. . . and it’s not always a pretty picture, is it? I have said on many occasions, in many books and at many workshops, that the relationships we have attracted are perfect for the growth we are destined to have in this life. Perhaps that seems farfetched to you. It did to me when [...]
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. What an appropriate day for me to talk about hope and how it can be cultivated. I spent many St. Patty’s Days in the bars drinking green beer or martinis with their green olives. That was a time in my life that I was very short on hope and didn’t even [...]
At a gathering last night we were discussing how emotionally wounded most of us had been at some point on our journey. This led to the realization that most “sufferers” have experienced their woundedness within a very intimate relationship. For some the wound is unhealed. For others, seeing it from a new perspective offered hope. [...]
I led a retreat this past week end at the Hazelden Renewal Center in MN. The topic was Cultivating Hope In All Our Affairs. Twenty-eight of us gathered and gently moved forward in our thinking, our personal explorations, our willingness to be intimately vulnerable and open to the vulnerabilities of others. It was miraculous, really. [...]
Detachment is letting the solutions be determined by God. Solutions are seldom simple. Perhaps that’s because they generally involve other people too. When any one of us is certain we have the best solution for any problem or situation confronting us, we have quite naturally chosen one that benefits us, or our loved ones. There’s [...]
Detachment is stepping back from an experience in order to allow room for God to do his part. I seldom remember, without some prodding that I initially resist, that God is a factor in every person’s experience. My ego’s first inclination is to think I am a necessary fac- tor. And not just an ordinary [...]
Interdependence is the hallmark of a healthy relationship. Getting enmeshed in someone else’s life generally happens when we are feeling in- secure, and uncertain of ourselves. We cling to the “object of our affection,” and then mistakenly think that if we are constantly “in sync,” if we are in agreement on every topic of discussion, [...]
