The more I speak with disaffected Christians and Jews, the better I understand the complexity of the idea of God — and the often bungled attempts to teach this important concept.
I am much more interested in asking the question, "How do you understand the word 'God'?" than I am in asking, "What do you believe about God?" If I ask the question, "If you pray, what do you expect of your prayers?" I am invited into a dialogue and a journey that is of the here and now, influenced by a past, but dynamic in the moment.
Let's explore the word and the symbol "God." It will take us on many fruitful journeys "¦ together.
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Perspectives, by various authors
Perspectives: The word 'God' starts — stops — dialogues
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Perspectives: Laughter opens heart
He shared a video of one of his house calls to a poor woman in another country who was very ill and in much pain. Using his humor, despite a language barrier, he had her sitting up, smiling, laughing and singing. It was apparent that she experienced some relief from her suffering.
Continued ... -
Perspectives: We all have stress so learn to handle it
Stress is one of the ways we react to change. If the change is seen as positive, little if any stress is noticed. If it is perceived as negative, stress follows.
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Perspectives: Nature, Christ awakens
I have had a front row seat as an icy and barren tableau has been transformed into a three-dimensional masterpiece teeming with life waking up after a long winter.
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Perspectives: Learning patience takes patience
As a caregiver I am learning patience is one of my weaker assets. I have it when I am waiting for an idea to germinate or waiting for the mailman, but not while I am caring for my wife who is healing from pneumonia and a series of side complications.
Continued ... - Perspectives: We're all from 'somewhere else'
- Saturday, December 31, 2011
- Perspectives: How much baggage do we need?
- Saturday, December 10, 2011
- Perspectives: Is the goal to help the country?
- Saturday, November 26, 2011
- Perspectives: Don't take the basics for granted
- Saturday, November 5, 2011
- Perspectives: Dream of peace renewed
- Saturday, August 27, 2011
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Perspectives: Each swimmer has a stroke
Magic happens in the water.
Continued ... - Saturday, July 2, 2011
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Perspectives: A big bite of life
In a few weeks my family and I will commemorate the first anniversary of my father's death. Perhaps because the date of his death is so much on my mind, I am able to retrieve fond memories and incidents that bring a smile and laugher. Sitting for two hours in the dentist's chair today, I recalled my father's dialogue with his dentist when Poppa was 87. (He died at 94). Author Helen Rowland wrote: "A man loses his illusions first, his teeth second, and his follies last." My father, who experienced the Great Depression, lost his illusions as a young man. His teeth (or tooth) he lost late in life and under his own control. I believe at age 87 he would have seen a dental crown or bridge as folly.
Continued ... - Saturday, June 11, 2011
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Perspectives: Imprints on our hearts
I do have some wonderful pictures of our grandchildren. Some I have edited, cropped and enhanced. And yet, no matter how I alter or intensify these photos, they are all moments in time; snaps and bits of a reality I want to hold onto and let grow and flourish in the very same moment. I will look for the newer camera with the longer lens, but I will continue to delight in the images and portraits, the moments and memories even Photoshop cannot improve upon. It's all about loving life.
Continued ... - Saturday, May 14, 2011
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End-of-life caregivers suffer grief but have pride
In researching data about the hospice teams and the particular stress they face, I learned that hospice care givers often experience more stress than does a widow or widower in the first year after a mate's death. Additionally, hospice workers may experience more stress than does a woman who has recently been told she has breast cancer. A friend chose palliative care because she wants to make sure people exit this life with as much dignity and caring as possible. "I cannot prevent death," she tells me, "but I can make sure that everything possible is done to minimize physical and emotional pain." To those who make hospice care possible I offer my deepest appreciation and gratitude.
Continued ... - Saturday, April 30, 2011
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Perspectives: Helping Haitians with health uplifts, yet shatters
I recently went to Haiti with a medical mission of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as their pediatrician. The trip was amazing. I have never worked so hard emotionally, giving all I could to each child and family. It came from the heart and thankfully my well of love never emptied. I'm so grateful that I had skills to share and help. We saw many patients, some sicker, some less sick, all day. One problem followed another. Many we could help. Satisfaction comes in the doing and the smiling, the encouragement we give just by seeing them and in the sincerity of feelings that we transmit.
Continued ... - Saturday, April 23, 2011
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Perspectives: Is God dead?
