“When Irish Eyes are Smiling”

The image of Mary holding the crucified body of her Son is a riveting metaphor. The Pieta sculpture is mesmerizing because it represents the ability to love that which appears hopelessly damaged. But the other side of the coin is Life Everlasting in the Resurrection.   I was thinking about our fragility and how worthy…

Who convinced us that we’re the superior species? And who said subjective thinking was all that and a bag of chips!? The Buddhists say that the thinking mind is most functional when it’s the servant of consciousness and does a really poor job when our thoughts rule us. Observing the rationale these days exhibited by…

I like Antiques Roadshow, except when an episode spontaneously appears in my closet. I have clothes from every size and stage of my life. This is partially because I hate clothes shopping. Whoever designed the fitting rooms with their obviously distorted mirrors and brassy lighting has a sadistic side. Don’t even start me on bathing…

As many of you are, I am a seeker of Truth as It expresses Itself in this world we mistakenly call reality. That was a mouthful! What I know from studies in psychology and spiritual study is that layers of what we think we know, what we think is “me” gradually peel off and leave…

I remember being in the back of a classroom as a student teacher. I watched the master teacher while looking at the backs of my students. When it was my turn to step up to the podium, it was a shock. They were all looking at me. They were waiting and nothing would happen until…

We humans have a conditional love of Life. We love Life when nice things are happening. We love Life when we are showered with our hearts’ desires. We seem to believe that we are entitled to Life as WE define it, without hurts, troubles, mistakes and other unpleasant “surprises.” When Life deals out its challenges,…

I’ve been asked a number of times about the difference between religion and spirituality.  Since there are increasing numbers of people that claim to be spiritual, but not religious, it’s a valid question. The way I think about this is that religion is a road map, a set of directions that keeps us on course,…

There is nothing new in the world, just the echo of wisdom stated and restated in a variety of traditions and languages. What is there about our thinking brains that prevents us from yielding to truths greater than those known in our very small, individual lives? No doubt that what we see and hear enters…

  With our big brains and learning capacities, we figure out the way life is. Once we’ve established the way life is, we attribute our feelings, our relationships, and our sensibilities accordingly. There is a surrender to the way life was and it automatically becomes the way life is and will always be.  A simpler…

When I was a little girl my father, an artist, would ask “What color are the clouds?”  I would say “white” and he would smile.  This went on for years and I remember thinking how silly it was.  The clouds were obviously white!  I thought of it as our little endearing game.  When I was…