the adventurous life

Spiritual resource to share:  self-discovery



My son's neighborhood this past year in the mountains and
cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica
(c) Gabe Korinek, 2011



It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.

- Andre Gide

The adventurous life is a life of challenge.  It is highly glamorized, but in actuality, an adventurous life is one that requires you cast off all that is comfortable, in search of something beyond what is convenient, stereotyped, or inherited.

Stripped of the culture one was born into, of family obligations and social expectations, one finds a sense of self that is surprisingly original.  In addition to that, one finds those aspects of life that are universal:  joy, connection, industry, family, success (defined in a full spectrum of ways).   

In deliberately setting out for an adventure, and to be good at adventuring, one's whole concept of self and of home and of life work stretches to accommodate the expanding world view. Taking a risk to experience life more fully, you see who you are more clearly.  And that is the biggest adventure of all.

cool old guys - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: ageless living

When I grow up, I want to be like these guys. My dad and my two uncles are adventurous, always trying new things, traveling, reading, teaching others or joking around. Life is never dull here.


About a year and a half ago, I was inspired my my parents and aunts and uncles and wrote this blog and called it celebrate the octogenarian. Enjoy!


Here are some of the activities from the last few years of my favorite octogenarians: downhill skiing, travel to Italy, sailing across the Black Sea, writing as a regular columnist for the local paper, canoeing, managing a specialty bookstore, getting back into real estate, memorizing Shakespeare, etc.


Even Mary Baker Eddy is on my list of favorites -- she was the one who put the finishing touches on the Christian Science world wide movement and started up The Christian Science Monitor when she was eighty-something. All before women even had the right to vote!


These guys have got a wonderful sense of agelessness. Who says you can't play at any age? The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures written by Mary Baker Eddy certainly confirm this:

And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning - Job

The measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to age. The radiant sun of virtue and truth coexists with being. Manhood is its eternal noon, undimmed by a declining sun. - Science and Health

I love how Mary Baker Eddy characterizes growing older. She says,

Men and women of riper years and larger lessons ought to ripen into health and immortality, instead of lapsing into darkness or gloom. - Science and Health

As my lessons are getting larger and my years more ripe I remember years ago, when I went to a talk (later written up as an essay entitled "Doing Sixty") by Gloria Steinem. It was unforgettable. "I love sixty" she said "there are no rules anymore."


So I am now asking myself, "Whose rules am I following? Material health laws or God's laws?"


The choice is, of course, God's laws. My expectation is that year after year, I will grow into understanding more about beauty, power, abundance and peace. One day, after skiing down some slope, hiking up some mountain or writing a prize winning blog about spirituality and agelessness, I, too, will become someone's favorite octogenarian.

swinging like Tarzan

Spiritual resource to share: living fearlessly

It seems that many of life's challenges are about overcoming fear by letting go of those fears. When you let go of the fear, you open your eyes to what already exists - freedom, peace, grace and full joy. And you find that you can trust God, who is the source of all Life.

I had a wonderful reminder of this a few months ago while on a family adventure in Costa Rica. It was easy for my sons to talk me into doing another zipline tour of the Cloud Forest. Costa Rica is stunningly beautiful and to be able to soar over the jungle and steep grasslands is simply awesome! And I didn't mind the steep short hikes to get to the launching platforms where one gets locked into a pulley system before zipping down a cable that slices through the lush forests or zings high above the land and waterfalls.

But, on this trip, there was something called the Tarzan swing, and that was another story. You are still tied onto a cable, but you have to simply step off the platform into - nothing! I could do all the ziplines, but my knees were protesting the Tarzan swing. As I approached the drop off point, I couldn't move.

I decided not to do it. I confessed to the guide, thinking I would have a sympathetic ear, someone who would understand why I couldn't go ahead with this and let me go back with the others who elected not to do this event.

"This one is a little hard for me." I said quietly so as not to embarass myself in front of those who decided to do it. "You see, I am a little bit nervous ...." The guide leaned over and interrupted me, ".....so am I....." he said, and gently, but firmly, nudged me off the platform!

The rest of the group laughed. I screamed. And then, I flew!! Swinging down deep into a valley then swinging up to almost touching treetops, I could hear my sons and others laughing and cheering. I let out a perfectly articulated Tarzan yell.

Life is good.