This weekend our inclination is to move right to Sunday, with its spring flowers, chocolate and promise of new life. On Friday we might pause to reflect a moment on the cruel reality of death, but by Saturday our sights are already set on the morrow, preparing our Sunday best, hiding eggs, planning to attend a celebratory service. Why not? God is alive! At least the gods of nationalism, ignorance and fundamentalism seem alive and well, but it's time for them to die. And perhaps, on this Holy Saturday, when the tomb is full and the questions linger, you might join me in this funeral.
Continued ... - Saturday, April 2, 2011
- Saturday, March 12, 2011
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Perspectives: Listen with more than ears
We seem to have a storehouse full of responses to news about a recent birth, but we are often silent to the announcement of a death. Our way with words will be less valuable than our way of being with the friend who has experienced death.
Continued ... - Saturday, February 26, 2011
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Perspectives: Imperfection is human
During some recent vacation time of long and largely unstructured days I had considerable time to think about my own imperfections. I seem to migrate between accepting my imperfections as part of the universal human condition or as unacceptable flaws. In the teachings of the Kabbalistic writers, it is suggested that in the creation of this universe, imperfection and perfection came into being at the same time; they have a common origin in God's creative activity.
Continued ... - Saturday, February 12, 2011
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Perspectives: Multitude of blessings
It is important to note that offering a blessing is not acquiescence to the sometimes harshness of life. Rather, it is to say that we have been given wonderful gifts — and even when they seem too fleeting and, like some deaths, cannot be comprehended, we are grateful for what was and is. It is customary, when learning about a death to recite: "Blessed are You, eternal source of the universe, judge of truth."
Continued ... - Saturday, January 22, 2011
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Perspectives: Living in the holy is a choice
A breath is holy, as is an exhale. A flower is holy, as is a weed. Life, death, certainty, uncertainty are all holy. Each is what it appears to be and more than it seems to be. For me there is a holiness in the routine and seemingly mundane aspects of life. I believe washing floors is as holy as performing surgery; and washing the dead is as holy as bathing a squirming infant. In daily life, the "holy" is readily available if we are open and ready to receive that which beckons us. The holy cannot be measured by any scientific method — any more than true love can be quantified. It simply is — available, necessary, desirable and life giving. But to dwell in the holy is a choice and a challenge. It requires stepping back and then deliberately forward; sometimes even stepping sideways to measure the meaning (and not the meanness) of the moment. To stand or sit still — absorbed by "now" and not mired in the "past" or "future" is to dwell in the holy.
Continued ... - Saturday, January 15, 2011
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Perspectives: Resolutions for the year
I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions. You may think I'm a bit late, but I don't usually make resolutions.
Continued ... - Saturday, January 1, 2011
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Perspectives: There is a greatness that invites us
Each religious group developed symbols and ceremonies to please or appease the god; and each group dictated how its followers should live life amid boundaries of right and wrong.
Continued ... - Saturday, December 4, 2010
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Perspectives: Look for both beauty, blemishes
Mirroring can be beneficial when the mirror is solid and reflects what is as opposed to distortion. A well-lit and properly placed mirror, like a weight scale, will truthfully reflect only what is placed before it.
Continued ... - Saturday, November 27, 2010
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Perspectives: A week of thanks, but to whom?
What are you thankful for? This is a week in which we traditionally say "thank you." Thank you to who? For what?
Continued ... - Saturday, October 23, 2010
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Perspectives: I hope to live with fear
I worry about events and conditions I cannot control, like long-term economic security, job security and the health and longevity of loved ones.
Continued ...
Click here for more Perspectives, by various authors stories
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Bush brings sense of humor back to White House
Katy Perry Goes Makeup-Free
Kathie Lee Gifford's Big Mistake
Teacher falls prey to students' antics
Inside Emily Blunt's Stunning Shoot
Texas Student Hit by Bus: Caught on Tape
Houston waiter gets $5,000 tip
Rihanna's Racy Mesh Bikini
On tape: truck crashes into bar
Anne Hathaway Stars in Les Miserables Trailer
Juicy New 'True Blood'!
Zombie Apacolypse Spreading?
Mary-Kate Olsen Dating Older Man?
Everyone survives freak accident in China
Why Brooke Shields Did Own 'Hot Flashes' Stunts
Police: Seattle Cafe Gunman May Have Shot Self
Fans Riot at Justin Bieber Concert
Cows crash house party
Kim K.'s New Gig as Love Guru
Raw Video: 747 Clips Regional Jet at O'Hare
