Hope For The Flowers

I was sitting in McDonald's this morning drinking a cup of coffee and eating some breakfast. CNN was on the television. Parts of upstate New York have seven feet of lake effect snow. Here is Louisville the best we can get is a dusting! I know New Yorkers have more than they want but I wish we would get at least a few inches.

The morning temperature is still in the teens. The trees are bare and the ground is brown. Along the roads and walkways there appears to be a layer of frost that never melts. It's actually the residue of salt and brine spread by the city workers in anticipation of snow and ice that usually doesn't appear. In general the landscape is bleak and gray. In spite of the present reality of gray and overcast days, I have faith and trust that in a few months we will have bright yellow daffodils blooming along them. These same seemingly dead trees will bud and shoot forth green leaves. Spring rains will wash away all the salt. The grass will begin to grow and the barren land will be an explosion of new life. Once again, as it has been doing for eons, life will be born again and the continuous cycle of life to death to life will continue. It's further proof that no matter how bleak life may seem, if you just hold on and have faith, things will get better.

It will be a busy weekend. My taxes must get filed. My wife will run some errands with her elderly mother. Princess Chloe will come for a visit. Somewhere in the schedule will be a trip to the grocery to refill our barren pantry. Sometimes it seems as if working people must cram their entire personal lives into the 48 hours of the weekend. Even the weekends are hectic and busy.

Household Chores and Spinning Tops

These mornings sure do come around quickly, don't they? I was in a semi state of consciousness during my morning commute. It's still very cold outside. Inside the car it was warm and the new age music was spacing me out. I am not sure one should listen to Steven Halpern early in the morning. If the sun roof had been open I would have floated up into the sky. Thinking about the sky, the last time I picked up Chloe at the daycare she made an interesting request. As we were walking to the car and talking about the sunset, she asked me to stop so she could touch the sky. She kept reaching upward even though I tried to explain it was beyond our grasp. It was a difficult concept to explain to a toddler!

I had a quiet evening last night. I cleaned up the kitchen and did the laundry. After having some days at work where I feel like a spinning top, it is enjoyable to do such simple tasks. The dishwasher was running, the washing machine was spinning, and the dryer was gently humming. During the different cycles I would read or be on my computer until the dryer buzzer would prompt me to stop and reload whatever was necessary.

Today will be another busy day. I hope I can escape that spinning top feeling. I must be calm and centered. I must focus on the task at hand and be mindful. I must do what I am doing and be where I am. Breathe, Michael!

Buddhism And Christianity

Much to my disappointment we did not receive yesterday's forecasted snow. What is it with the local weather people? They have millions of dollars worth of Doppler radar and are still wrong most of the time. When I was in high school, the local weatherman had a simple map of the United States and a magic marker. He was almost always correct in his predictions.

I've been thinking the last few days about how everything we are is a result of every experience we've had in life so far. Ironically, not every good experience produces good and not every bad experience produces bad. This morning I was reading another chapter from my Dalai Lama book on compassion. Buddhists, of course, believe in reincarnation. Unlike the Christian belief where life is a one shot, pass/fail kind of scenario, in Buddhism the belief is that you are continually born again into new lives. If you live a good life, you are born into a better life. This will keep happening until you reach an enlightened state called "Nirvana". The interesting thought I read this morning which is part of Buddhist belief is that there are behaviors, similar to the Christian idea of sin, that are to be avoided. The belief is that if you steal in this life, you will likely suffer poverty or want in your next life. If you are violent in this life, you will likely be a victim of violence in your next life. It's not quite as simple as I make it but you get the point. The message here, whether we have one life or many lives to live, is that our daily actions effect the quality of our lives and the lives of others. I do believe in karma. What you put out will return to you. Do good and good will come back to you. If you are blessed, be grateful and not self centered and selfish. If you've had some tough times in your life, you don't have to have a victim mentality forever. I know these thoughts are a little all over the place and could be developed much more. I hope I've said enough to give you some food for thought.

The first morning I had breakfast in France, I went into the dining hall looking for a coffee cup. None were to be found. How could a country famous for French roast coffee not have coffee cups??? I looked around and saw people pouring their coffee into what I thought were cereal bowls. Well....when in Rome....I mean France....do as the French do. I poured my coffee into a bowl. It was a cold morning. I soon realized how comforting the warm bowl was to my cold hands. I thought about this the other night when my wife and I were drinking coffee in a restaurant. Chloe was with us and wanting to hold one of the coffee cups. My wife let Chloe put her little hands around the cup. She looked at my wife and said, "This feels good!"

The Point Of The Spiritual Life

It is still cold with temperatures in the teens this morning. I don't mind the cold and I am simply giddy over the prospect of 2-3 inches of snow this afternoon.

Yesterday was Monday and it felt like Monday all day long. I felt like I was stuck in first gear. I tried throughout the day to shift into a higher gear but it seemed that my internal clutch was broken. Maybe it was the gray and stark winter day. We are at that point in the season where people are starting to long for some green in their lives. Life underground is still dormant but in a few months it will burst forth.

