A Good Start
“Is this the Dutch Village?” My friend Liz asked this of a New York City police officer who happened to be standing in front of a replica of a big Dutch windmill, its blades slowly turning against a bruised-looking sky.…
“Because of You! ”
Through the heavy cloud of diesel exhaust on the bus, the faint smell of lavender was a whisper in the July heat. Somehow the sweating bus driver knew to leave me and the others at the end of Tracol’s unmarked…
Meeting Remarkable Trees
Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.John Muir I would often engage my secondary school students in the childhood art of climbing trees to do a “tree sit” for an afternoon.…
Seeing in the Fog
I had not noticed the fog winding its way in from the south. Looking up from my computer, I notice the buildings out my office window were close to obliterated. A warm front was replacing the frigid temps which Cleveland…
Behind the Mask
In 1955 I was fourteen, and I became fascinated by the rebellious adults of the Beat Generation and their criticisms of American culture. Hearing adults express and clarify feelings I was experiencing as a teenager—the political repression of the McCarthy…
The Courageous Mary Oliver, by Lisa Starr
Mary Oliver Photograph by Greg Rose I will be forever grateful to Coleman Barks for many things, but there is no doubt that his greatest gift to me was introducing…
Fallen Angel, by Betsy Cornwell
I said my morning prayers. F.H. Townsend. (second edition), 1847 I was Head Angel in The Nutcracker the year I turned eight. I didn’t get the…
Seeing in the Fog
I had not noticed the fog winding its way in from the south. Looking up from my computer, I notice the buildings out my office window were close to obliterated.…
To Hold One’s Own
There is a stone from a shore at home that I carry with me wherever I travel. It has a hole through it, which makes it lucky, and it was…
The Flight from Disunity: Thomas Merton on Suffering, by Vanessa Hurst
Light Beyond Pain, Abbey of Gethesmani, Kentucky Photographs: Br. Paul Quenon “Some men believe in the power and value of suffering,” writes Thomas Merton. “But their…
Becoming Part of It, by Joseph Epes Brown
Roland W. Reed, Alone With the Past, The Life and Photographic Art of Roland W. Reed, Afton, MN: Afton Press. In terms of interconnections, a dominant…
Making God Necessary, by Deepak Chopra
Ritual offering of arghya at the Ganges. Varanasi, India, 2006. Photograph by J Duval Why God is a verb, not a noun The practice of medicine,…
Eight Worldviews and Practices, by Mark Nepo
San (Bushman) group from Southern Africa, 2011. Photograph by Aino Tuominen Since prehistoric hunters had to work together in order to survive, people have had to…
I Pleaded. I Waited. I Married, by Hane Selmani
Xharije’s wedding, 1970 “Who you marry and when you die was written on your forehead the day you were born,” my mother told me when I…
Marion Woodman and the Search for the Conscious Feminine, by Patty de Llosa
Marion Woodman “The true feminine is the receptacle of love. The true masculine is the spirit that goes into the eternal unknown in search of meaning.…
Freedom from Addiction: The Presence of a Moment
For true self-remembering is the consciousness of one’s relation with another in the presence of a higher power.— Rodney Collin, The Theory of Conscious Harmony Tucked anonymously on a non-descript…
Waking Up Aurora, by Rhiannon Thomas
Sleeping. Louis Sussman-Hellborn (1828–1908) I’ve had quite a tumultuous relationship with fairy tales. The Little Mermaid was always my favorite as a child. Not just the Disney…
Behind the Mask
In 1955 I was fourteen, and I became fascinated by the rebellious adults of the Beat Generation and their criticisms of American culture. Hearing adults express and clarify feelings I…
A Good Start
“Is this the Dutch Village?” My friend Liz asked this of a New York City police officer who happened to be standing in front of a replica of a big…