Experience, Wisdom and Authority

I enjoyed watching Bill Maher crack jokes about presidential candidate Ben Carson’s lack of governmental experience, but it got me thinking. Among other things, Maher said, if the neurosurgeon Carson expects people to elect a U.S. President with no governing experience, he must first let someone with no medical experience operate on his brain. Very…

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The Dignity of Working Class Life

Originally posted on velissima:
“The Master said, “A true gentleman is one who has set his heart upon the Way. A fellow who is ashamed merely of shabby clothing or modest meals is not even worth conversing with.” (Analects 4.9)” ― Confucius When I look at popular culture today, I’m constantly amazed at how little poverty and working…

The Buddhist and the Hot Dog Vendor

We all know what the Buddhist said to the hot dog vendor: “Make me one with everything.” And most of us know what happened next. The Buddhist handed a $20 bill to the hot dog vendor, who pocketed it. “Where’s my change?” asked the Buddhist. The hot dog vendor replied: “Change comes from within.” That…

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Autumn Haiku

I love autumn, and I love he Glitchy Artist’s autumn photos. I’ve been meditating this morning with my eyes softly focused on the leaf at the center of this image. Try it right now for three breaths, or five. Let this beautiful image take you to your true home.

Born to Be Good

…we are all born with the loving kindness (compassion) and wisdom of the Buddha, but we don’t know it

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, Bubby

So many of us who live in relative affluence act as though we earned it on our own and resist the obligation to help today’s immigrants. We in the developed nations pretend that we owe none of our success to the refugees in our family trees who sacrificed to make a better life for us. We…

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Happy Birthday, Tom Paxton

Look who showed up in my Facebook birthdays this morning! Tom Paxton, who turned 78 today. I’m spending the day working on my sermon for tomorrow morning at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun (Virginia), but I paused long enough to enjoy this recent Tom Paxton interview, with three of his songs:

A Contrarian View of Suicide

I was severely depressed and decided that my depression would help me understand and show compassion for others. So I volunteered to answer the phones at the Northern Virginia Hotline.