A good preacher knows the power of words. A great preacher is more like a poet, transforming with just a few syllables. Rev. Peter J. Gomes was a great preacher indeed. I had a chance this week to review some of his teachings, as I received a Gomes award from Harvard Divinity School, a huge […]
When I was eight years old, we did a lesson at school on occupations, and I came home and declared that I was going to be President of the United States. Our neighbors all laughed, but my mom looked me straight in the eye, totally serious, and said, “I can’t wait to vote for you.” […]
People mistake their limitations for high standards. – Jean Toomer I spent a lot of time this week in the weeds of regulations and standard-setting for environmental issues, vital endeavors to be sure. But. These are just tools, and like all tools, they can be used to create great new things, or […]
As we slowly shed the layers of winter in New England, a great joy of the springtime is the chance to reconnect with the earth – literally. Feet on the ground, I feel the squish of the melting season and the bounce of the new grass emerging. Hands in the soil, I meet the life […]
May you awaken to the mystery of being hereAnd enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.May you respond to the call of your giftAnd find the courage to follow its path.May the flame of […]
Sometimes a profound revelation lies beneath the most ho-hum wrapper, like a corporate strategy slogan. Often these pithy sayings arrive laden with compromise – you can almost feel the eye-rolling meetings that led to their development, the bevy of consultants and facilitators and designers who did their best to polish up the results. But […]
Sometimes there is a place or a person or an idea that just lifts us up, a refuge where we know we can exhale and rest and feel safe. It’s easy to appreciate these shelters in times of strain, like the friend who calls at just the right time, or the poem that recognizes a […]
Some times are lumpy with loss. This week two formative teachers passed away, Madeleine Korbel Albright and Edward C. Johnson III. I could tell how Secretary Albright delighted groups of young students at Wellesley with stories of sisterhood and how Mr. Johnson would come to my holiday parties even though I was a Very Unimportant […]
Podrán cortar todas las flores, pero no podrá detener la primavera. You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming. – Pablo Neruda Every year in Boston there is the One Sunny Day in March, where everyone bursts outside, awkward in tank tops and flip […]
It is so hard to see the sea in which we swim, and so precious to get a glimpse of our own lives. A doorknob turning after a journey big or small, a greeting in the eyes of a loved one, a memory that floods back with a sniff of perfume – all can bring […]