Letting go of a limited perspective shows you how limitless life is. We can trust Life to be self-sustaining, self-correcting, joyous and eternal. All we need sometimes is that little bit of encouragement to take that first step out of a fear-based type of thinking to soar over problems and challenges and to experience the adventure of the Life that is God's.

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

Natación con pirañas/swimming with piranhas

Spiritual resource to share: love of adventure

Recurso espiritual de compartir: amor de aventura

Presented first in Spanish, followed by a translation in English

Presentado primero en español, seguido de una traducción en inglés

(Por favor véase abajo para más información/See below for more information)

Este articulo (abajo), escrito en 1974 por Alex Noble y publicado en El Monitor de Christian Science, ha sido un pilar inspirador - lo saco siempre que yo esté listo a emprender algo nuevo y desconocido. ¡Disfrute!

Pasos avanzados

Encuentro que el riesgo hacia objetivos expansivos y loables es esencial. Mientras el riesgo es fácil para hablar de, no es tan fácil practicar. Cuando tomo un riesgo, ampliándome en una nueva dirección, parece a salir en un lago congelado. La invitación de miradas superficial, ábrase y seguro. Pero hay siempre la posibilidad que el hielo rajará - la posibilidad de fracaso, de poner en ridículo de mí. Siempre que yo tome un riesgo - hacia el desarrollo de una nueva habilidad, hacia una amistad nueva y desafiante - casi siempre tengo dudas profundas en cuanto a la sabiduría de mi curso.

Verdadero a cada paso de la nueva experiencia cuando esto no se abre antes de mí, avanzo, sostenido sólo por un sentido interior de aseguramiento y necesidad, aunque el paisaje circundante pueda parecer incierto y hasta peligroso.

En cualquier situación de riesgo, trato de mantener que una buena voluntad de dejar va de cosas que no calculan de un modo natural y espontáneo. Debe haber libertad, flujo y crecimiento. Pero un nuevo talento o habilidad, un nuevo amigo, una perspectiva fresca en mi vida - éstos bien valen el examen de conciencia lo que arriesga por lo general provoca.

Jean Cocteau ha dicho, "un artista debería averiguar lo que él hace todo lo posible, y luego hacer algo más. ¿" Qué debe adelantar allí si me quedo la caja fuerte y caliente dentro de los límites de una orden cómoda, establecida? ¿Por otra parte, qué puedo posiblemente perder encarando el nuevo, el desconocido, dónde asombroso, las cosas vigorizadoras, que abren horizonte, y hacer, pueden pasar? En la toma de riesgos, a menudo me hago esta pregunta: ¿"es hecho algo de un impulso de mi truest mí un error, sin tener en cuenta qué podría pasar?"


ENGLISH

This piece, written in 1974 by Alex Noble and published in The Christian Science Monitor, has been an inspirational mainstay - I pull it out whenever I am ready to embark on something new and unknown. Enjoy!

Stepping forward

I find that risk toward expansive and creditable goals is essential. While risk is easy to talk about, it is not so easy to practice. When I take a risk, extending myself in a new direction, it is like stepping out onto a frozen lake. The surface looks inviting, open and secure. But there is always the possibility that the ice will crack - the possibility of failure, of making a fool of myself. Whenever I take a risk - toward developing a new skill, toward a new and challenging friendship - I almost always have deep misgivings as to the wisdom of my course. True to each step of the new experience as it opens up before me, I move forward, sustained only by an inner sense of assurance and necessity, even though the surrounding landscape may appear uncertain and even dangerous.

In any risk situation, I try to maintain a willingness to let go of things that are not working out in a natural and spontaneous way. There must be freedom, flow and growth. But a new talent or skill, a new friend, a fresh perspective on my life - these are well worth the soul-searching that risk usually provokes.

Jean Cocteau has said, "An artist should find out what he does best, and then do something else." What is there to gain if I stay safe and warm within the confines of a comfortable, established order? On the other hand, what can I possibly lose by confronting the new, the unknown, where amazing, invigorating, horizon-opening things can, and do, happen? In taking risks, I often ask myself this question: "Is anything done from an impulse of my truest self a mistake, regardless of what might happen?"

Después de bajar por 800 pasos a una cascada hermosa en Costa Rica, nos dijeron que los peces en los fondos estuvieron relacionados con pirañas - sin embargo, esto era una relación distante y estos peces eran vegetarianos!