Recently I was discussing the spiritual life with a friend. We were talking about how the spiritual life for many people is all about doing things or fulfilling obligations. Some people are always saying prayers or going to church but they never seem to change. I believe these things are good but if nothing is going on internally, it's all fluff. The whole point of the spiritual life is an inner transformation that causes a change of heart. The Greek word for this change is "metanoia". The prophet Ezekiel talks about turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. This change of heart, this inner transformation, this stripping away of the false self to find the true self that we are in God is the whole point of the spiritual life. If this isn't happening, you are missing the boat. This transformation is what makes us into more loving people. If there is a final exam before entering whatever Heaven is, it will only have one question. The question will be "How much did you love"?

A Quiet Weekend At Home

It is a very cold morning with single digit temperatures and below zero wind chills. Brrrrrrr! The walk into my office building was bone chilling. I am grateful for the warmth of my office and for the hot coffee I will soon be drinking.

It was a mostly quiet weekend. By the end of work on Friday I was more than ready for the weekend. An unexpected surprise was getting to pick up my granddaughter, Chloe, from her daycare on Friday. It was just what I needed and I love to surprise her with my presence. She's really a lot more fun now that she can talk. We have some wonderful conversations. She is very playful and full of joy.

I was supposed to go to the monastery yesterday but I had to decline. Part of my afternoon was spent making chicken soup and trying to stay warm. The room where I spend most of my alone time at home is the coldest room in the house. It's what used to be a one car garage. When I am there on a really cold day it is like camping out. I accept the cold as the price of solitude.

Stay warm. Relax and live!

We Are All Called To Be Vessels

It is another beautiful morning. It snowed a little more last night. It was quiet and peaceful as I brushed the snow from my cars under the glow of the street light. Then the peacefulness was shattered when a man walked by with a four pound poodle who thought he was a pit bull. It was still snowing lightly as I walked into my building this morning. Snow is wonderful.

I am having one of those moments where I don't know what to say. It's difficult to be inspirational everyday. I have been doing these personal daily thoughts almost everyday for two and a half years via email for my friends, family, and co workers. There's not much I haven't talked about. Occasionally I receive emails with suggested subject matter for my thoughts. I am not trying to be humble when I say that some of you really overrate me. I am not as bright as some of you imagine. If there are days when I seem to have an enlightened view on some aspect of living, it can only come from God and I am being used as a vessel to speak something that someone needs to hear. That doesn't make me special. All of you are called to do the same thing. You may not do daily thoughts like me but in your interactions with family, friends, co-workers and strangers, you may be used to speak a word of kindness or encouragement to another person. The Christian Gospel is often called the "Good News". I love a saying of Francis of Assisi that goes "Preach the Good News everywhere you go. If necessary, use words". The "Good News" is basically and simply about loving God and your neighbor. Who is your neighbor? Look around you. It's everyone you see, even the ones that drive you crazy or act a little weird. You don't have to be well educated or smart to love. Chloe hasn't been to school a day in her life but she loves greatly. You don't have to have a degree to be kind. My buddy the Dalai Lama says, "If you can't love everybody, at least don't hurt them." Imagine if we all really tried to live like this! What a different world it would be. I don't do this perfectly. I can say, however, that all the good I have ever done, no matter how small or large the act, has returned to me a thousandfold in my life.

Making Lemonade And Dancing With Chloe

Hooray! It snowed last night. It wasn't much but it did cover my neighborhood like a thin white blanket.

All of my life I have heard the saying, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade". If lemons represent the challenges of life, they may be the most readily available fruit for most people. In today's challenging world, life can often seem more sour than sweet. Most people can't eat a lemon straight like they would a fresh piece of ripened and sweet cantaloupe. Lemons are best used as a catalyst for other things like iced tea or baked fish with lemon butter. I think this saying is teaching us that most anything can be put to good purposes. Disappointments, frustrations, and things that are sour can be turned around or used to create some sweet. It is a rare person who goes through a day or a week or a month without some things that are not going their way. Disappointment and frustration are part of life and it is these challenges that test us and make us strong. When options are limited, we are compelled to be creative and make the most of our available resources. Remember that Tom Hanks movie called "Castaway"? I have sometimes imagined myself in his position. How resourceful would I be if I landed on a deserted island? Could I survive for a long period of time? I am not an outdoorsman although I love nature. Of course, Tom Hank's character wasn't an outdoorsman either. The question is this. How well can we do with our own wits and creativity when we need to move ahead without everything we think we must have to survive? Do we even know how to make lemonade?

My daily thoughts are written spontaneously in a stream of consciousness style of writing. 99% of the time I start with a simple thought and I have no idea where it will go. Some days I hit a home run and I actually produce something meaningful. Other days they are so so. I can rarely predict the impact on others. What I think is great gets little or no response. When I am not as happy with what I have written, someone else loves it. Go figure!

I want my granddaughter to grow up to be a woman of culture and sophistication. I try to help this along by introducing her to the classics. This past weekend it was a 1976 New Year's Eve concert by the Grateful Dead. We played maracas and I taught her air guitar. She can also dance the patented Deadhead "twirl". She insisted that I do it with her so we held hands and twirled in a circle until she was dizzy and I was having chest pains. We danced like no one was watching.