I made my first trip to Argentina in 1990. Although I took one year of Spanish in college in 1967, I was far from fluent, so I carried a small pocket dictionary. After a 15-hour flight from St. Louis through Miami, my clothes were quite wrinkled. The first word I learned from that dictionary was …
Category Archives: Spirit
Mitakuye Oyasin
Mrs. tVM and I have the granddaughters — 2 and 5 — here this week until Saturday. This afternoon, young Xylia, 5-years-old said, “Dziadek — she calls me ‘Dziadek’ which is Grandfather in Polish — I think there is a hummingbird in the pool.” Sure enough, the gentle soul floated lifelessly on the surface. I …
Martin Sheen: A Hero who Broke Through
Yesterday morning as I waited in the foyer of an assisted living facility, I glanced at a basket filled with old magazines. The magazine on top of the pile was the AARP magazine. I am not an “AARP guy,” but the cover picture was a picture of a smiling Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez, better known …
The First Stone
Early in the week, I read an interesting piece on the Spirituality and Practice website entitled, “The First Stone or Hypocrite Stone.” It is an unique practice presented by Tom Cowan. I do not know Tom Cowan, but his suggestion makes perfect sense to me… “… carry a small stone in your pocket or purse …
Chief Joseph
In 1879, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé Indians traveled to Washington, D.C. and met with President Rutherford B. Hayes and other government leaders to plead his case to return his tribe – displaced from the Northwest to Oklahoma’s Indian Territory – to their original home in Oregon. Chief Joseph was known as a skilled …
An Example for your Children
Why are Muslims hateful? That is clearly an unfair question because I am certain Muslims are not hateful. If you want to know what it is like to be 80-years old, look at an 80-year old person. If you want to know what it is like to be a Baha’i, look at a Baha’i. If …
The Dog
Of all the animals on Earth, I have learned most from the dog. Although my boyhood home was next door to a veterinarian, Doc Dapson in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, I never owned a dog until 1975 when we lived on a farm in Upstate New York. In his epic poetry, Homer tells us of Odysseus’s dog …
You Are the Light of the World
We can all have extraordinary days if we pay attention and open our hearts and minds. Father Paul spoke about the Transfiguration of Christ at church this morning. I couldn’t help but think about the post we put up last Friday. “Look for the light,” Father Paul implored us, and in his intercessions I heard …
Back to the Garden
I’ve recently been viewing the 1988 PBS presentation “The Power of Myth,” 342 minutes of fascinating conversation between American mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904 – 1987) and journalist and former White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers. The depth, rather the height of their intellect humbles me. A passing clip and statement captured my attention. The …
Si’ahl and Non-violence
The Dawes Act and subsequent legislation may have benefitted white settlers, but it provided the framework that reduced many proud Native American tribes and their holy traditions to poverty and disrespect. In honor of Si’ahl’s stand on non-violence, tVM is proud to print the ‘Prayer to the Four Directions’ attributed to Chief Seattle with the …