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 …
Tag Archives: prayer
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 …
Etty Hillesum, March 9, 1941
On March 12, 1941, Etty Hillesum wrote in her diary, “‘Melodious rolls the world from God’s right hand.’ This line by Vewey was stuck in my head all day. I too wanted to roll melodiously out of God’s hand.” Me, too! I want to join Etty Hillesum in her quest! We all can, and it …
tVM 2011 Summary
We initiated The Vitruvian Man, In Search of Kalos Kagathos blog seven months ago, in May 2011. As we approach the end of the year, I want to share with you some observations on tVM in 2011. I hope that this blog has encouraged you to explore your spirituality and to explore how you interact …
Vision Quest, part II: Three Notable Vision Quests
The population of the world is approximately 7 billion, and nearly 60% of all men, women and children on this planet claim to practice one of these three religions: Christianity 2.1 billion Islam 1.5 billion Buddhism 376 million Common among these three religions is …
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International Day of Peace
This Wednesday, September 21, 2011 is the International Day of Peace. First celebrated in September 1982, the United Nations declared September 21st as the official International Day of Peace in 2002. Sadly, I would wager that most of us are not even aware of this event. Peace means more than the absence of war. Peace …
Thomas Merton, Chief Yellow Lark and the Gifts of Sunrise and Sunset …
Oh, to be thankful for what we have and not rue what we do not have! That is noble and worthy of the Vitruvian Man. I wish I knew more about Chief Yellow Lark. Many months ago, I learned the Sioux prayer whose translation is attributable to him. Yet search as I might, I find …
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The Fuel that Runs the Universe
At a recent BBQ, I tossed out a simple question: “Anyone here familiar with C.S. Lewis?” Everyone over 30 looked at me like I had a third eye in the middle of my forehead. A young friend under 30 gave an answer typical of his youth, “He’s the guy who wrote the flick ‘Narnia.’” While …