The Elder Journey: Wisdom Years (3/10/15)

You may have thought or heard: “I’ve never been as old as I am now!” We can smile and laugh at this, but we get little or no preparation for the unfolding of this part of our life. This new part of the adventure deserves some thoughtfulness, some reflecting on the aging models provided you by family and friends. But maybe, most of all, aging is worthy of some of your own creative thinking. What might you want to do with the remaining years of your life? And I intend this in a much bigger way than just a ‘bucket list’.

I have a good friend, Jerry Jud, who will soon be 96 years old and he continues to work, to play, to be creative, and to be of service to others with his life – to dream a new future. His aliveness and spirit are palpable – still very young at heart! Spirited!

My wife and I are attending a retreat at Shalom Mountain Retreat and Study Center – June 4-7, 2015. The leaders are Dr. Joy Davey and the Rev. Lawrence Stibbards. They are long time friends and people who conducted our wedding. Their well chosen words may stir up your thinking about what they call: “The Elder Journey: Wisdom Years.” I invite you to read the words slowly and aloud to yourself – paying attention to what comes up for you.

The Elder Journey: Wisdom Years

Culture suggests that aging brings a gradual diminishment of life. In fact, the elder years bring new freedom and aliveness. Living each day with the knowledge that this life is not forever throws everything into a clearer, sharper perspective. Life becomes precious, not to be taken for granted, or spent doing things that are not ultimately important. Priorities rearrange themselves, yielding a richer and more deeply satisfying experience of life. How will we live these years?

We offer our curriculum, crafting a life that is:

• Spiritually radiant
• Physically vital
• Socially responsible

Let’s explore our life through these lenses.

Let the energy of the music flow through you – opening inner spaces.

Mary Oliver has a question for all of us: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Do you know about The Chautauqua Institution? It is education, arts, spiritually, recreation – lifelong learning. I have been taking my family there for over 30 years. I invite you to take a look.

May you be courageous and compassionate celebrant of the sacrament of life, moment by moment.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

Letters To God + Mary Oliver + Tillich (2/3/15)

Dear Friends – Lovers and Seekers of the Mystery of God – Celebrants of the Sacrament of Life!

Sometimes a story really helps. This story made me howl with laughter. Then it made me really think. Who knows what it will do for you? Consider reading the story slowly and aloud to yourself.

“Little Carol came into the kitchen where her mother was making dinner. Her birthday was coming up and she thought this was a good time to tell her mother what she wanted. ‘Mom, I want a bike for my birthday.’ Now, little Carol had been getting into trouble at school and at home. Carol’s mother asked her if she thought she deserved to get a bike for her birthday. Little Carol, of course, thought she did. Carol’s mother, being a Christian woman, wanted her to reflect on her behavior over the last year. So she asked Carol to write a letter to God and say why she deserved a bike for her birthday. Little Carol stomped up the steps to her room and sat down to write God a letter.

LETTER #1: Dear God: I have been a very good girl this year, and I would like a bike for my birthday. I want a red one. Your friend, Carol.

Carol knew this wasn’t true. She had not been a very good girl this year, so she tore up the letter and started over.

LETTER #2: Dear God: This is your friend Carol. I have been a pretty good girl this year, and I would like a read bike for my birthday. Thank you, Carol.

Carol knew this wasn’t true either. She tore up the letter and started again with a little more bargaining.

LETTER #3: Dear God: I know I haven’t been a good girl this year. I am very sorry. I will be a good girl if you just send me a red bike for my birthday. Thank you. Carol.

Carol knew, even if it were true, this letter was not going to get her a bike. By now, she was very upset. She went downstairs and told her mother that she wanted to go to church. Carol’s mother thought her plan had worked because Carol looked very sad. ‘Just be home in time for dinner,’ her mother said.

Carol walked down the street to the church and up to the altar. She looked around to see if anyone was there. She picked up the small statue of the Virgin Mary, slipped it under her jacket, and ran out of church, down the street, into her house, and back up to her room. She shut the door and sat down to write another letter.

LETTER #4: God: I GOT YOUR MAMA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND THE BIKE. SIGNED, YOU KNOW WHO.”

This story is from Integral Christianity: The Spirit’s Call to Evolve by the Rev. Paul R. Smith who applies Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory in all of its dimensions to Christianity.

Rev. Smith goes on to say: “Bargaining with God represents a tribal stage consciousness that is still with us today and not just with kids. Little Carol’s mother was also teaching Carol how to bargain with a tribal God who grants favors to good kids and withholds favors from the bad kids, even punishing them.”

As you reflect on your theology, how would you describe it?

Theology matters – Are other people safe with your theology? Are you safe?

The theology here with Mary Oliver is open, inclusive, accepting, honoring all – with reverence for all. This is more like the message of Jesus in whose way I seek to live my life.

Please also read to slowly and aloud to yourself, these words from Paul Tillich, a theologian.

“Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!”

Grace and Peace

Mary Oliver (12/23)

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
[1 Corinthians 3:16]

The word for today is “Presence”. We could say “In the beginning was the Presence.” Our task as human beings as to awaken to the mystery of Presence. You know these words from Mary Oliver:

“O Lord, how shinning and festive is your gift to us,
if only we look and see.”

Archibald MacLeish wrote to Mary Oliver:

“You have indeed entered the Kingdom. You have done something better than create your own world; you have discovered the world we all live in and do not see and cannot feel.”

Mary Oliver can be our teacher awakening us to the mystery of the Kingdom. She calls us to be conscious, to be mindful, to come to our senses – to see, to feel, to taste, to touch, to hear, to know in our own experience the divine mystery.

Take a few long, slow, deep cleansing breaths. Notice how Presbyterian Minister and world famous writer, Frederick Buechner, call us to be conscious, to be awake, to come to our senses.

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”

Awed by the mystery of God’s Presence in our midst, gratefully we celebrate life and work for justice and for peace.

With you in Awe – Wakening.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

I Am Thankful For ________ (11/27)

I don’t know what to think. Here it is Thanksgiving Day and one hears more talk about Black Friday and great buys. In fact this whole week has been a Black Friday sales week with many stores and merchants. Poor old Thanksgiving Day is even being invaded by many merchants. Really makes it tough for their employees to even celebrate the Thanksgiving. Perhaps there will be one hour on Thursday for folks to be grateful and all the rest will be Black Friday. Who knows? Something seems askew here.

Should this disturb us?

Google “Thanksgiving Day” and you get 19.4 million

Google “Black Friday” and you get 161 million

“Is this what you want to do with your one wild and precious life?”
-Mary Oliver

You have given me so much, give me one more thing: A grateful heart!

A simple exercise that won’t take more than 15 minutes. You can do this for yourself – or with friends and family.

Sit quietly in a chair – enjoy each breath – be thankful for each moment of life
Seek to be conscious of the gift of each moment of your precious life.
Take a few long, slow, deep and cleansing breaths.
Enjoy breathing.
Calming your mind and opening your heart – proceed slowly.

Complete this sentence 50 or more times: “I am thankful for ______”

Remember the Pilgrims, the Founding Fathers/Mothers of our country.

Remember those who birthed, blessed, formed and informed you over the years.

Remember family members, relatives, neighbors, teachers, coaches, music teachers.

Remember institutions that helped – schools, scouting, summer camps, hospitals, churches and spiritual organizations, colleges and universities, faculty and teachers, graduate school, military service, community service groups, retreat centers.

Remember the earth which has fed you every day of your life.

Remember all the countries you have visited and all the people you have met around the world.

Remember those who served our country and gave their lives for our freedom.

Awakening to this truth, I would think that tears of unspeakable gratitude would be flowing from each of us. We have been given the precious gift of life! We have the precious gift of all those who have become a part of the fabric of our life.

Let us not squander a moment! Let us dare to live with deep gratitude and with holy boldness!

Let the music flow through you – opening inner spaces – awakening gratitude.

“A capacity to distance oneself from one’s egocentric and ethnocentric embeddedness and consider what would be fair for all people and not just one’s own.”
-Ken Wilber

“To believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men: that is genius.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

With deep gratitude and thanksgiving for your being.

Teach Us To Number Our Days (11/7)

We have the amazing gift of a new day of life

15 years = 5,475 days
5 years = 1,825 days
1 year = 365 days

The precious gift of life. Life is a depreciating asset. All of us have more money than time. Think about it. We have a last Will & Testament directing how our estate and money are to be distributed – after we die. We may give a lot of time and attention to these financial matters. Do we give as much attention to the use of our time, how we are living our life now? This text comes to mind: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” [Psalm 90:12]

This questions from the poet, Mary Oliver, points us to this wisdom: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Let us break away from the chaos and the clutter, the amusements and the distractions of life, and come to that center point where life is sacred and ever so precious. Listen to your life. Thoreau wrote: “Nothing could be worse than to come to the end of life and discover that I had not lived.” Something to ponder in our hearts. Let us be good stewards of our finitude!

Music for morning prayer and reflection – Make today count.

“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude, we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.”
-Henri J. M. Nouwen

With you now in awakening to who we are in God and to who God is in us.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

Thinking About Your Journey To Wholeness (9/17)

A brisk morning walk – 46 degrees here – it’s going to be an amazing day. I am excited and joyful writing this Soul Nugget. It feels new and different. You all know that I appreciate and love Marv and Nancy Hiles and their book: An Almanac For The Soul – Anthology of Hope. What many of you do not know is that Marv and Nancy have a very informative Author Index hidden in the back of the book and there are gems of deep wisdom to be found there.

