Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Friend Paul Schrijnen sent me an extraordinary poem written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while he was in Flossenburg Prison. Bonhoeffer wrote the poem shortly after he was sentenced to be hanged for his role in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolph Hitler. The poem is entitled Who Am I? Who am I? They often tell meI stepped from my cell’s confinementCalmly, cheerfully, firmly,Like a Squire from his … Continue reading At The End, Who Are We?
“What worries you, masters you.” ~ John Locke It’s been said: Some people people worry that every time the tide goes out it might not come back in again. Some people storm imaginary Alps all their lives and die in the foothills, cursing difficulties which do not exist. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But isn’t it true when worry sets up shop in your head, rational thought … Continue reading Curing the Wart of Worry
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” ~ Joseph Campbell I came upon that quote and as I lay awake in my hospital bed at 3 a.m. a few weeks ago. I wondered, how privileged am I for being me? And, more troubling, who exactly exactly am I? It had been a while since I’d checked in with myself and it seemed … Continue reading The Privilege of a Lifetime
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” ~ Carl Jung For the past two months I’ve been battling kidney stones. Ugh. It has felt very much like living in the presence of constant shadow. There’s been no time in the past 50 years when I’ve been so sedentary. I’ve had nothing to distract me and have … Continue reading My Inscrutable Shadow
I recently visited my friend Joe Thomas in Mobile, Alabama. It was my first trip away from the Northwest in three years and I was really looking forward to it. Joe and I go back more than fifty years and when we do get together we unabashedly indulge our Three Great Pleasures: Food Football Fellowship Now with each passing year I’m ever more grateful to … Continue reading A Master Class In Living In The Moment