Everywhere I go, things that fall find rest. (Do they fall, or let go?) Today, as promised, I’ll feature further selections from Gordon Peerman’s Blessed Relief: What Christians Can Learn from Buddhists About Suffering. Today’s passages offer practical suggestions. From…
Nonfiction
Gordon Peerman’s Blessed Relief: What Christians Can Learn from Buddhists About Suffering has been a life-changing read for me. It is helping me learn how to get some distance from my emotions and approach discomfort and even suffering from a…
I went to Bhutan to visit my friend, Linda Leaming (Married To Bhutan, A Field Guide to Happiness). I went by myself to know that I could. I went to learn more about Buddhism. About halfway through the trip, I…
I miss Hilary Mantel already. And I think: it is already later than we think. Today I’d love to share a few reflections on her life and work… From Maggie O’Farrell (“Hamnet”), in The Guardian: We have lost another monarch…
Swimming in rough seas, it can be hard to find the shore. You swim as hard as you can, as long as you can, and there it is, finally – the shore! You’re back. You almost can’t believe it. You…
I’ve realized, lately, that I live as if suffering is a shocking and insulting surprise. How foolish! How could I be this old and not yet understand, at my core, that suffering is simply part of this journey, part of…
A friend of mine shared some profound life advice with me yesterday. “You cannot hate yourself into change,” she said. “Wow – that’s deep. The idea that maybe you could love yourself into the changes you want to see. I…
Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss, by David Magee, came to me on the wings of a friend’s recommendation. The epigraph reads: “For every child who is lost and every parent who has lost a…
Covid came calling, an unwelcome suitor, but some part of me said yes. (Isn’t that always the way? Be careful, I tell my daughters.) He brought all manner of unpleasantness. I felt pretty low. A friend brought sprigs of mint…