Poem for a Sunday Morning

blessing the boats {Lucille Clifton} (at St. Mary’s) may the tide that is entering even now the lip of our understanding carry you out beyond the face of fear may you kiss the wind then turn from it certain that it will love your back     may you open your eyes to water water

Poem for a Sunday Morning

Questions Before Dark{Jeanne Lohmann} Day ends, and before sleepwhen the sky dies down, consideryour altered state: has this daychanged you? Are the cornerssharper or rounded off? Did youlive with death? Make decisionsthat quieted? Find one clear wordthat fit? At the sun’s midpointdid you notice a pitch of absence,bewilderment that invitesthe possible? What did you learnfrom

Poem for a Sunday Morning

Pocket Poem {Ted Kooser) If this comes creased and creased again and soiled as if I’d opened it a thousand times to see if what I’d written here was right, it’s all because I looked too long for you to put in your pocket. Midnight says the little gifts of loneliness come wrapped by nervous

‘Essential’ is a Choice

Most of us don’t meet the government’s definition of “essential” when it comes to working the front lines of the response to the novel corona virus. Most of us, that is, are deemed “non-essential.” And we who are “non-essential” have been given a very short and manageable to-do list: wash your hands, stay at home

#34 – The Next Smallest Thing

At the conclusion of a speech last October, on my way out of the conference hall, the organizer of the  event said that he would be more than happy to provide a written reference for me to include on my web site. This week, I finally followed up with him and asked if the offer

#30 – You Can Adjust Your Default Setting

Two beliefs are highly problematic for the modern human being. The first is the belief that we are supposed to be rational actors and the second is the belief that we are. Just two minutes of silence reveals that in each of our heads exists a chorus of competing, irrational voices that makes our decision-making,

Not Done Yet

I’m not done yet. I’m not done becoming, growing, learning, discovering, adventuring. I’m not done becoming myself. I’m not done because there is no such thing. All together now: there is no such thing as being “done.” This is an unnerving, even frightening idea and it’s also an exhilarating one. It’s both unnerving and exhilarating because

Which 15%?

I recently shared an idea with a group of 20 people. Three of those people affirmed and encouraged it. That’s 15%. Three of those people rejected it. That’s another 15%. I did not receive a response from the other 13 people, the remaining 70%. Now, the decision is mine: do I fixate on the 15%

One Good Thing

An invitation for your consideration: At the end of your Tuesday workday, ask and answer this question: What was one good thing that happened today? It doesn’t matter if you have a surfeit of answers or if absolutely nothing comes immediately to mind. What matters, once you land on it, is that you make it

The Same, but Different

It’s easy to forget that my perspective on the matter is not the only one, not the only possible interpretation. The same thing, seen in another way, from another angle, from a different set of eyes and experiences, can and likely will form a different impression. The intersection of those two points of view is