Sunday, 14 January 2018
A week ago I published “The Beautiful Farewell of Nancy Cathcart.” Yesterday Nancy died. In the intervening six days the essay was viewed nearly 4000 times on my website, eliciting uncountable expressions of thankfulness for Nancy.
There’s a sweet irony in the fact that I probably knew Nancy just about the least of all those who honored her with their words. Read More
If I had to condense all of life into one activity, it would be this: embracing the present moment, and responding to it with all the beauty we can muster.
By beauty I mean that which draws us in the direction of oneness, unity, kinship. The opposite of judgment.
To pull this off, of course, requires us to open one of life’s most precious gifts, the gift of choice. We must define for ourselves what, in fact, is going on. Then, we must determine what it means for us to respond in beauty.
These choices can be especially poignant when what we’ve determined is at hand is our death.
So it has been for Nancy Cathcart. And the beauty with which she has responded, if my experience is any measure, is enriching the lives of that big tent full of fortunate souls she considers her tribe. Read More
"The push to change the words “nigger” and “injun” in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, because the so-called offensive nature of those terms might limit today’s readership and appreciation of that literary classic, is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how we avoid taking responsibility for our feelings––and therefore miss the chance to become more awake, more whole, more useful friends to one another."
The Essay: The Gold in Niggers and Injuns
