A mountain trail

A Hero’s Journey

How do we create a life involving relationships with those we love and cherish, friends and intimate partners who recognize and appreciate who we are?  How do we find stimulating work that expresses our unique talents and abilities, giving our lives Read more…

My First Deepwater Test

Change is difficult. We fear moving forward. We fear remaining stuck where we are. It’s fear all the way around.  Working with fear remains a vital part of being alive.  As a boy, I was a very good swimmer.  When I was nine Read more…

Under the water
Jacob wrestles with an angel

Wrestling with Ourselves

Do you remember the Biblical story of Jacob wrestling with the angel?  Jacob manipulated his brother Esau to sell his inheritance for a bowl of stew and then stole his father’s blessing.  Twenty years later, on the eve of being Read more…

Psychological & Spiritual Truth

The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy considered the Biblical story of Joseph the most beautiful ever written. He had a point. Do you remember it? Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. Papa made a glorious coat for the boy and the brothers Read more…

Light coming in through a hole in the wall at the sea
Image of a sign that says wrong way.

Making Friends with Our Mistakes

Thomas Edison worked feverishly to discover a suitable element for the filament of his light bulb prototype.  He and his assistants tried many, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of different elements.  Each attempt ended in failure.  Nothing worked.  Feeling great Read more…

Asking for Wonder

Shortly before his death, Abraham Joshua Heschel, the great 20th century Jewish theologian, confided to a friend that he never wanted fame or fortune.  He asked for wonder.  And he felt God had given him wonder.  What an extraordinary thing to Read more…

A bowing bird

What’s Love Got to Do With it?

The great twentieth century poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote that for one human being to love another was the most difficult thing, everything else in life was preparation.  What is it that makes loving another so difficult?  When we meet Read more…

A heart lit by sparklers
Cobblestones lit by light

Encountering the Sacred

We have many words to refer to the Sacred:  God, Yahweh, Allah, the Lord, the Creator, the Divine, Consciousness, the Absolute, the Self, the Tao.  The words are different, but they come from the same place, and go to the Read more…

Learning to Drive

I grew up in New York City and did not learn to drive until I was twenty-seven.  Growing up, it was easy to get around the city using mass transit.  If our family needed a car, my parents rented or Read more…

Fire engine red car