A wise teacher once told me that at some point we all need to answer the question for ourselves: is the universe for us, against us, or indifferent? Our answer needs to be more than intellectual. Only a handful of years ago I would have told you that the universe was definitely for me. I…
The clock on the wall keeps a pushin’me That’s not the way I want my life to be If you take any pushing from that clock on the wall, you won’t be happy at all. —The Guess Who From the day we are born until we die we are pushed by the “clock on the…
I got back in the saddle at Hillhurst United in Calgary. These folks have made me their “Theologian In Residence” for the next little while. We’re not sure what that means exactly, but we’re going to figure it out together. I offered a reflection on Pentecost Sunday, and came up (rather arbitrarily with seven marks…
Spirituality can be summoned as a substitute for trauma work. When this happens we develop a spiritual ego, little more than another defence against suffering what is ours to suffer. It’s a little harder to spot because it can present as calm, equanimous, wise, unflappable, smart, compassionate, etc. On the other hand, when we run…
While I was writing a chapter for my forthcoming book, Bone on Bone: A Clergyman Leaves the Church, Finds Psychedelics and Get His Life Back, it came to me that a human being’s core addiction is to the traumatized self. Trauma, along with our early childhood patterns of compensating for these failures of love give…