment
Reading the New York Times article detailing the use of mindfulness techniques in approaches to elementary school children has gotten me thinking more deeply about the profound effects of meditation and mindfulness. I think it was Mahatma Gandhi who once said that if we could get 1 percent of the world meditating we could eliminate … Read more
Mindfulness in an elementary school
Several years ago I attended a Zen meditation session at Alfred University. The teacher, Dr. Benjamin Howard, continues to keep me on his mailing list and I receive Buddhist quotes periodically in my inbox. Today instead of the usual quote I received instead a link to an article that appeared in a recent issue of the New York Times.
Little friend
My wife spotted a baby rabbit that had wandered onto our patio tonight. She asked me to call our daughter and together the three of us enjoyed a moment with this lovely little visitor. He was later killed by one of the neighborhood cats. I’m not a cat lover, but I know that this is … Read more