Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Friends, This is Thanksgiving Day weekend in the United States. As I stopped to consider what I’m grateful for, my thoughts quickly went to the natural beauty that surrounds us everywhere, if we remember to stop and notice. These images of flowers, in their exquisite detail, caught my attention. I invite you take a few minutes to look around, whatever the season where you live, … Continue reading Unspeakable Beauty
What are you supposed to do when you live in frightening times? Like many of you, I’ve been trying to makes sense of this upside down, inside out world of ours. My impression is the world has lost connection to a shared fate and purpose. Times past may have been equally crazy, but knowing that does not make it any easier to live in times … Continue reading Our Finest Hour
I have on occasion caught myself staring into the mirror and seeing a bold-faced pessimist staring back. I see a guy with more doubt than faith, and a damn sight more preoccupation in the past than hope in the future. I ask myself, “Paddy Boy, what’s happened to your faith?” The thing is, when I attempt to answer my question, all I come up with is … Continue reading A Simple Faith
What happens when relationships are irreparably broken and beyond the reach of reconciliation or grace? Sometimes, they may be over. But sometimes, I have discovered, they can be unaccountably restored. A foundation of the 12 steps: “God did for me what I could not do for myself.” I deeply appreciate the term “higher power” embraced by 12-step programs of all stripes. It allows everyone, from the atheist … Continue reading Reconciliation
We first published this post two years ago. It’s seems particularly important in the current moment that we revisit Lamp Lighting. Some time ago, I had reason to visit my doctor. I’ve been seeing Althea for more than twenty years and she is among the most knowledgeable people I know. She is a practitioner of Oriental Medicine and an herbalist of considerable note. Beyond everything else, … Continue reading Lamp Lighting