In a December 2017 interview with Kozo Hattori and Pavithra Mehta from Awakin.org, Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer said, “A spiritual understanding not practiced under fire is without value.” This is as profound a statement of spirituality as I have heard. It was part of her answer to the question, “Your Greatest Inspiration.” Dr. Aluli Meyer grew up …
Author Archives: tVM
Angels
In a recent “Listen Well” offering, author, playwright and essayist Margaret Dulaney referenced the Irish mystic, Lorna Byrne. Unfamiliar with Lorna Byrne, I did some research which quickly grabbed my attention. I purchased her first book Angels in My Hair (©2008) and read the 300 pages over two months in small pieces. The ‘about the …
Education: Path to a Better World
Eighteen months ago, Gail Rongen and I embarked on a direct giving program in Haiti. Direct giving is risky business and it requires trust. We accept the risk because we trust the young Haitians we work with. Our choice is valid… Within the poverty and violence of Cité Soleil, a courageous group of young men …
Expressing Love and Joy
We woke up this April morning to a blizzard. It is as beautiful as it is surprising. After walking the dogs for their morning constitutions, I shoveled the driveway and cleared the walkway to the house – more for the dogs than for Mrs. tVM and me, for we have no intentions to use the …
Who Is Your Neighbor?
Who is your neighbor? No, I’m not asking the question from a biblical perspective. I am asking the question from a strictly geographic perspective. Who is the person who lives in the house or perhaps apartment next to your house or apartment? Who is your neighbor? I was born in Gt. Barrington, Massachusetts in 1949. …
The Three Evils of Society
Every third Monday of January – a day close to his birthday – we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Every year since 2013 on that day, I post Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In it, he says, “The time is always ripe to do right.” Powerful words from a powerful man that …
Empty Tomb
Mystical Suffering
Of the many ways I could describe the events of this day those thousands of years ago, I choose to call it mystical suffering. I do not believe we were created to suffer, but bad choices made by good men make it so. For that reason, Jesus showed us how to suffer, for even as …
Desert Reflections: The Marks of Love
When St Francis received the stigmata in 1224, he received not only the marks of the cross on his body but, far more importantly, he received the marks of the cross made by love in his heart. Only love, Fr Peter explains, can make pain and suffering meaningful; only love can redeem us. Today’s Readings …
St. Patrick’s Breastplate
As the ‘Christian’ world celebrates St. Patrick’s day with green beer, corned beef, leprechauns and Irish jigs, I call to mind a prayer I discovered over a decade ago in a Celtic prayer book. The prayer is known as St. Patrick’s breastplate. While the full version is considerably longer, I offer you this much as …