by David Anderson
Are you dead or alive? Alive people are awake and aware—they’re open to the whole of human life. They’re open to receive all the gifts and joys and exquisite delights of human life—and they’re just as open to receive the suffering and the disappointment and the sadness. They can sit with that, too, and […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Choice, Daily Practice, Happiness, Now/ the Present
The most remarkable thing about the sequester crisis in Washington is that the whole “problem” is self-caused. Our leaders designed a terrible Sword of Damocles that would drop and half-kill the country unless we worked together to find a sensible way forward. Then they refused to work together to find a sensible way forward. Now […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Conflict, Happiness, Now/ the Present Tagged With: Conflict
On Saturday my father, Gerald Anderson, turned 94. My brother wrote a birthday email and copied all seven of us siblings and all the in-laws. He ended by listing five gifts that Dad has passed on to all of us. 1. That you know yourself to be loved by God, 2. That you have lived in […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Character, Daily Practice, Faithfulness, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness
Some years ago I was enjoying a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, when a parishioner came to me and said, “I want you to meet a friend.” I could see a woman with white hair sitting at her table. We walked over, I shook her hand and said, “Hello, my name is David Anderson.” She said, […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Daily Practice, Faith/Trust, Gratitude, Happiness, Now/ the Present
“I have a great quote for you!” It was my friend Judy—the first thing she said to me when we met on a retreat this weekend. “Let me have it.” I said. “Change is inevitable,” Judy said, “growth is optional.” I nodded and we both smiled. I saw a tee shirt once that said, “Change is […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Happiness, Letting Go, Reality--trusting it, Surrender
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
I was asked to speak to a group this week on New Year’s Resolutions, and I decided instead to speak on new priorities. I don’t care much for resolutions, since they are mostly attempts to arm-wrestle small problems into submission without having to look plainly at one’s life. As soon as I focused on priorities […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Change, Choice, Daily Practice, Happiness, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Seeing, Vocation/ Calling
The human being is capable of great idealism . . . and great delusion, as these resolutions humorously attest. Resolution #1 2010: I will try to be a better husband to Marge. 2011: I will not leave Marge. 2012: I will try for a reconciliation with Marge. 2013: I will try to be a better […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Change, Daily Practice, Happiness