by David Anderson
“Hurricane Fay to fade, but Gonzalo waits in the wings.” My home page opens to NBC News, and this is the latest headline. If we are disappointed that Fay has faded, it means to say, there is yet more to worry about. Ganzalo waits in the wings. Polls show that Americans are increasingly afraid. We […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Daily Practice, Faith/Trust, Fear, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Surrender
The primary cause of mental illness, Karl Menninger said, is the inability of people to forgive themselves for being imperfect. Those words came from Frank Griswold, the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, preaching at Saint Luke’s this morning. He was speaking of St. Paul, who sought famously to perfect himself through a rigorous […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness, Letting Go, Mercy, Patience, Suffering, Surrender, Transformation
All mankind’s troubles are caused by one single thing, which is their inability to sit quietly in a room. -Blaise Pascal When I leave on vacation later in August, I am leaving my smart phone at home. There should probably be some version of methadone for those who stop doodling with their phones […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Faith/Trust, Letting Go, Listening, Now/ the Present, Patience, Prayer/Meditation, Silence
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I read this passage to my congregation yesterday, surely some of the most sublime words ever to pass Jesus’ lips. But instead of my talking and talking about those beautiful […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Happiness, Letting Go, Suffering, Surrender
The stories people tell at funerals. We were burying Christine, a woman who would soon have been ninety. A good friend, Donna, remembered how she complained and whined to Christine about some recent changes in church worship, and after a few weeks of this Christine just said, “Get over it. Move on.” Donna was stunned: […]
by David Anderson 11 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Death/Dying, Faith/Trust, Freedom, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Suffering
Riding a hot air balloon is probably about as dangerous as riding a Ferris wheel, but it didn’t feel that way on Saturday when I climbed into a basket and the thing took off. As the massive balloon inflated, it took the pilot, Stan, and three men on the ground to keep it under control. […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Freedom, Happiness, Letting Go, Surrender
Last week I heard Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, the writer and scholar of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, interviewed on the radio. He told a story that I haven’t forgotten. Rabbi Kushner was invited to a dinner for a class of young people preparing for their bar or bat mitzvah. Classes completed, they had come […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Belief, Faith/Trust, Love, Mystery
The things people tell a minister after church. . . . Yesterday a woman I did not know spoke to me after church—she was there for a baptism. I heard about the church of her childhood, where “salvation” was attained by refraining from smoking and drinking and dancing and cursing. It was a rigid theology […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Belief, Faith/Trust, Forgiveness, Grace, Love, Mercy