After climbing down 800 steps to a beautiful waterfall in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, we were told that the fish in the surrounding pools were related to piranhas - however the relation was quite distant and these fish were vegetarian!

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

Parenting: giving our kids our best

Spiritual resource to share: our spiritual inheritance

Last Christmas, I heard the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah being played over the radio. My older son crossed the room and I found myself tearing up when he asked "What's wrong?"

I remember being in a choir while in High School and singing this with hundreds of others in choir and orchestra. It was such a thrill. We were so jazzed and inspired, we were singing at the tops of our lungs. I lost interest in whether or not the notes were right on. This loud noise that came from all of us, at once, sounding relatively in tune was an amazing experience!

Part of my role as a parent is to make opportunities for my kids to experience life - its joys and thrills and then to be there when things seem to fall apart. How many times have I wanted to "give" an experience to my kids that I have had. At that moment, hearing Handel's Messiah, I realized that I can't give them all of what is wonderful and mysterious. They need to find and take that on themselves.

It was a bittersweet moment. All I could say to my son is that life is an incredible trip. Go far, drink deeply. My dad once said that I should go out, explore the world. I could always come back, lick my wounds, but then go out again. Wise words from an old adventurer himself.

What we give our kids - aside from the basic food and shelter, millions of words of advice and counsel and our example - is to share what we have inherited from our brilliant, spinning world and to give them permission to explore it at their own time and in their own way.









To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

Ideas about home - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: home

I've been thinking about home lately, with two kids ready to make new homes for the coming year. Home is such a dynamic idea, centering us as well as giving us that strong foundation that we can jump from.

I'm reminded of a conversation I had last year with a group of close family friends and my family about home. Here are some excerpts from a blog written a year ago:

Our German exchange student son will soon be leaving for home in two weeks and is taking my son who will visit with his family for a month. One of my two goddaughters is leaving for Sweden in a few days. Actually, there is a lot of coming and going, as our Korean exchange student son will leave also be leaving for home next month, and my other son takes his first plane ride alone to another adventure. So, last night, we talked a little about adventures and what that means about home.

"Home is the place where you grow up", said my goddaughter who has lived in one town her whole life. She's got one stamp of Scotland on her passport, and will be soloing into Sweden soon and next year has plans for Chile.

"Home is wherever I am now," said my son who has lived in four homes and three different states in city, suburban and rural areas and is packing for his first trip out of the country soon.

"Home is right here," said our German son, who has already done a fair bit of globetrotting for one his age.

I loved hearing their ideas about home as a presence and place to grow. Home is about the present tense.

A friend of mine, who was temporarily homeless at one point, carried in her pocket a toothbrush, a comb and a card that reminded her "Home is not a place, but a power." (She did get situated in a nice home and a neat job shortly after, by the way.)

This line is from MBEddy's main book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and has been a foundation stone for us as we build our own sense of home:

Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.

Home to me is an active force, open and as free as a breeze and stable as a rock. When my husband and I got married, we both loved the idea of home being a center and not having boundaries. We have opened our home to, well, it's almost twenty people, both individuals and small families, who have shared our home - some for a few months, others for over a year. Some were near homeless, others were transitioning into new jobs, schools and homes. We've all progressed and grown together and are the richer for these shared experiences.

We've had the added benefit of showing our sons that there are many loving people in this world, and everyone has something worthwhile to teach, and everyone has something interesting to learn. Our sons have learned how to collect feathers, identify gypsy moths, play piano and sing, and learn about opera, babies and other cultures - all from those who enlarged our family for a time.


Knowing that you can take home with you is a comforting and powerful idea. As my dad taught us kids, home is a safe place where you are always welcomed, and then encouraged to go back out again and have adventures.




To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

radicals, controversial figures and troublemakers

Spiritual resource to share: pursuing Truth


Some of my favorite people include explorers, thinkers and other types of adventurers. Sometimes these people also fit nicely into the categories of radicals, controversial figures and troublemakers -- but only when they are pursuing a higher Truth which naturally challenges a stagnant status quo. Those who think outside of the box are one thing, but those who don't even take a box into consideration in their quest for Truth are on the top of my list of heroes.

