Posts filed under spirituality
Wake Up in 2011–Mary Oliver’s Poem, Mindful
As the year 2010 draws to a close my mind goes back over the year past with appreciation and gratitude for the opportunities the year offered. During the pre-Christmas Advent period I listened to Bach’s Cantata, Wachet Auf!, quite often. Wachet Auf means Wake Up! As I heard the words, Wake Up!, I realized how [...]
The Present of Presence
On Christmas morning I awoke earlier than my wife, Pamela. The advertising bombardment had quieted, and I was feeling a deep sense of peace and gratitude for my life and for life. For a number of years now Pamela and I have not rushed around trying to find and buy each other the perfect Christmas [...]
WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?
Before you read more, first, think about your own definition of forgiveness. Write it down if that helps. Not too long ago I heard a story about forgiveness. There was a woman who was reported to have visions of God. The local church officials were concerned since it was upsetting many of their parishioners. The [...]
LIVING A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE IN HARVARD SQUARE: A POETRY RETREAT
Today we will take a day’s respite from the theme of forgiveness. I will return to this theme in a future posting. Each year, for the past four years, St. Paul Parish’s Lay Committee on Contemporary Spirituality and Public Concern has invited two Chicagoans, Judith Valente, a poet-PBS journalist, and her husband, Charles Reynard, a [...]
EVERETT WORTHINGTON’S REACH FOR FORGIVENESS
In struggling to come to terms with my aunt and her words and behavior toward my mother, the work of Everett Worthington on forgiveness was particularly useful. His ideas were and are anchor points for me as I continue to move from an unforgiving stance to forgiveness in my daily life. Briefly, here is Worthington’s [...]
REACHING FORGIVENESS FOR MY AUNT
Let me tell you about my experience of forgiveness toward my aunt. For a number of years I was able to avoid seeing her or talking to her. Nonetheless, I knew the day would come when I would be seeing her. It happened as I suspected at the funeral of my other aunt, the older [...]
REACHING FOR FORGIVENESS
In struggling to come to terms with my aunt and her words and behavior toward my mother, the work of Everett Worthington on forgiveness was particularly useful. I discovered his research on forgiveness when I began to explore George Vaillant’s idea about the importance of gratitude AND forgiveness for aging well. To me gratitude and [...]
Could I Forgive My Relative After What She Did?
One of the responses I received after my March 30th blog posting on the story of Darryl Williams was the following: Nope, I could not do it. Darryl Williams and Shirley Simmons are unbelievable examples of forgiveness, compassion, and unconditional love for their fellow human [beings], in the wake of a senseless, inhumane, cruel and [...]
Forgiveness and Aging Well–Part 1
In the earliest postings on my newly created blog I focused on gratitude and aging well. In a December 4, 2009 posting, my second actual posting, I quoted George Vaillant, MD, a Harvard professor and researcher, who authored Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life (2002). He wrote: “In short, the study participants who [...]
Annual Conference of the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA), Chicago, March 15-March 19, 2010
Last week NCOA-ASA’s Annual Conference, Aging in America, was held, and a variety of presentations and workshops were offered. My interest gravitated to the presentations designated under the category of Religion and Spirituality. Many of these were organized by the Forum on Religion, Spirituality and Aging (FoRSA), a special interest group of ASA, and NCOA’s [...]