This fine couple lives not too far from me. I know of their work. I subscribe to their newsletter for hermits. What a wonderful vocation they have made for themselves.

One of my Google News filters is set to find articles on simple living. A recent fetch turned up the article Living in Unity, which is about a new Amish settlement in Maine and how the locals are reacting to their new neighbors.

At the end of the article the author shares a quote she found on the wall of one of the Amish homes she visited. It is as follows:

To be content with little is hard, to be content with much is impossible.

I was so intrigued that I had to discover the author of this wise saying. Turns out it was an Austrian Noblewoman who wrote novels attempting to shed light on the plight of the peasants in pre-WWI Austria, and more specifically, how the noble class was responsible for it. Naturally, Franz Joseph's censors did not look kindly on her work. Her name was Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916.

This quote serves as a good anthem in the spiritual life. It is also apropos for the present season, when the expectation to acquire more and more stuff has all but erased from memory another sagacious saying, less is more.

I am reading Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton, by Morgan Atkinson. It comes with a DVD containing the PBS documentary he did on Merton. He had about two hundred hours of material and just over an hour to squeeze it into the film. So the book serves as a companion to the film. It is a good read so far. The documentary is good, different, but good. There are a few zingers. One that hit me so far is "conversion is an evolution." It really explains a lot about Merton. Just when you think you have arrived, you realize, this is only the beginning!

I am very fortunate in that I have learned how to fall well. Either that or I am just plain lucky.

One of the places I run often is through the grounds of the former estate of RJ Reynolds, tobacco magnate. There are some beautiful paths through the woods. Most of the year you can see all the roots and rocks poking up from the ground, but when the trails are draped with leaves, it is difficult.

Yesterday during my run, just as I was about to exit the trail, a rock decided to introduce itself to my right toe. Everything went into slow motion as I began to sputter, my upper half lurching as my lower half struggled to keep pace. There came a moment that I felt I had recovered, there would be no fall this time! But I spoke too soon, and I knew I was going down. In an instance, reflex took over and I felt my body moving into crash mode. Where and how to land was all that was important know. It had nothing to do with looking good, but everything to do with minimizing damage. I felt my body twisting to the right, preparing my left side for a rough landing. As I made contact with the near frozen ground, the side of my calf, thigh and upper arm near the shoulder acted as an air bag, absorbing the shock. If I had to go down, this is the way to do it, I told myself.

If anyone had been in view, they probably would have come running to the rescue of a clumsy old fart. They would have been surprised as I hopped up and exclaimed, "damn, that went well!," and continued my run.

Sure, I'm a little sore today, and I will be running a bit stiff, but isn't life all about learning how to get back up and keep on going?

Cheers!

Thanks to seraphimsigrist for bringing to my attention the publication of Carl Jung's Red Book. I hope to get my hands on a copy.

If you wish to know more about the importance and history of this certain to be seminal event, seraphimsigrist also directed me to this article from the NY Times. It is lengthy, but very well written.

The December issue of National Geographic has a nice article on Mount Athos and it's inhabitants. You can find the entire article and some great photos here ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/athos/draper-text

For the first time I have made it through Thanksgiving Day without overindulging. This is an important accomplishment for me. I have spent the past year making some serious changes in my life. Some of those changes have to do with health, fitness and diet. My spiritual development, both during the christian phase and the buddhist phase, has been hampered by a lack of self discipline and attachment. The holiday season has always been a time when any progress in health and fitness went by the wayside. Then, when the new year rolled around, I was left to pickup the pieces and start all over again to get off the couch and get the weight off. The yo yo syndrome, as some refer to it. The first big hurdle was avoiding the massive amounts of halloween candy that seems to make its way into our home each year. I was somewhat successful there. But an even bigger success was to control my desires during the annual Thankstaking meal at my brother-in-laws.

I am thankful this year for not taking more than my share.

The recent buzz surrounding the sesquicentennial of Darwin’s Origin of Species has brought to the fore once again the heated debate between the science of evolution and belief/faith in a divine source. As is often the case, the defenders of each camp wish for onlookers to choose sides in this black versus white campaign. I for one see them as two sides to the same argument.

Why is it so difficult, I ask, to posit that religion, or religions, are a part of the same process of evolution, such as that observed by Charles Darwin in our natural world? Any Christian who knows the first thing about the history of their religion must know that their particular branch of Christianity has it’s own antecedents. Is this not true of any religion? Any self-respecting theologian knows that belief is not static, but dynamic. These are realities of any belief system, be it sacred or profane.

It is not only possible to accept the co-mingling of evolution and theology; it is a necessary prerequisite to our own evolution as a species. Let us not be so narcissistic to believe that the fullness of time has arrived and the mystery, the plan has been completely revealed to us. We have not evolved that much. There is still much work to be done. Or have I missed something? Maybe I'm just not so uncomfortable living in the shades of gray as some others might be.

Madonna might have Kabbalah, but these Kabbalah Boys have her beat hands down!




Thanks theinnerdemons for bringing them to my attention.

I came across this article this morning and would like to share it. It contains some good practical advice on simple changes to improve your life right now. So why wait for the New Year to put resolutions in motion. ( Read more here )

Last week I was given the honor of conducting a memorial service for a very dear friend of mine. She was a rather non-traditional sort of person and a joy to be around. In the rare instance that anyone is interested in reading more, I've included my text from the service behind the cut. ( Read more )

Maya Angelou was the guest on the Diane Rehms Show yesterday. An amazing person, Angelou. One comment that stuck with me is how she reacts when someone introduces themselves with "Hello, I'm a Christian." Apparently she gets this more often than one might expect. Her response is, almost in amazement, "Really? Already? I'm still working on it myself."

This came up in the interview while they were discussing the increasing levels of entitlement among people, especially in the US. This sense of entitlement even leads some to misuse the title Christian, or whatever faith tradition one follows. What's glossed over is the hard work needed to acquire such a title, and that if that hard work where actually done, the world would be a much better place.

Interesting....

Here the link if you would like to listen to the interview.
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/11/20.php#23100

I love these guys, but come on! Here, read for yourself.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081115/world-news/monastic-mount-athos-offers-a-glimpse-back-in-time

Remember those emails you would get explaining how if everyone would just not go to the gas station on a certain day it would have a direct impact on the price of gasoline and would result in a price drop? I remember them. I always laughed at it and thought that won't work. Well, guess what! It's happening! And it's working! Gas is now $1.63 a gallon in Kansas City!

In May of this year AAA reported a 4.3% decrease (11 billion miles) in driving in the US. The result, a drastic decrease in demand for crude at the same time that refineries that went offline during the hurricane season are coming back online. The price of crude is crumbling. So who is to blame for the high gas prices that we have been suffering these past few years? Well, the sellers of crude of course, but only because we let them.

This also makes me think back on the Bush economic policy of asking consumers to spend more during rough times. And we listened! But should we? If this roller coaster ride at the gas pump is any indication, then, no, we should not have listened. The old motto of shop till you drop needs to be retired. If you want to see prices drop, don't shop. That should be the new motto.

Our economy is going through a corrective phase at the moment. The value of what my home is worth is shrinking, but not the size of the rooms in it. Everything has become so inflated in recent years, and there is plenty of blame to be shared. But I can't stop thinking of the old saying, "When you point a finger at someone, just remember, there are three fingers pointing back at you."

Here's a link to a good article on how this relates to the gas pump. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1850413,00.html