Two such people are Mary Baker Eddy and the New Testament character Paul. I already knew that MBEddy was controversial in her day, and even now I consider her ideas as cutting edge. So reading this excerpt about her didn't raise any eyebrows:

"When we do not know a person -- and also when we do -- we have to judge the size and nature of his achievements as compared with the achievements of others in his special line of business -- there is no other way. Measured by this standard, it is thirteen hundred years since the world has produced anyone who could reach up to Mrs. Eddy's waistbelt.

"In several ways she is the most interesting woman that ever lived, and the most extraordinary."

The quote is from page xi of the Preface of Mary Baker Eddy by Gillian Gill. The quote is by Mark Twain, who was an outspoken critic of MBEddy for many years, until later in his life when he felt moved to state the above.

But when I read the following about Paul, I did a major re-think on what it meant to pursue one's own Truth.

"Paul was a controversial figure in his lifetime, even within the Christian movement.... He had many opponents who disagreed with his interpretation of the message of Jesus. In the closing years of his life, when imprisonment prevented him from moving about freely, Paul's opponents were able to make a headway with their rival interpretations. However, Paul became a venerated figure. His letters, together with the Gospels, became the foundation of the Christian movement."

The above is from the weekly Bible resources from csdirectory.com, "Bible Characters for Your Weekly Bible Study"

So what does it mean to pursue one's own Truth? Sticking your neck out or going against the mainstream of thought can be lonely and scary. It certainly was for MBEddy and Paul. But there was a compelling story to tell, a truth to be shared. And along the way, the sense of personal ego, pride and fear had to make way for patience, a deep humility, keen self-knowledge and a constant curiosity about the goodness of omnipotent God.

I saw that it takes humility and vision, selflessness and a burning love for humanity that made their experience of Truth the foundation for the movement of practical, healing Christianity today. It gives me plenty to consider as I continue my pursuit.

Click here to read a thoughtful post on Benazir Bhutto as reformer, another hero of blogging friend, Chris.



To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

when the party is over

Spiritual resource to share: continuity of good


I am on a Twain kick as of last posting. Here is another one of his quotes that just made me laugh. "There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land (and work) again after a cheerful, careless voyage."

My one son had a very quiet couple of days after his trip to Germany, and today, I called my other son to arrange an airport pickup tomorrow. Both aren't too happy about leaving their adventures behind. Both of them would probably agree to Twain's sentiment.

I understand. After a trip, I have felt a shift when returning to all that is familiar and sometimes a let down or downright depression. But it happens much less. Here are some ideas that have helped me see that Life is always full, and always an adventure. (And no doubt, ideas that I'll share with my boys!)

• There are no big events in Mind.
• God, Mind, always operates constantly, harmoniously and efficiently. There is never more good at one time and less good at another time. Good flows continuously.
  
• "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."
• There is a time to be bold and raucous, and a time to be still. After particularly wonderful times, it is allright to have some quiet time to digest the richness of those experiences. There is a time for expression, and a time for reflection.
  
• "In Christian Science there is never a retrograde step, never a return to positions outgrown. "
• The good in new experiences expands your sense of self. You can never return to what you once were. You have grown. Perhaps limitations were challenged, you took on more responsibility than ever before, or you realized that you had a new talent or a latent skill that blossomed. You bring these new perspectives to your day to day experience and find that everything may look a little brighter.
  
• Life doesn't end. It keeps getting better.
• MBEddy sums this all up nicely. "Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity...."

Our lives are a continual exploration of infinite good. Whether we are in a quiet time or a crowded and rowdy all round happy time, God's goodness continues. And there is always more to learn, more to love and more to grow. It is never really over.








To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

prayer at the airport

Spiritual resource to share: love and connection


It's been an airport kind of week. We saw our very fun and much loved Korean "son" off on his flight back home to South Korea. I dropped another son off on his way to see his best friend and then went on to pick up my other son who was coming back from Germany.

I have to say that one of my favorite places to be and to pray is right in the middle of the bustle of the international arrivals part of the airport. It is such a hopeful place.

For all of the variety of races, languages, dress and greetings - there is the undercurrent of energy that fuels the reason for all of this activity. And it is happiness. "Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it."

I get to the arrivals section a little early. I like to do this when possible. I watch people as they wait for others, then see their faces light up when they find who they are looking for.

