The 10th century Tibetan Buddhist poet, the Lama Milarepa, taught this as he prepared for his death:
“All worldly pursuits have but the one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow: acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings, in destruction; meetings, in separation; births, in death. Knowing this, one should from the very first renounce acquisition and [...]
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- The Faith Journey August 27, 2010“Eternal God, you call us to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (This prayer [...] […]Pastor
- My Monastic Prayer Stall August 25, 2010A feeling of confusion, of being unsettled. Fatigue. What’s up with that? The feeling persists. Not much sleep that night. Awake early. Some reading, but a feeling of disconnection. What’s going on? I’m grasping too much. Trying to force a resolution too much. Feeling the need to loosen my wound-up thinking: so I sit in the early [...] […]Pastor
- It’s So Easy to Forget August 18, 2010In recent days, I’ve been thinking about being sick. That’s because I’ve come back from a week in a monastery, and then a week of doing nothin’ at the beach, and now I’m trying to resist my old sinful self who defines himself by what he gets done. One would think that nearly dying would [...] […]Pastor
- Communities Change – II August 5, 2010A few days ago I poked around in the backyard of my father’s mother’s house, for the first time in decades. The yard has not been tended in years. Everything is overgrown. The foundations still exist for the garage, the chicken coop, but the buildings are gone. The house was vacant, so I was able [...] […]Pastor
- Communities Change – I August 4, 2010While I was at Mepkin Abbey, some of my reading was from a collection of Bob Benne’s essays. I e-mailed Bob a few days ago and told him I was enjoying the juxtaposition: spending time in a Trappist monastery, while reading his essays about how to think better as a Lutheran. He wrote back, “I [...] […]Pastor
- Where sermons come from July 20, 2010Here’s the way it works. Weeks earlier, I’ve gone through the lectionary, paying attention to which of the three passage catches my attention. I jot down a few ideas of why the passage seems important. Then, on the Monday of the week that the passage is going to be read, I do my work with the commentaries, [...] […]Pastor
- Listening July 20, 2010For the second morning in a row, this morning, when the clock struck 4:00, I was instantly awake and alert. The verse that has come to mind is from 1 Samuel 3: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” I think it’s part of the discernment process in our search process for a new staff member. We’ve [...] […]Pastor
- George Steinbrenner July 14, 2010How interesting to read all the nice things being said about George Steinbrenner, now that he’s died. (Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a “George Steinbrenner Ruined Baseball” T-Shirt in a good while, since his quieter son took over.) Since I think of life in terms of Christianity, I keep returning to Paul’s lists [...] […]Pastor
- Under Judgment July 13, 2010It rained last night! The roads were too wet for me to ride my bike. (This is something that I did not realize until I was dressed, had filled a water bottle, had topped off the air in the tires, and had walked the bike down the driveway, and actually looked at the [...] […]Pastor
- Well, we need the rain … July 10, 2010The alarm went off a few minutes before 6:00 this morning. I needed time to prepare, before leaving for a 54-mile bicycle ride in Sussex County beginning at 9:00 this morning. To get to the starting point of the ride, in Waverly, I would need to be on the 7:40 ferry across the James; the 8:00 [...] […]Pastor
- The Faith Journey August 27, 2010
Recent Entries
- The Faith Journey
- My Monastic Prayer Stall
- It’s So Easy to Forget
- Communities Change – II
- Communities Change – I
- Where sermons come from
- Listening
- George Steinbrenner
- Under Judgment
- Well, we need the rain …
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