The reading yesterday was by Paul Tournier, MD. In the Author Index, Marv and Nancy write that Paul Tournier, MD (1898-1986) was born in Geneva, orphaned young, and became a general practitioner who was a therapeutic companion to thousands of patients over his long career in Geneva. He wrote, “No one can develop freely in this world and find a full life without feeling understood by at least one person.”

These few words give us a lot to think about. Orphaned, young, only to become a therapeutic companion to thousands. I wonder who the person, or persons, were who gave him “understanding”? Who started him on his incredible journey? My wife and I sat at the breakfast table for a long time recalling the people who “understood” us, who seemed to really get us as persons, calling us forth to fullness of life – a journey to wholeness – a journey to God.

Here I have to give immense appreciation to Shalom Mountain Retreat and Study Center and to Jerry and Elisabeth Jud and to Lawrence Stibbards and Joy Davey, who somehow understood me and came along side to companion me. My wife credits the faculty of Brearley HS, a private girls school (K-12) in New York City, where the standards were exceptionally high and where the excellent faculty of wise and individuated women modeled and called forth a fullness of life within the young women. My wife also says that there came a time in early midlife when her parents invited her to St. James Episcopal Church in New York City to meet two new priests, Mary and Tom Cushman. At the meeting that evening, a door opened and her life began to turn in a whole new direction.

NOW! What about you? Your story of awakening, of being understood – of understanding your self in a new way? I invite you to pause, to ponder, and to recall those people who understood you, who were there for you, who came along side you and companioned you – encouraging you to grow and evolve and become your true self. There may be more than one that you recall and in your heart you might be saying to them: “You have touched me, I have grown.” Remember those who touched you. We each have our own story to tell … as it has been said: “We are all beggars telling one another where we found the bread of new life.” And the story is different for everyone of us. And we all have more than just one story. Try to remember. It just might be that you are standing at the beginning of a new story. Grace is everywhere.

Please give a listen to these words from Mary Oliver. Let the acceptance, the understanding, and the grace of her words flow through you opening inner spaces for new life and freedom. Listen for the feeling arising from deep within you.

With you in awakening to the mystery of life anew every day.

“To be fully human, fully myself,
To accept all that I am, all that you envision,
This is my prayer.
Walk with me out to the rim of life,
Beyond security.
Take me to the exquisite edge of courage
And release me to become.”
-Sue Monk Kidd

Coming Home: A Fall Contemplative Retreat

In the tradition of the Iona Retreats founded by Marv and Nancy Hiles.

“The path of real life moves from one shelter to another. We are not drifters or homeless, but seekers, pilgrims, itinerants of a hidden impulse”

–All the Days of My Life by Marv and Nancy Hiles

Robert and Nina Close announce a very special contemplative retreat at the Santa Sabine Retreat Center where they have attended for many years. Inspired by the retreats led by Marv and Nancy Hiles, quoted often in the Soul Nuggets. This retreat will blend quiet time in a perfect location, deep community, chapel gatherings, art process with Debbie Ryon, and more – all centered around the theme of “Coming Home.” Throughout our lives, that longing to be at home – with ourselves, with others – manifests in many different ways, and has much to teach us. And amidst change and transition, a sense of “homeground” is vital and can show up in many ways.

We hope that you might feel led to join us at Santa Sabina Retreat Center. Here is the information for taking the next step:

Dates: Thursday, November 13th to Sunday, November 16, 2014

Location: Santa Sabina Retreat Center, San Rafael, CA

Cost: $485 for a single room / $425 per person for a double room.

Meals: All meals are included in the total cost.

Space for the retreat is limited and is limited to a first come, first serve basis.

Contact: Are you ready to register? Do you want to have more information? Please contact Nina Frost at: nhfrost at aol dot com or call: 347-546-4029.

Mary Oliver reading her poem “Wild Geese”

Peace be with you
May you be filled with loving kindness
May you be peaceful and at ease
May you be free

Ever feel anxious, fearful, insecure? Ever hear a critical inner voice demanding that you be perfect? At times do you feel unfree, as though living in an invisible prison house?

If you relate to any of the above, you will appreciate the words of radical acceptance by Tara Brach and the poem read by Mary Oliver offering such grace, acceptance, and freedom.

“Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns … We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.”
-From Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

Know that you are accepted, that you are loved.
Know that you are free to be fully human, fully alive.
You are free to step out of that old prison house of fear.
Learning to love yourself is the ticket home.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Boldly Be

Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver

Gift yourself with time for silence, stillness – A coming home to your true self.

First – from Maya Angelou. Her last tweet made on May 23, 2014:

Listen to yourself
and in that quietude
you might hear
the voice of God.

And now Mary Oliver in her way of making a similar point. Listen to her question at the end. Ponder your response to it.

With you in awakening to the mystery of God’s Presence in our midst here and now.

Consciousness, courage, compassion for all.

What has life taught me?
Resent is poisonous;
Compassion is healing;
Love is creative.
-Ellen Sophia Bosanquet

Peace be with you!

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Boldly Be