Douglas Steere speaks of listening to one another with a depth that might change the speaker, and also the listener. He uses Kierkegaard’s image of vocal ministry in describing this listening which is ‘so alive that judgment is withheld…To listen correctly, we must radically shift the roles. Now
Continue reading →In The Way of Love, Anthony de Mello writes about the prisons we each live in created by layers of beliefs, ideas, habits and attachments and fears. Each layer is added by culture, traditionalisms, mass media, families, religions, etc. Each is a layer of prejudice that keeps us from being
Continue reading →I love this whole meditation on life and the sympathy from Anthony de Mello but this line in particular continues to ring in my heart. …You will no longer say to your friend, “How happy you have made me.” For in so saying you flatter his ego and manipulate him
Continue reading →“‘We’ is the most important word in the social justice vocabulary. The issue is not what we can’t do, but what we CAN do when we stand together. With an upsurge in racism/hate crimes, criminalization of young black males, insensitivity to the poor, educational genocide, and the moral/
Continue reading →[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8PABPq8AA&w=560&h=315] There is so much back and forth on Quaker process. So many jokes. So many who easily dismiss it because it “takes a long time.” And outcomes are all that REALLY matter. (I have plenty of
Continue reading →The sketchnoting community is participating in “World Sketchnote Day.” Before I knew about the word “sketchnote” I had some idea of taking notes and thinking visually. I “bumped” into this idea when I was stuck writing my dissertation and didn’t know where to go with it. I had written
Continue reading →I never tire of Jesuit Anthony De Mello’s thoughts and challenges. Here is one that I have been reflecting on recently: Now think of yourself listening to an orchestra in which the sound of the drum is so loud that nothing else can be heard. To enjoy the symphony
Continue reading →“John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God
Continue reading →The fireweed flower loves the hurting and dying places. It helps to heal the ground… During Advent, I want to remember that the frozen soil never forgets Spring. I want to never forget the light within, and the reality of Jesus in all life, and live into Heaven here and
Continue reading →I believe very strongly in creating a participatory learning environment for students but when it comes to creating a syllabus it seems like the only option is to use the standard “banking” model of education (Freire). As the instructor for a course, I lay out specific texts, assignments and themes
Continue reading →How do we go deeper into this community? I have, for most of my life, been someone trying to organize community, bringing people together, and building connections. For a lot of that time, I put emphasis on showing up for one another: presence is key I would say. I got
Continue reading →A revolutionary age is an age of action; ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens but there is immediate publicity everywhere. In the present age a rebellion is, of all things, the most unthinkable. Such an expression of strength would seem ridiculous to the calculating intelligence
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