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Anthony de Mello, S.J., an Indian, Jesuit priest died in 1987 when he was fifty-six. If he were still alive, I would have found a way to spend time with him. His writings are, in my opinion, the most important writings of a conventionally trained theologian that I am aware of in all of recorded time. It is conceivable that had he lived, he might now be the “leader” the world of spiritual beings so desperately desire. Awareness is a terrific example. Continue Reading →
Last week, the Governor of Maine ordered all flags to be hung at half-mast for a month in honor of Gerald Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the United States. There are three flags that fly on the flagpole outside my office, The U.S. flag, the flag of the State of Maine and the old “chicken footed” peace flag. In order to fly the flags at half-mast, the peace flag had to be removed and brought inside; I chose to drape it across an easel opposite my desk. As I have looked at the flag all week, I was re-reminded that we are not interested in “working on” peace or “standing for” peace and we know peace can’t be “reached.” Peace is a way of being in the world, a place to come from, not to get to. Why, given what we know, is the process so slow and seemingly endless? Continue Reading →
Why is it that when some ideas come along that have the potential to have a huge impact in the world, that impact never materializes?
The Hunger Site was launched in 1999 and in that year 3 million kilograms of food were donated to hungry people just because people showed up on their website (thehungersite.com). Advertisers exchanged food for services. In 2000, 9.5 million kilograms were donated. In 2005, it had dropped to 2.7 million kilograms. If the pattern holds it will be up to 4.8 million kilograms this year. Why the fluctuation? Only about 100,000 people click each day. It cannot be that there are only that many people in the world that care if hundreds of thousands of people go hungry tonight. And why would one donate for a while and then stop? Did we end hunger and starvation and I miss the celebration? Could it be that we are not disciplined enough to really solve the greatest of our humanitarian tragedies? Continue Reading →
