Month: April 2016

• April 23, 2016

  Annoyances and Endearments

  It can happen that another person’s annoying tics or habits can become, in the eye of the viewer, terms of endearment. Puzzlingly, the person may have done nothing to modify her behavior, may not even be consciously aware of such tics or such a disposition, and nothing observable may have happened in the life of the percipient, yet…
• April 11, 2016

  Callousness Toward the Stranger and the Good Samaritan Today

  When the stranger lies bleeding along the side of the road, is it our first instinct to go toward him and ask what he needs? Or do we pass by him, murmuring, “What is that man to me?” I grow weary and heavy due to the callousness of modernity. Severed from true friendships, we have become strangers…
• April 6, 2016

  Are We Actually Meditating During Meditation?

  How much of our attention during any one meditation is actually meditative? Are our meditations truly meditations? Sadly, I had this thought on two mornings set aside for meditating. Once one has devoted oneself to having a regular meditation practice, it is easy to become complacent with oneself. The first hurdle was even being able to sit quietly…