In the US we live in a representative democracy—imperfect, but real. Citizens elect officials who represent our ideas and concerns, again imperfectly. Democracies need to be nurtured and protected. Their credibility rests on the willingness to accept criticism,...
On a wall in my apartment hangs a prayer flag. The image on the flag is taken from a page in spiritual leader Ram Dass’s book Be Here Now. It shows an illustration of a man, stylized like a paper doll, with multiple options for his garb: bohemian, flower child choices...
Years ago as part of Lay Ordination I gave a “Way Seeking Mind” talk in which I recalled a longing for a deeper intimacy with the natural world around me: the rocks and trees of the mountains and forests that I loved. But it was the question of birth and death that...
Growing up in a Jewish family, I often wondered why more Germans didn’t resist Hitler’s rise to power. Living in America in 2025, I no longer have to wonder. The rise of authoritarianism with its minority of rabid supporters and its majority of the fearful, the...
These are the last days that we will share with Joanna Macy, as the beloved Buddhist scholar and founder of The Work That Reconnects spends her remaining time in hospice care with her friends and family. Death comes for us all, of course. My Buddhist perspective on...