We (those who are waiting) are supposed to stay in a designated area behind a rope, so that when they (the passengers) arrive, they have an unblocked walkway. This all makes sense. Except when some people have been waiting so long for the people that they love so much, that no barrier is going to effectively hold them back one second longer from hugging the ones they have been waiting for as soon as their faces clear the doors of the entry.

So, I watch and wait and feel a little of what MBEddy talks about in Science and Health: "Hence the eternal wonder, — that infinite space is peopled with God's ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms."

More faces, some tired, happy, searching the sea of faces. I think: we are all so connected. We are all children of God, who is Truth and Love. One Truth. One Love. One family. I feel such hope. So, I ask myself: Can I reflect in some degree the infinite depths of God's love to embrace all of humanity? Can I echo Jacob's humbled response to his brother "I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God." I am so engaged in this life lesson of love and connection. I know I'll be spending my life finding ways to answer yes over and over again.

My questions are interrupted as I see a tall young man who is looking over the crowd gathered behind the rope at the arrivals gate. It is my son. He seems taller, more confident. I wave, we hug and so begins the long ride home and hearing of adventures, new perspectives and the plans for bringing this all back home.











To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

Home in the present tense

Spiritual resource to share: your home



These last few days, I was at our friends' house (with our two goddaughters) in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. I'm also with our two sons and our two other "sons" from South Korea and Germany. We're showing them another part of the USA, known for its niceness, abundant lakes and its innovative arts scene.

Our German son will soon be leaving for home in two weeks and is taking my son who will visit with his family for a month. One of my goddaughters is leaving for Sweden in a few days. Actually, there is a lot of coming and going, as our Korean son will leave also be leaving for home next month, and my other son takes his first plane ride alone to another adventure.

So, last night, we talked a little about adventures and what that means about home.

• "Home is the place where you grow up", said my goddaughter who has lived in one town her whole life. She's got one stamp of Scotland on her passport, and will be soloing into Sweden.
• "Home is wherever I am now", said my son who has lived in four homes and three different states in city, suburban and rural areas and is packing for his first trip out of the country soon.
• "Home is right here", said our German son, who has already done a fair bit of globetrotting for one his age.

I loved hearing their ideas about home as a presence and place to grow. Home is about the present tense.

A friend of mine, who was temporarily homeless at one point, carried in her pocket a toothbrush, a comb and a card that reminded her "Home is not a place, but a power." (She did get situated in a nice home and a neat job shortly after, by the way.)

This line is from one of MBEddy's main book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and has been a foundation stone for me as we build our own sense of home:

Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.

Home to me is an active force, open and as free as a breeze and stable as a rock.

When my husband and I got married, we both loved the idea of home being a center and not having boundaries. We have opened our home to, well, it's almost twenty people, both individuals and small families, who have shared our home - some for a few months, others for over a year. Some were near homeless, others were transitioning into new jobs, schools and homes. We've all progressed and grown together and are the richer for these experiences.

We've had the added benefit of teaching our sons that there are many loving people in this world, and everyone has something worthwhile to teach, and interesting to learn. Our sons have learned how to collect feathers, identify gypsy moths, play piano and sing and learn about opera, babies and other cultures - all from those who enlarged our family for a time.

As a special tribute to my dad on Father's Day this Sunday, I have to give him credit for instilling this idea in me - that home is a safe place where you are always welcomed, and then encouraged to go back out again and have adventures. And it is my husband who has helped make home an adventure in itself!

Summer is a great time of coming and going and spreading one's wings. And knowing that you can take home with you is a comforting and powerful idea. What are some of your thoughts about home?

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

How rich is that life on the edge!

Spiritual resource to share: breaking limitations

One of J's outdoor programs:

spLORE/outdoor adventures

for people with disabilities

I woke this morning to get an email from a recently reunited friend to say her husband died last week in an accident. This was a shock. We had just talked two weeks ago. I called her today which inspired me to share this posting.

This is part of her husband's obituary:

....John was an excellent athlete, a member of the Colorado All State high school soccer team and an active mountaineer. In 1971 he was injured in a skiing accident, losing the use of his legs. This did not deter him from the active life he loved. John devoted much of his life to sharing his passion for nature with others as a gifted K-12 classroom teacher and in such organizations as POINT (Paraplegics on independent nature trips) in Texas, numerous Outward Bound Schools, the Vinland Center in Minneapolis, MN, Adventure Etc. in San Francisco, CA, Telluride Adaptive Sports Program, and other programs.

