In “The Far Mosque,” Rumi reminds us that we are princes in waiting who will step into our spiritual kingdom through compassionate action.
Tag Archives: Spirituality
A Shimmering of Wind in the Blue Leaves
In her poem “Of Being,” Denise Levertov believes that mystery of creation outweighs the “looming presences” of great suffering and fear.
Pentecost Flames, Fireflies’ Crooked Street
Walcott turns to his Caribbean childhood, spent in Santa Lucia and Trinidad, to find God. It is as though his mind must travel there because he is having trouble hearing God in the cities, with their cold streetlamps lining the regulated sidewalks.
Dear Son, Far Off, My Lost Desire
I understand more with each passing year what Tennyson means when he says his love “is vaster passion now” and how Hallam is thoroughly mixed with God and nature. Tennyson goes on to say that the moral will of humankind—the “living will” that is the best part of ourselves as a people—can finding footing on this spiritual rock. And that the living water that springs from this rock will “flow through our deeds and make them pure.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, death of a child, Easter, In Memoriam, Julia Bates, Religion Comments closed
Reading Literature, A Spiritual Practice
McEntyre notes that, in the ancient practice of lectio divina, one sought to maintain “spiritual focus and equanimity” by “reading Scripture slowly, listening for the word or phrase that speaks to you, pausing to consider prayerfully the gift being offered in those words for this moment.” Ditto, the author says, for reading literature.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Abraham Verghese, Christianity, Cutting for Stone, Paul, reading, Religion Comments closed
7 Reasons We Help Others
Spiritual Sunday If I want to generate a spirited ethical discussion in a class, all I have to do is ask my students whether altruism derives from a higher moral sense or from enlightened self-interest. It is one of those questions that theologians, philosophers, biologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and others can debate for hours. They draw […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Seven Charitable Chimpanzees", Altruism, Ethics, Scott Bates Comments closed
Step 1: Become Like Little Children
Spiritual Sunday We are currently in Staunton, Virginia with our friends Brent and Carter Douglass, having journeyed here to watch two Renaissance plays at the replica of the Elizabethan Blackfriars Theater. I will have more to say about the plays later this week. For the moment I share a wonderful poem that Carter has written […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Communion", Carter Douglass, Children, Religion Comments closed
Rise Up, My Fair One, and Come Away
Spiritual Sunday St. Valentine, who has evolved into the patron saint of lovers, was beheaded by the Romans for (among other things) marrying Christian couples. As Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I turn to that most erotic of books in the Bible, Song of Songs (also know as Song of Solomon).Some, unnerved by its unbridled sensuality, have […]
