This beautiful poem by May Sarton really captures the essence of what we as people of faith are called to be, in the midst of a suffering world. Read it aloud slowly to yourself and contemplate your gifts and where you can best serve. 

Peace!



Take Anguish for Companion

If the one absolute is suffering,
And if the only absolute is doubt,
From these alone belief must be wrung
Or else the bitter poverty found out:
Take anguish for companion and set out.

It leads us back to man himself, to sit
Down by his side whom we have killed and starved;
Brother and sister, criminal and half-wit,
For each of us there is a place reserved,
To sit beside the one we have not served.

Wake as he dreams, dream as he wakes, to see
Man always at our side, starving and weeping,
Curved like a mother over his misery,
Huge and abandoned like a giant sleeping,
And we ourselves this creature we are keeping.

But if we dare to keep anguish companion,
We feel spring in our throats a living song,
See man leap from the rocks toward the sun,
Refuse to be imprisoned for too long,
His anger storming at the walls of wrong.

He is suddenly willing joy instead of power;
Shaken to the marrow by joy as by a flame,
Bending with mad delight toward a flower,
Secret and tender, violent, he came
Up from the darkness toward his haunting name.

He is the one who always sings and cries,
Believes, in spite of every proof, he will
Out of the darkness see with clearer eyes,
Conquer himself and learn to be an angel,
Who finds his only peace within the struggle.

For to be desperate is to discover strength.
We die of comfort and by conflict live
Who grow in this knowledge till at length
We find it good, find it belief enough
To be anguish alive, creating love.

– May Sarton

The act of Praise has amazing power to redirect our energies to gratitude and joy. It is an essential practice for maintaining balance and perspective during the dark times of our lives as well as in times of great happiness and buoyancy. Praise can also link us directly to our greatest resource for transformation, which is our capacities for creativity.

In his book titled 'Creativity', Matthew Fox writes: "There is so much to praise. We have only begun a simple list of the gifts of nature around us that deserve praise. We have talked of earth and sky, of rocks and trees, of water and understanding, of animals such as the crane and the tiger. We could also talk of fireball and hydrogen atoms, of galaxies and supernovas, of carbon and oxygen and sulfur, of sun and moon, of stars and planets - the list is unending. We could talk of music and musicians, paintings and painters, pots and potters, poems and poets, bridges, cities and engineers, rituals and ritual- makers. Is there any end to the Litany of Praise that our species is capable of? Why hold back? Creativity begins with praise.

Praise is all-powerful. Praise moves the soul and cleanses the soul. It even shifts the soul and rescues it from those powers of cynicism and thanatos that are capable of stealing our souls from us. That is why praise is a path to healing and to waking up, a path to getting over our wounds and deep hurts and abuses and becoming fully present again to that which is praiseworthy, i.e. to life and its many gifts: to creation and its diverse beauties, wonders, and relationships. That is why Hildegard of Bingen, among others, urges us to '...Be not lax in celebration. Be not lazy in the festive service of God. Be ablaze with enthusiasm. Let us be an alive, burning offering before the altar of God!' Praise is celebration, and celebration is praise. Praise is the utterance of appreciation. It also increases our appreciation, for when we praise with others we absorb their gratitude at the same time that we utter our own."

With these thoughts in mind I encourage you to step outside and look for a moment at the rocks or the trees or the mountains. Take some time to feel the wind on your face and to hear the sounds of birds or of children and let your heart be filled with gratitude for all the gifts of beauty and wonder around us!

Peace to you...and light on your path!

I was recently contacted by Keith through my website and he asks these three questions:

If I had the chance to sit down with Jesus over a beer and ask him three questions, what would they be?

1. What is the real purpose to all this?

Obviously that’s a biggy but a few thoughts come to mind. I think first and foremost the primary purpose for this grand adventure that we are all on is to grow up. One of my favorite movies of all time is “Shadowlands” with Anthony Hopkins. In the movie, Anthony Hopkins playing the role of C.S. Lewis makes this statement: “God doesn’t want us to be Happy! He wants us to grow up. He wants us to learn to love and to be loved."

I think that our purpose here is to cultivate a wider and wider view of life and of other people and to come to some sense of our place in this vast cosmic symphony. We must come to recognize that impermanence is a fact. The span of a life is very short and we have but one to live out and we must become our truest and best selves even though this will be very disturbing to so many who only see who we used to be. As far as the spiritual life goes I would say that cultivating compassion for ourselves, for others and ultimately for all beings is the ultimate goal and this is true for all of the major religious traditions. I believe the universe is teeming with creative energy, and is at once beautiful and filled with wonders beyond description and at the same time violent, unpredictable, and destructive. We must learn to harness the creative energies which form our core just like they form the core of a planet or star and use those energies to manifest beauty, wonder, and love in our place in the universe. These are just a few of my musings on the meaning of it all but maybe it will spark some more conversation. Please add to these comments and join the community of conversation with Keith…and with all of us who are asking these questions.

2. Is love really only for a chosen few or are those a@@holes out there screwing it up for the rest of us?

Love is for everyone. And granted there are a lot of confused people out there groping in the dark and trying to use other people to fill a void that is within them but the bottom line is that Love is found in community and connection to others. So surround yourself with people who inspire you and people that are giving and receiving love in an honest manner and you will have much better opportunities to make contact with a good soul and to develop a loving relationship. It is about how you build your tribe, the quality of people you surround yourself with and your own openness to grow into your best self. Sometimes love is just outside your peripheral vision but so close. It is there, it is always there and you will find it in the presence of the best people you know so stick near them and build your tribe accordingly. Peace!

