by David Anderson
How strange is it that the U.S. military is spending millions to teach Marines how to meditate? Still within churches and religious institutions we find enormous reluctance or suspicion around meditation. It’s an “Eastern” thing. To many American Christians, the notion of sitting there and “doing nothing” seems almost dissolute (even though Jesus praised […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Daily Practice, Happiness, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation
The church is “obsessed” with abortion, homosexuality and birth control. That comment by Pope Francis a few days ago made global headlines. It’s no mistake that all three bugbears are physical, of the body, sexual. Little-mind religion seizes on the carnal sins and makes avoiding them a cardinal virtue. That’s because it is mostly preoccupied […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Forgiveness, Grace, Mercy
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -Ernest Hemingway Dear Ernest, You are quite right. Very often, intelligent people are very unhappy—especially if by intelligence you mean only that narrow band of knowing lodged in the brain. For about four hundred years now, at least in our Western culture, that kind of […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Faith/Trust, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Reality--trusting it, Suffering, Surrender
Sunday afternoon found me visiting the “Senior Living” facility here in town. As these places go, Atria is the Brigadoon. Sunny, pleasant, watercolors dotting the walls. But even so, women (mostly women, of course) sit along the hallways with nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to see. I found my way to the […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Adult Spirituality, Death/Dying, Faith/Trust, Fear, Freedom, Letting Go, Reality--trusting it, Surrender, Uncategorized
First you must learn to obey. Good. Then, it is just as important to learn to disobey. We teach children to obey their parents and all the other authority figures in their lives. This is critical, not just for their moral development, but for their basic safety and well being. When I was a young […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, authority, Family, Identity, Vocation/ Calling
A woman told me yesterday of her journey to see her grandchildren in Colorado. I asked how the time had been. Immediately she opened the trove of pictures on her phone and showed me an iconic image. It was a little girl smiling over a birthday cake all lit with candles. Five of them. The […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Faith/Trust, Gratitude, Happiness, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it
On Sunday my son-in-law, Anthony Damelio, was ordained at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. I was honored when Anthony invited me to give the “Charge to the Newly Ordained.” As your father-in-law, Anthony, my charge to you on the occasion of your ordination is born of blood, the vows of marriage, and the blessed obligation […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Character, Family
One of the Buddha’s most famous teachings is the Parable of the Raft. In it he likened his teachings to a raft for crossing a fast-flowing river. A man is trapped on one side of a river. On this side of the river, there is great danger and uncertainty; on the far side is safety. […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Belief, Daily Practice, Faith in Action, Freedom, Grace, Happiness, Now/ the Present