John represented the United States as the first US Nordic skier in the 1988 Paralympics in Innsbruck, Austria. He loved to sail, play tennis and ski. He was an avid fly fisherman and loved anything to do with water and boats.....

Both my friend M and her husband J were masters at overcoming limitations: cultural barriers, physical barriers, political challenges and others. In some cases, they dutifully challenged the status quo in standing up for what they believed in, for themselves and for others. J 's testimony to the US House of Representatives on wilderness and sustainability issues is a good example of that, as was his involvement in programs mentioned above.

J lived a bit over the edge, as his wife attests. Certainly he lived it fully and left quite a legacy of inspiration complete with tons of river analogies about life.

So what lives on? Looking back at what he has done, it is obvious that everything he did for others will live on. He inspired so many to see beyond the material picture, to see beyond a comfortable life to a life that takes you a little over the edge.

I think that however simple and day to day our lives are, what makes life worth living is that we love one another - which motivates to do things for each other and to make sure that those experiences that have meant so much to us are available for the next generation. It is all about love.

In this way, it is easier for me to understand we are all spiritual. Loving is what we do. Challenging limitations is what we do. Breaking out of dead-end thinking to see more of God's love and God's loving provision is natural for us. Like J, we have a natural, holy curiosity to explore all of God's goodness and grandeur. We are all spiritual beings and understanding this helps to see that we can never really lose one another. All is well.

A couple friends have posted this poem. It is one that I recently read at another's memorial service last month. I love it.

Death is nothing at all
by Henry Scott Holland 1847-1918, cannon of St Paul’s Cathedral

Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort,without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.

What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.

All is well.







To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.

living from the inside out

Spiritual resource to share: a quiet and passionate happiness

Finally! I had been trying to reach an old friend from WAY back ever since my family and I moved back from the East Coast to the Midwest. And... after two years and many phone calls later, I found her!

We shared a love of getting out into the world and doing stuff - whether it was traveling, being an activist for some cause, or having outdoor adventures, we loved it! M's take on it always included the world and she did some mighty admirable things... she worked in Sudan with the American Refugee Committee, presented papers in China re: advances in physical therapy and skiied across Iceland (or was it Greenland?) on some environmental project. She was active helping others in the community and always mindful of having enough time for herself, a book, some company and a cup of tea.

Her wedding to a remarkable guy was most memorable. Each of the communities in which she and her husband were involved were so easy to distinguish: there were many from the Hmong community, the Catholic community with nuns in their habits, a number of folks in wheelchairs, the outdoor enthusiasts with their oddly lined summer tans, and other races and all ages. What a hoot!

(After finding myself taking notes on our conversation, I realized I need to get M into blogging. She's got so much good stuff to share!!)

Even after all these years, and all the changes that years give us, she was the same wise, humble, and fun person I have always known her to be.

So what have we learned from these many years? We realized that for both of us, it was the external things that helped define who we were. Our passions and commitments were played out in big ways. We both sought these experiences out and thrived in challenging situations.

It was M's thought that now she finds she is learning to live from the inside out. I had to agree. There are no major trips or pressing projects demanding me to challenge complacency, doubt or inability. That is something that is requiring inner strength to meet those kinds of challenges.

We are both parents of teen-age kids ready to claim more and more of their independence, which adds a demand for a whole new level of inner strength! Our current role with our kids is to be there for them, but also to learn to get out of the way. They are learning to make more choices, all the while we are still in the safety boat as they start off on their own journeys.

I know a lot of you reading this have had intensely challenging and spiritually rewarding demands placed on you by others, or other institutions. So now, when these external demands are gone, we are left with defining ourselves from our most still and quiet moments. Our happiness comes from a source within us, our inspiration comes from quiet moments with God. It was there all along when those external events demanded it. It is even here now.

I like this idea of living from the inside out. It feels more like being the fountain than playing in the fountain. And, for me, this is my time to understand more the spiritual fountainhead of all the passions and loves that have played out in the first part of my life.

For all of you adventuresome friends reading this - whether you are rising to the challenge put to you, or cultivating your own inner strength, it is wonderful to know that the adventure of spiritual living just keeps going.

God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis. - Mary Baker Eddy

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