The Unclad Soul

President Obama’s speech last night on temporary immigration reform was excellent. He was poised, determined and intelligent. He was our nation’s leader; the one many of us have been waiting for these last few years to show real courage. The executive action he will enact is compassionate, sensible, and humane. It does not go far enough for me, but at least, finally, something tangible is being done to address the millions of undocumented living and working in our country, many of them for years.  The Republican’s freak out over this is silly and so over the top it borders on cartoonish. They know they have royally messed up. In spite of their recent election victories they have failed and lost. For now and forevermore the Latino community in this country will be grateful to President Obama, and those Democrats who have supported him in this, for actually doing something to legitimately include them in our society. This nonsense from Republicans that the president’s action has “po...

In the musical movie, “Oliver,” a crowd of orphaned boys march into the workhouse mess hall of the grimy orphanage they live in, singing: “ Is it worth the waiting for? If we live 'til eighty four All we ever get is gruel! Every day we say our prayer -- Will they change the bill of fare? Still we get the same old gruel! There's not a crust, not a crumb can we find, Can we beg, can we borrow, or cadge, But there's nothing to stop us from getting a thrill When we all close our eyes and imagine Food, glorious food! The boys march in line one by one and are each given a bowl of grey mush. They orderly seat themselves at a heavy wooden table. A grim-faced burly man dressed smartly in a colorful Napoleon outfit steps forward and prays, “May what you receive make you truly thankful!” After Oliver gulps the gruel he’s still starving. He dares to walk to the front to ask for more food. The burly man screams and Oliver is chased about the room by old skinny grey h...

“To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim.” – The Mystic Writers

There is a calling in life that is spiritual but not religious. It comes from deep within us and from influences outside of us. It comes from losses and longings, from lessons not yet learned, from lost loves, from emotional hurts we felt but never healed. It comes from thinking we failed our parents, from missing obvious life messages, from disappointing ourselves. It comes from sorry parenting, from unrealistic expectations we accepted, from betrayals received and given. It comes from faulty theology, from the wrong ideas about God, from fears that we are born bad and stay bad. It comes from kids or teens or adults who bullied us, from sexual abuse, from relationship battering, from being belittled in some wounding way or ways. The call also comes from memories of being loved, from the embrace of grace, from cheerleaders on the sidelines of our life, from the nurture of people who clearly believe we matter to them and to the world. It comes from extraordinary moments, from ...

“You are that which you are seeking.”  – St. Francis of Assisi, Catholic Mystic

“Whatever opens us is not as important as what it opens.”  – Mark Nepo, Poet/Philosopher

“Everything in your life is there  as a vehicle for transformation.”  ~ Ram Dass, Mystic/LifeCoach/Author