Category Archives: Teaching Stories

“Consider This” – review

Chuck Palahnuik is the author of “Fight Club,” a book I have not read. After reading and re-reading “Consider This,” I may. This book is a collection of essays on writing. The points come with examples and a story or … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, Teaching Stories, Writing | Leave a comment

Sign of the Times

I read too much news, trying to get some sense of the way the world is going. People get stupid when they grasp for certainties. Michael Ventura Reading Failed Haiku, a monthly on-line publication, is probably a better way to … Continue reading

Posted in COVID-19, Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories, Writing | Leave a comment

A Conversation at the Gates of Hell

My recently published poem, “Conversation at the Gates of Hell,” is about a metaphorical conversation across the political/social/generational divide. “The odd friends: The young liberal and the elderly conservative” is wonderful story of an ongoing actual conversation across those divides. … Continue reading

Posted in Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories | Leave a comment

View from Above

Several decades ago, probably not long after the Blue Marble photo of the Earth from the Moon was taken in 1972, I read a Science Fiction story about the effect of that experience on astronauts. The people in the story … Continue reading

Posted in Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories | Leave a comment

Order & Chaos

These are two heavy duty words. My definition of order for the purposes of this essay is predictability. In an orderly world, actions have predictable results, not necessarily the same every time, for example, the result of throwing dice is … Continue reading

Posted in Teaching Stories, Writing | Leave a comment

Corona Creatives – Austin History Center

The Austin History Center is soliciting materials for their “The COVID-19 Files: Austin Responds to a Pandemic” archives. Their archivists encourage you to keep a journal, write poetry, pen a script, draw or paint, start a video or audio blog … Continue reading

Posted in COVID-19, Downsizing, Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories, Writing | Leave a comment

Youth ministry isn’t about fun

Excellent and moving story in the Christian Century about how a youth group was transformed by moving to a story telling format for people of all ages.

Posted in Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories | Leave a comment

The Hard Work – Anxiety

Teachings are helpful, but often times I need a concrete example. The poem “Beg for Love” by Abu-Said Abil-Kheir is a teaching. The accompanying concrete example, along with the artwork, reminds me how to put the teaching to work.

Posted in Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories | Leave a comment

Mid-Course Corrections

Out beyond ideas of right and wrong there is a field. I’ll meet you there. – Rumi There are several models of spiritual/social/emotional development, e.g Fowler’s Stage of Faith, Ken Wilbur’s Integral Psychology, and Deepak Chopra’s How to Know God. … Continue reading

Posted in Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories | Leave a comment

Going to Work

This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. … Continue reading

Posted in Social Justice, Spirtual Practice, Teaching Stories, Writing | Leave a comment