3. Is being gay really okay or am I basically screwed?

Yay! Finally an easy one!  Being gay is fantastic, it is wondrous, and it has always been a beautiful part of the tapestry of being human. There is a Chinese blessing that says “May you live in interesting times”. Well my friend, for better or worse we live in interesting times with regard to societal evolution on the subject of being gay or straight. Humans are slow moving creatures and the pace at which we are coming to understand the beautiful array of human sexuality is causing a lot of suffering for many people. This is very unfortunate, and I wish it weren’t so, but I feel quite certain that we are making very rapid progress and that soon we will reach a tipping point and a great shift in consciousness will take place. Very soon it will be true that asking if a person is gay or straight will be about as interesting as asking their favorite color. I mean knowing a person’s favorite color is kind of interesting but it certainly doesn’t define the person. So it is with being gay or straight. We are far more complex beings than our sexual preferences but as a culture we still have a lot of leftover Puritan and Victorian influences around sex to work through. But take heart, it will happen – it is happening! 

The last bit I’d like to say about being gay or straight is that many people still have deep concerns about the theology of it all. “Am I out of favor with God because I’m gay?” The short answer is of course no. But the truth is that theologically this is not even a difficult question! There is enough brilliant scholarship on this subject to choke a mule! There will always be debate and I must be respectful of differing views but from a biblical standpoint … “Gay” is not something God worries about, she has much more important things to do! If you want more info about the many books and articles that have been written affirming this position with unimpeachable scholarship I’ll be happy to pass them along. So, take a deep breath, smile at yourself and know that God beams at you like the shiny diamond that you are!

As we work toward the transformation and salvation of our world we must always remember that violent means beget violent ends. Dr. King said: "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy".

To be a Peacemaker, which is a central calling of the Christian faith, we cannot resort to violent means. We cannot champion the cause of arming ourselves against evil or against any perceived enemy. Our faith is oriented around the axiom that Love is more powerful than evil. Therefore no action which springs from this axiom can be violent in nature. Such actions violate the axiom and run counter to the nature of God. In the end, our commitment is such that we are willing to die for the cause of justice, but never willing to kill or do harm for the cause of justice. Blessed are the Peacemakers!

Question:  What would I actually want to ask Jesus? I'd ask, How are we doing? 
Are we enough? Is there more ignorance than compassion in humanity, or are we lovers gaining momentum? Even when life is hard, like it was for Jesus and Mary, are we ultimately part of a story of salvation rippling out from their story of grace? How can we just remember that? How come I can be shown over and over again, given beautiful messages from Heaven, yet still feel so afraid of poverty and sickness? I guess I would tell him how scared I get, how much I love him, and how much I attempt to embody his love as steward of this creation. I appreciate your page, this is very much how I believe Jesus wants to be known. Thanks, Desiree


Dear Desiree, I am so grateful for your questions. I can't imagine a more relevant and vulnerable inquiry with which to inaugurate these conversations. Thank you for that!

One of the reasons I love your question is that it speaks directly to the idea of hope. What is the trajectory of humanity? Are we, as a species, moving toward or away from our better selves? How do we navigate toward peace in the midst of all the suffering around us? These questions have an existential gravity that is impossible to ignore and that cries out for a human response.

I have never been a big fan of whistling in the dark or of leaning on platitudes in moments of difficulty but let me begin by saying that I am very hopeful about our future. I am keenly aware of the deep suffering throughout the world and of the enormous pain that people are capable of inflicting on each other and on the earth. These are realities and they should not be denied. But they are not the ONLY realities. The modern age has made it very easy to give in to fear and to adopt a pessimistic view of humanity. We are encouraged to take this view hundreds of times every day when we hear of some tragedy or natural disaster, or see the news about soaring crime rates and injustices occurring in every corner of the planet.

Given this context of being inundated with all that is wrong with the world, it is no wonder that so many people mistake this to be the true nature of things. What gets missed, what doesn't make the nightly news, what gives me great reason to be hopeful about where all of this is going are the billions of selfless acts of kindness and grace that occur in the world every day! Humanity at its core is filled with extraordinary light, and this light shines in places and ways every day that are far too numerous to count. In London, a young man stops what he is doing to help an old woman cross the street. In Haiti, children welcome a new friend into their soccer game. In Panama, a compassionate hug is given to a sick man. In Portland, donations are taken for a family in need. On and on it goes every day without mention. The capacity for kindness, generosity and love in people everywhere is beyond comprehension and far outweighs their lapses into selfishness.

There is darkness in the world, but people are good and beautiful. Think about yourself, when you encounter darkness or suffering. Your tendency is to bring light and compassion, is it not? By far, the vast majority of people share that same response. We want to help, we want to soothe and heal and comfort if we can. The modern age has created an interconnected-ness that exposes us to a much wider array of suffering than we knew before. But it also opens our hearts in compassion to reaches we did not know we could attain. 

Fear – your fears and mine – are a part of what it means to be human. It is important to notice our fears because they can serve as a guide into areas where we need to grow or soften. So be kind to yourself when you feel fear. Stop for a moment and breathe. Then move forward in love. Keep shining your light and I'll keep shining mine. It is all there to be seen. We just have to learn a new way of seeing!