Category Archives: Coherence

I have been reflecting for the past week or so on the difference between asking why and asking how, especially as the distinction relates to our various beliefs, especially those we might label “spiritual.” What are the effects of asking one question rather than another? Over the past twenty years or so, I have becomeContinue reading “On How and Why Questions, Cosmic Solipsism, and Emily Dickinson”

There is always a context that is loving. Whatever is happening can be both perceived and understood in terms of love. The work of being human is to clarify our perception and understanding in order to bring forth that love, which inures to our collective benefit. The living that we do often involves pain: weContinue reading “There is Always a Loving Context”

I give you a new commandment: you shall love one another in the way that I have loved you. (John 13:34). Love is the way we remember love. This is the law and the prophets. These words of Jesus are clearly a call to action. They are a call to a radical way of livingContinue reading “Love is the Law and the Prophets”

What would a maple tree do? I don’t see it quite so often anymore, but for a time folks would pose this question: what would Jesus do? I think it’s a poor question on several counts, though I understand the folks asking it had good intentions, and certainly in some instances, asking and answering thatContinue reading “Maple Trees in Place of Jesus”

We might say that practical answers are important according to context. For example, I want to bake bread and make soup for dinner. It helps that there are bread and soup recipes. It helps there is a coop nearby that sells vegetables, flour, herbs and spices. It helps that I have homemade bags in whichContinue reading “Rational Thinking With Respect to Spiritual Mysteries”

In a sense, the work is simply to not wish that life be other than it is, at this moment. That sounds easy but it is actually very hard. If we look closely, we will see that we are in a state of apparently perpetual resistance to life. We compare it to past iterations andContinue reading “Accepting Life As Is”