Matters of Grace

Gurdjieff was a 20th-century philos opher. He wrote that Being, Grace and Mercy are the three great forces....which drive the engine of the universe.  He also suggested that most people are not in tune with being, grace, and mercy as most people sleep-walk their way through life. So, to help people learn how to pay attention and wake up, he created a method and produced many writings. It is said that, among his various teachings and writings, Gurdjieff produced this list of 82 rules for life. Though 82 might seem like an odd number (and it might seem like a rather large number), reading through them, they seem pretty reasonable (except for rule 16). America needs to learn how to apply rule 17. Rules 1 and 15 would be the most challenging for me, personally, to apply (my mind wanders and I fidget). Rules 2, 5, 7 and 9 resonate the strongest with me, as do each of the "transform" rules. Rule #82 is my favorite and I will be sure to apply it if given the opportunity. Wi

Once again I find myself on the path to begin my own business. In the past, whenever an idea popped into my head, I would jump into action like BAM. But now I hesitate. Apparently, hesitating is something I have gotten very good at; I have been hesitating for the past three years.  But why? Am I prepared? Yes. Is the idea good? I think so. Is the business regarding something I am passionate about? Definitely. Am I afraid of failure? not really. So why am I stuck? Ben Stein once said: “ So many fail because they don’t get started – they don’t go. They don’t overcome inertia. They don’t begin.” Yeah, yeah, yeah... like my business plan, the words look good on paper. For whatever reason, I seem to have forgotten how to turn ideas into action..... how to get my big, comfortable self out of the rabbit hole and into the world again.

Listening to a 19 year old playing video games, I was shocked to hear frequent use of the word "rape." "He raped me," "I'm gonna rape that (blank),"I'm raping you" ... Since when did it become acceptable to joke about rape? This boy, apparently, has plenty of company. Psychologists from Middlesex University and the University of Surrey conduced a study that discovered, when presented with descriptions of women taken from men’s magazines, and comments about women made by convicted rapists, most people could not distinguish the source of the quotes. The apparent normalization of violent sexism is pretty upsetting. Researching into the affects of music and video games amplifies our concern. So what can be done? We can't change the whole of society. But we can influence our 'circle' beginning with our kids. Talk to your kids. In an informal setting, such as while tossing a ball around or doing a chore together, invite conversa

I am an active member in a Lutheran church. But I must confess that I no longer subscribe to the creeds we recite. For years I happily parroted the various creeds I had to memorize as a child without a second thought. But, as I got older, the whole notion started to bother me. I say I believe, yet I don't really believe... am I misrepresenting myself? If I do not believe in these particular creeds, what sort of creed would I feel comfortable with? Typing out loud for a moment, maybe the 'perfect creed' would look something like this: I believe it's always good to face the facts. Whatever God happens to be, I am not Him/Her/Them/It. I will seek the best for others as for myself. Not only does it make good evolutionary sense, I'll feel better too. Looks good to me. But Creeds are a tricky thing. While they are usually designed to facilitate peace and unity, historically creeds seem to bring about controversy and division. (The split between the Roman and Eas

It's interesting how much of 'me' comes from 'me' and how much comes from something else. I'm not making the confession that I lack a spine inasmuch as I confess that I am, like anybody else, a creation of the place and time in which I live. Consider: political systems, ideas about education, concepts of right and wrong; these are all dictated by where I live and when I live. Even how we live our religion out is dictated by here and now (which makes me thankful I was not born 'there' or 'then.') Here is my question: can we transcend this? Can one really become more than just a collection of the opinions/beliefs of others? Or are we nothing more than a creation of the place in time in which we live? The world may never know.

A friend recently invited me to attend a women's Bible study at her church. The women were to use study books written by Dee Brestin, which were said to be about friendship. Since I could always use some more gal-pal time, and a study about friendship sounded good, I signed up. A few weeks into the study, the author delved into the biblical story of Ruth. The author tried to make the point that Ruth, a Moabite, was the one in need of redemption, and that the redemption came in the form of Naomi (since, the author states, Naomi would have been the only believing woman Ruth would have encountered). IOW, Brestin got the story of Ruth backwards! The Horror! Naomi is the one in need of redemption, redemption she did nothing to earn. And that redemption came through the most unlikely source imaginable, a woman from a culture utterly rejected by Naomi's own people. Such a humbling thing; humble and still relevant! No matter how good we might believe ourselves to be, at some poin