Once a poor miller was summoned to meet with a king. The summons itself must have filled him with terror. Evolutionary biologists tell us that we fear public speaking and other ways of being on the spot because we are all wired to link survival with acceptance by the tribe. And this king was theContinue reading “Be Straw”
Tag Archives: Stillness
Holy Week
This is Holy Week, commemorating a great drama that included betrayal and death and new life. It is also Passover, celebrating the passing over of destructive forces and liberation from captivity. Why bring up these holidays to meditators? Some of us fled the traditions of our childhood, seeking fresh and real, something other than allContinue reading “Holy Week”
Soft
The root meaning of heal is to make whole. It doesn’t mean to be made new. Healing often leaves a scar. Illness and mishap and even great tragedy can lead us eventually from the pain of isolation to a greater wholeness. There is such a powerful tendency in our spiritual aspiration to climb up outContinue reading “Soft”
The Power of Stillness
This afternoon, I stood very still on the blue stone floor of my front porch, looking out the screen door at flowers and green and trees. Everything looked so still in the golden afternoon light, yet so much has changed—some of the flowers and even the slabs of blue stone I stood on were notContinue reading “The Power of Stillness”
Being Still
The good news is my voice is back. The bad news is my voice is back. As I reported last week, I have been without a voice of late, just whisper, sometimes soft, sometimes rasping. I had my hair cut last week and the din of the hair dryers and music and conversation was tooContinue reading “Being Still”
What Can Happen When We’re Still
The Freedom Tower was the last place I wanted to go. For me, years of words and posturing and war had stolen over the place. As my young friend and I walked towards it, I secretly feared that we would get caught in a negative force field that would keep us from anything real. AndContinue reading “What Can Happen When We’re Still”
Tracy Cochran 